shipper is in the user 39 s contacts list accesses the server and retrieves the physical address of the user in an embodiment of the present invention the shipper is given either the pua or the pua and the pin from the user typically this information is given in lieu of a physical address on a shipping form either electronic or paper the shipper then takes the pua and possibly the pin and sends it or them to the pua shipping server in an embodiment of the present invention the pua and the pin are sent in such a format that the pua shipping server understands the request 206 optionally the shipper may also send its name or id for instance to verify if it is a contact on the user 39 s list once the pua shipping server receives the information it converts the request into a database query typically using the sql computer language 208 the server first checks to see if it has an entry for the pua if it does not it returns an error or null to the server which then sends the information back to the requesting shipping computer if it does have a pua entry in the database the system then checks to see if the pin if sent in the request is valid against the pin associated with that pua if it is then the appropriate physical address is returned to the server which then sends it along to the shipper 39 s computer 210 if the request also included the shipper 39 s name or id this is checked against the contacts list associated with the.