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From
TNPC issue #3.09...
The New Post Office? - Stamps.com
by Dan Butler
April 27, 2000
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.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/309/tr.cgi?stamps1
You can reach Dan Butler at:
mailto:danbutler@TheNakedPC.com
Copyright © 2000, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler.
All Rights Reserved.
The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.
ISSN: 1522-4422
You may reprint an article from TNPC as long as you show the
entire article and include the authors byline, excerpt and
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The New Post Office? - Stamps.com
by Dan Butler
(This article originally appeared in The Naked PC
newsletter #3.09, subscribe at http://www.TheNakedPC.com)
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