Postage Meters

ProWallGuy

I am finding myself spending more and more each year on postage.
Does anybody use a postage meter?
Pros? Cons?
Someone enlighten me please!

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

noreast05

For the regular envelope you will still pay the same postage. If you mail alot of different weight packages on a regular basis a monthly meter fee might be worth it. I do not think that fee is justified for the regular mailing of invoices and estimates. Try emailing your invoices or estimates to those who have email. We saved alot using this approach. I guess you need to look at what you are mailing and how many times you are standing in line at the post office in order to figure out if it's worth it or not.

Grumpy

I used pitney bowes and experienced no savings. INfact postage was dollar for dollar, and I had to pay a monthly fee. It was a loss.

Unless you get a discouted postage rate it isn't worth your time.

Brian

I used a Pitney Bowes machine for a few years and agree with Grumpy. The monthly fee increased my postage costs with no noticable benefits.

Brian Phillips

slickshift

The pros are no standing in line for stamps and no licking stamps
Of course, these days you can buy self adhesive stamps online

....I suppose it could shave some time off actually applying the stamps
But I suspect that's reaching a bit...or a negligible amount of time (money) saved anyway

firemike

I used Piney Bowes for a while, I ended up spending more for postage with them by the time you figure in the meter fees, supplies, etc. plus if you didn't use the machine frequently, the ink roller would dry out and not print the label correctly.

I am currently using stamps.com and am very happy with it. You can print regular stamps, several different styles of labels for packages and other parcels, just about everything you could ever need. They have also incorporated FedEx into the program now. I think for the basic package it is less than 5 bucks a month (plus the labels, which are very reasonable), plus you can order any supplies you need right from them. You can print 1 stamp at a time, or a whole sheet, and you can print additional postage for heavier envelopes. Great for larger quotes, sample packs, blueprints, etc. And for most of the mailed pieces, my letter carrier is glad to take them, don't even have to go to the post office. Some you have to take there, if I remember correctly, ones like certified mail have to be taken to the PO so they can be scanned in.

The product they call NetStamps are just that, regular stamps printed right on your office/home printer. They have no expiration date, whereas the other postage it prints is dated and has to be mailed that day.

You can purchase additional postage amounts in just a few seconds, it prints reports, keeps track of postage spent and to whom, and emails you on the status of some classes of mail sent. I have been extreamly happy with it.

ProWallGuy

Thanks for all the info guys. I probably won't be worrying about using one anymore. I assumed you got at least a small discount on postage using it, but if not, then skip it.

I'll just stick to my old routine, with the wife sticking her tongue out, and me running the stamps/envelopes over it. Oops, sorry about the papercut honey.

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

Flimmer

Hi ProWallGuy, I work for a 2 million a year company with an average of 125 projects a year and we still purchase the bulk stamps and thats it. I'm not sure if we have even checked into this or not.

Flimmer

Speedy Petey

Firemike,
I'm glad you posted this. I just a little while ago had the Stamps.com CD in my hand and was discussing with my wife whether we should go this route. I don't use a ton of stamps and postage but it seems I am always running out of stamps when I need them most. Even if I buy 3 or 4 books at a time.

The CD has an offer for four free weeks, $25 in free postage, a digital postal scale and some supplies.
It seems you are very happy with them so I may give it a try.
Do you know of any long term downsides? Is there a cancellation fee or anything?

Thanks

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Teetorbilt

Tried it, a waste of time & money. I don't mail that much anyway.

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firemike

Petey,

I have been using it for over two years, and I can't think of any downside. And as far as I know, there is no cancellation fee (there wasn't one when I signed up), but I am not 100% sure. The CD you have should tell you if there is when you go to sign up.

I can't begin to estimate how much time it has saves me over the course of a year. Around here (Metro Detroit) it usually takes a while to get through a post office line (it took me 35 minutes last Tuesday to mail a certified letter for my wife) not to mention the driving and parking. Just the time savings alone makes it worth it. And like you said, I was always running out of stamps when I needed them most. Yes, you can order them on line, but you still have to wait. With stamps.com, I load a blank sheet of stamps in the printer, and 10 seconds later I have 25 more stamps. When I print the last sheet of blank stamps, I order more and they arrive 3-4 days later.

My wife does fine art projects and sells items on eBay, so she ships packages too. All we have to do is print the shipping label, and our letter carrier takes it wth her, we don't even have to leave the yard. I generally don't use much postage either, probably $15 to $20 a month avarage, but some months it can be $50 or more. But it makes it nice to be able to do everything with a few mouse clicks. Let me know how it works out for you if you decide to try it.
Have a great weekend!

Putty Truck

Anyone have anything else to offer about stamps? I'm building a mail marketing campaign and need an alternative to standing in line at the p.o.

The big thing is a discount, though. If it doesn't pay off--discount-wise--I'll buy the self-adhesive stamps in bulk.