Great service, if it's worth the cost to you
Written: Jul 22 '00 (Updated Jul 24 '00)
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Stamps.com is what the internet is all about -- convenience and time-saving. The best parts of Stamps.com:
-- Sign up bonus can include $50 of postage AND a free digital scale if you sign up for the "power user" account.
-- Free trial period of 29 days. If you don't like the service and quit in this period, the free postage and scale is yours to keep.
-- If you sell things on eBay, this is a godsend. Simply weigh your package (the scale interfaces to the software via your serial port), print out a label, and drop the package in a blue box. No more trips to the post office.
-- I found the service most useful for packages. You can send them First Class, Priority Mail or Express Mail.
The cons:
-- Can't print "book rate" postage -- a definite minus if you sell things on half.com. They say they are working on this with the USPS.
-- Fees. The personal plan costs you the greater of $2 or 10% of the postage you print every month.
-- Must use the labels they support.
-- For envelopes, you must either print the envelope address and stamp directly on the envelope, or use a label and plaster it over the envelope. (In other words, you cannot simply print a stamp onto the windowed envelope most bills are returned in. I belive all the postage printing services are like this.
-- Sometimes the address correction software is annoying. For example, I tried to send a package to someone who lived on a street called a "terrace" and the software claimed the address was invalid. It does not report which part of it is wrong. Instead you have to monkey around, modifying different parts of it, until it takes it.
-- You must be connected to the internet to print postage.
Overall, I would recommend stamps.com for anyone sending a lot of packages who finds themselves at the post office a lot.
I have also used e-stamp, and I think stamps.com is better because it uses no kludgy hardware vault. Stamps.com is also much faster to set up (although the USPS license still takes the same amount of time) since you can do it off the net. E-stamp requires you to buy a $48 box of shrink-wrapped software (including $50 of postage) and then mail away for their address database CDROM and the "vault" which you must attach to your parallel port.
So, if you are interested in printing postage, try out Stamps.com. It's easy and with the free trial period, you have nothing to lose. Their online support is also good, live people are easily available.
Peripherally, Stamps.com has also announced their interest in printing other valuable indicia, like tickets for movies, concerts, air travel, etc. This should be a very interesting area of growth.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
matt_10710
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 77 members
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