Based on the recommendation of several TNPC readers I decided to check out Stamps.com, an Internet site that lets you print United States Postage directly from your laser or ink jet printer. The concept appealed to me since I often work late at night and don't have easy access to a Post Office. I thought that a service like this could really help me be more productive in those late night hours.
When you sign up with Stamps.com you are really applying for a Postage Meter License from the United States Post Office. Until this application is approved you aren't able to print postage. In my case this took a couple of days. So don't expect to be up and running immediately.
After installing the software I tried printing some postage. The process is simple enough. Just enter the destination address, the weight and type of letter or package you are sending, and the software does the rest including formatting the address to postal standards. The software will import addresses from comma separated value (CSV) files and comes with instructions on generating a CSV from Microsoft Word, Act, Corel Address Book, Windows Address Book, Lotus Organizer, Microsoft Outlook, and the Palm Desktop 3. Unfortunately it won't use the native data in your existing address book, forcing you to convert it to a CSV. This is tremendously inconvenient.
I keep contact information in two places, InfoSelect and QuickBooks Pro. InfoSelect is easy enough to get the information out of without having to go the CSV route, I just cut and paste. Not so simple from QuickBooks Pro. You can copy an address but only one line at a time. Yuck! I understand that QuickBooks Pro 2000 has a feature similar to Stamps.com called eStamp but it isn't worth it to me to pay the steep upgrade fee to get the QB 2000 version.
You must be connected to the Internet to print postage from Stamps.com. This can be a problem if you have a flaky Internet connection.
My biggest problem so far? There is no quick and easy way to collect on misprinted postage. Recently I forgot to reset my printer before printing some postage. The envelope came out wrong. No problem I thought, just get a refund for that postage.
To do this I would have to fill out a special form then mail the form and the misprinted postage to Stamps.com. They will then credit my account minus the 10% that the Post Office collects. If I mess up one stamp I'll spend 33 cents to mail in the form and get a refund of 29 cents back. Then I misprinted a label for a priority mail package ($3.20) you can bet I took the time to mail that that mistake in.
Aside from those small problems the service has worked well for me and I am more productive in those late night hours. If you have a need to print postage the Stamps.com service is well worth a look. In a future issue I'll be looking at other Postage printing sites and comparing the features.
Stamps.com is currently offering up to $50 in free postage and a $50 digital postage meter just for signing up. The meter connects to your computer and interfaces directly with the Stamps.com software.
