Patent ID: 7693745

Claim:
A method for transferring a package from a sender to a recipient, which includes the following steps: assigning a unique package identifier to a package to be transferred; accepting delivery of the package by a shipping company to a selected one of a plurality of networked holding locations each located on the premises of a respective site selected for its centrality and/or general convenience to a target community or market such that consumers may visit the site at any convenient time to collect delivered items from the holding location; confirming an identity of the shipping company by a control unit of the selected holding location; machine identifying the package at the holding location by means of the unique package identifier; receiving and storing the package at the holding location for retrieval thereat by an authenticated recipient, the package being stored at the holding location in a locked container constructed to be secure against vandalism and theft, wherein the holding location to which the package is delivered is selected from among the plurality of networked holding locations based on at least one of the list of parameters which includes: the identity of an intended recipient of the package; the preferred delivery address of the recipient of the package; the preferred timing of delivery of the package; and the delivery status of the package; notifying the recipient when the package has been received at the holding location by way of an electronic message delivered to a portable terminal or via e-mail; authorizing release to the authenticated recipient of the package stored at the holding location; and releasing the package from the locked container to the authenticated recipient.