Where to send a fax: library, store or online

At a public library

Some public libraries have a fax machine you can use. What they offer and what they charge vary from one library to the next. Two examples:

• Findlay-Hancock County Public Library, in Ohio, lists a price per page for faxes to the United States and Canada that’s lower than FaxTonic’s.
• Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, in Kansas, has a self-service fax machine for local, toll-free and long-distance numbers. You get a confirmation page once the fax is sent, and the library doesn’t take incoming faxes.

Check your own library’s website, or call, before you go.

At a shipping or print store

• The UPS Store locations: their pages say you can send and receive faxes there, an associate can help you, and you get a confirmation sheet once the fax is completed. If it doesn’t go through the first time, the store sends it again. Most locations are independently owned and operated by franchisees, and services, prices and hours may vary by location.
• FedEx Office stores with self-service copiers: you fax from the copier by following the prompts on the screen, with no account. Before you fax, you pre-authorize a payment based on the number of pages, and any unused amount goes back to your payment method. You get a printed confirmation once the fax is sent. A team member can send it for you at the counter, and some stores can receive a fax for you to pick up. International faxes may not be available at every store.
• Office supply stores: Staples lists local, long-distance and international faxing at its self-service machines, paid at the machine, with a printed confirmation. Office Depot and OfficeMax stores list self-service faxing to local, domestic and international numbers on their in-store printers.

Ask the store for its price per page: FedEx Office, for example, says prices vary by store.

At the post office

If you’re thinking of the post office, call ahead.

What to ask before you go

• The price per page, and whether a cover sheet counts as a page.
• Long-distance and international faxes: whether they can send to the number you have. Findlay-Hancock County Public Library, for example, lists a price for the United States and Canada only. For a fax abroad, see how to send an international fax from the US.
• A confirmation: whether you get one once the fax is sent, and whether it’s printed.
• Hours: you can only fax while the library or store is open.
• Help from staff: whether someone sends the fax for you, or you use a self-service machine yourself.

What to bring

• The document: every page, signed if it needs a signature, in the order it should arrive.
• The fax number, taken from the recipient’s letter, form or website. A cell phone can’t receive a fax: see can you fax a cell phone?
• A way to pay. At FedEx Office, you pre-authorize a payment at the copier, and at Staples, you pay at the machine.
• Cover sheet details, if you want one: your name and phone number, the recipient’s name and the number of pages. A cover sheet is optional.

A library or store, or FaxTonic?

A library or store can be the better choice:

• It can cost less: a library’s price per page can be lower than FaxTonic’s.
• You may get a printed confirmation, and someone to help you.
• Some stores can receive a fax for you. FaxTonic can’t receive faxes, and it doesn’t give you a fax number.

FaxTonic saves you the trip:

• It works at any hour, from your phone or computer, with no account and no subscription.
• It sends to these countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and Spain. A page to the United States costs $1.49, and the cover page is free.
• There’s no printed confirmation. Instead, the status page shows that the receiving machine confirmed the fax, how many pages it received, and when FaxTonic recorded it. Take a screenshot of it for your records.
• If a fax doesn’t go through, FaxTonic refunds it to your card automatically: the price minus a fee of $0.30 + 2.9%, or all of it if our fax provider refused the fax when we submitted it. See the refund policy and what to do when a fax doesn’t go through.

Send it online with FaxTonic

1. Scan the document with your phone, or save it as a PDF. See how to fax a paper document with your phone.
2. Open FaxTonic and add the file. The cover page is free.
3. Choose the country and type the fax number.
4. Check the total, $1.49 a page to the United States, and pay by card.
5. Follow the fax on its status page until the receiving machine confirms it.