Pitney Bowes Online Postage VS Stamps.com – Who Will Prevail?
Feb 10, 2010 Postage Services
There’s no doubt about it – one of the BIGGEST wasters of time, money, and everything else is that long and boring trip to the post office…and even longer and more boring line at the post office just to get your hands on those much needed postage stamps. This is especially true if you are someone who needs to ship packages and letters day in and day out. And to top that off, the post office closest to my home had some very grumpy and impatient employees working for it. I had no choice BUT to use that extra 10 minutes, walk to the nearest one just to avoid being hot headed myself.
That explains why I had tears of joy when these online postage companies made it to the internet. Think about it – gone are the days when I have to spend long hours falling in line, dealing with grumpy post office employees, and more. Back then, I was stuck between 2 websites that offer these deals for stamps – Pitney Bowes Online Postage Service and Stamps.com. Both seem to get great reviews (see this Stamps.com review) and praises from people all over the internet. Both seem to have great add ons and features that make life a heck lot easier. I had no choice BUT to give both a shot and see which one works better (at least for my case):
Pitney Bowes Online Postage – A Closer Look
During my first couple of months with Pitney Bowes, everything was pleasant and rosy. HOWEVER, after a closer look at my monthly bills, I realized that the charges kept going up! You see, you need to pay for the rent of the postage machine and that’s for approximately $40.00 a month. Along with that, you need to pay for the cost of the ink as well as the postage on top of everything.
That’s quite a lot in my opinion, especially when you consider the fact that I don’t use the machine that often. The fact that it saves me a trip to the post office though means that it pays for itself, especially when I start billing my clients. PLUS, the fact that it comes with a feature that allows me to precisely calculate postage (using an extra $ 0.39 per stamp and mixing combinations of $ 0.01 and $ 0.10), I’m at ease and assured that I won’t overpay for postage. In conclusion, I’d say that Pitney Bowes is worth a try. BUT I feel that I could get a better deal somewhere else. And I think I’ve found it!
Stamps.com – The REAL DEAL!
Looking for something that’s more affordable YET still feature packed, I turned my sights on Stamps.com. The nice thing about this online postage website is that there are no equipments or hardware needed. All you need is a software that integrates with your computer and printer – and VIOLA! You can start printing all of the postage stamps you need for your shipments.
So how much for all of these you ask?
For a measly $15.99 plus paying for the labels, your postage stamp worries will be gone without a trace. For those of you who don’t know it, a pack of 125 labels would only cost you $5 and you just have to factor in the shipping for the packs. And making the deal even sweeter, you also get a couple of sheets and a postal scale free of charge when you sign up.
If you are someone who runs a small or home based business that requires mailing of some sort – say eBay, running an online store, or when you just have to mail information kits to your potential clients, by all means give Stamps.com a shot! Pitney Bowes is good, BUT you sure don’t want the extra charges creeping up later.
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