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Comment by gnopgnip | Hacker News Reader

Amazon offers lockboxes for condos and apartments called amazon hub, it is on the order of $10k upfront for a 100 unit building, no ongoing cost.

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Our building has 7 condos so this solution is an overkill. Yet, every day we have 4-5 boxes from Amazon laying around in the entrance of the building. Rarely, neighbors pick up the wrong package.

The pricing makes it seem like it's meant more for the couple dozen to couple hundred unit buildings than 7. With 7, you know your neighbors for the most part. With 25, you probably don't, so I imagine theft goes up much more quickly.

My previous block was ~100 apartments. Packages were either left in front of apartment doors, or in the mail room in front of the (very small) letterboxes.

I'd have packages delivered 2-3 times a month. In 2.5 years, not a single package was stolen.

My takeaway from this experience is that most humans are decent people. Or that I live in a sufficiently expensive block that nobody has any desire to steal anyone else's stuff.

Most people describe a package room with individual lock boxes for each parcel. I was at a place where the room had restricted access (you had a one-time code and a camera scanned you as you entered). Inside was all of the packages. The email containing the code also had a photograph of the package. There were shelves for each floor / grouping of units.

The only odd part was the one-time codes with multiple packages. I would get one code for multiple packages, things were difficult to find, and I had trouble coordinating with my wife. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it anymore.

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