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Address Type Detector

PO Box, freight forwarder, commercial, residential? Paste an address - get the type, the fraud signal, and which carriers actually serve it. Pattern-based, in-browser, public-data-only.

Try a sample:

PO Box / freight forwarder / commercial patterns are checked instantly in your browser. When nothing matches, we run one real deliverability check before saying "residential" - no addresses are stored.

Runs in your browser against public data. Nothing is stored.

What this tool does

PO Box, freight forwarder, commercial, residential - get the verdict in seconds

AI shopping agents and modern fraud filters classify addresses by type before deciding to recommend a store or approve an order. PO Boxes are USPS-only. Freight forwarders are a high-fraud signal. Commercial addresses get different carrier rates than residential. PO Box, freight-forwarder and commercial patterns are conclusive on their own and classified instantly. When none of those match, this tool runs one real deliverability check (the same Geocodio/Google engines Tacey uses on every order) before calling anything residential - it will not guess.

How to use it

Classify any address

  1. 1Paste the street address (line 1) and any apartment / suite / box info (line 2).
  2. 2Add city, state / region, ZIP / postal code, and country. The country field defaults to US.
  3. 3Click Classify. PO Box / freight-forwarder / commercial matches return instantly; anything else runs one real address check first (3 free checks per day).
  4. 4Read the type, the fraud severity, the explanation, the recommendation, and the carrier compatibility notes.

Merchant tips

What this catches

PO Boxes (most carriers don't deliver - UPS Ground, FedEx Ground, expedited services all reject). USPS is the only major carrier that handles PO Boxes natively.
Freight forwarders / reshipping warehouses (MyUS, Shipito, Reship, Stackry, etc.) - common chargeback origin. International buyers using a US address to access US-only retailers, often with stolen cards.
Commercial addresses (suite, building, office, business designation). Different carrier rate tier, signatures available during business hours, generally lower fraud risk.
Residential addresses - only labelled after a real deliverability check confirms the address exists. An address with no PO Box / freight-forwarder / commercial marker that ALSO fails that check comes back "Not classified", not residential.

When to reach for this

When to reach for this

A flagged order from your store

Customer just placed a high-value order from an unfamiliar address. Paste it - get type + fraud severity in seconds.

Customer service escalation

A package returned 'undeliverable' - is the address actually a PO Box that UPS won't serve? This tool tells you.

Wholesale / B2B order vetting

Verifying a wholesale order's shipping destination before fulfilling. Commercial = lower risk; freight forwarder = elevate.

What you get out

Type + severity + recommendation + carrier compatibility

Address type label (PO Box / Freight Forwarder / Commercial / Residential / Not Classified), fraud-severity badge (low / medium / high, or "not verified" when we couldn't confirm the address is real), one-paragraph plain-English explanation, a specific recommendation for what to do with this order, and per-carrier compatibility notes (USPS / UPS / FedEx / DHL coverage) where a type was actually confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

Why does it matter whether an address is residential or commercial?
Carriers charge a residential surcharge, so a business address classified as residential costs you money on every parcel, and the reverse gets corrected after the fact by the carrier.
What is a freight forwarder address, and why flag it?
It is a warehouse that re-ships parcels overseas on the buyer's behalf. Orders going to one carry a higher chargeback and lost-parcel rate, so many merchants want to see them before shipping.
Can it tell me which carriers deliver to an address?
It shows which carriers actually serve that address type, which matters most for PO Boxes: some carriers will not deliver to one at all.
Is a PO Box always a problem?
No. It is only a problem when your carrier will not deliver to one, or when the order needs a signature. Knowing before the label prints is the point.

This is a snapshot. Tacey runs it on every order.

The tool answers one question, once. The app answers it continuously, on the thank you page and order status page your customer already has open.

Continuous

Every order checked the moment it lands, not when you remember to run a calculator.

Automatic

A bad address is corrected by the customer before your warehouse picks it.

Provable

Every change written to a record with what it cost and who asked for it.

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Tool slug: address-type-detector