Postage Meters...

CHUMPS FROM OXFORD

CHUMPS FROM OXFORD

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5000 Post Club
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Warm and cheerful Ohio
My Pitney Bowes postage meter now costs about $44 per month. Just the basic version. The upgrade with a scale (built-in) will run about $19 per month the first year and then back up to about $44.

For those of you that use a meter, do you use PB or someone else? Recommendations?

Thanks.

On....and by the way...(WARNING-THIS IS OFF TOPIC)...i had a chance to see the TOP-RANKED team in the nation Saturday night. Great game. Miami won 5-2 over Nebraska-Omaha. Saw ex-NHLer Rick Vaive in the stands. His son Justin plays for Miami.
 
My company uses pitney bowes dm100. (That's what the machinery says) and I can't complain. It is small and doesn't take up much room, does it's job with no malfunctions, and saves us money. I have used FP's mail meters before and they are very similar, but I couldn't tell you how they compare in price.
 
A few years ago I used Stamps.com. You run the postage from your computer and print it on stamp labels. It will also address package labels with your return address. At the time the service charge was $15.00 a month. The stamp labels were purchased from Office Depot and were inexpensive. Beat licking stamps.
 
I have used Stamps.com for several years and think its great. I'm on their basic plan for $7.99 per month and am limited to purchasing no more than $25 of postage at one time.
 
CHUMPS FROM OXFORD said:
My Pitney Bowes postage meter now costs about $44 per month. Just the basic version. The upgrade with a scale (built-in) will run about $19 per month the first year and then back up to about $44.

For those of you that use a meter, do you use PB or someone else? Recommendations?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

In a word.... OUCH!!!! $44 a month for a basic postal system is a bit excessive, you have to do a lot of mailing to make it worth while.

That said, we have some huge Pitney Bowes system that I can drop a few hundred letters on, it will close and seal the envelopes, weigh them, and put the apppropriate postage on, completing all 200 in just a couple of minutes.

That machine comes with the office rent.... so I have no idea what it costs.

I recommend Dymo Stamps if you do a limited amount of postage. Why? It's free, no monthly service charge, just need to have a dymo label printer and you run the stamp rolls through them. You do have to buy the blank stamps, which aren't the cheapest, but no monthly fee makes up for it some.

It's not the same as stamps.com (which I used to use), since it's really designed to mail a bunch of regular mail. Stamps.com had more flexibility, and allows you to print priority/express mail labels, with confirmation numbers, tracking, etc. I don't need all of that anymore, since this still does postage for priority mail, just not the full label.

Dymo stamps is a good free alternative (free from monthly service that is) if you don't do high volume mailings.

Dan
 
I bought a Dymo label write twin turbo for about $150 or so. You can print stamps on it using labels from Endicia. There is no surcharge for buying postage and the labels are not expensive.

It's not quite a flexible as a meter or even stamps.com because you can't just print (for example) an 8 cent stamp that I needed! However, you can print standard postage for virtually all mail types.

It has saved me the $7.99 I used to pay monthly with stamps.com, labels are much cheaper than the sheets stamps.com uses. And I can print address labels at the same time.

All in all, it was a great investment for me.

Rick
 
I looked at the Dymo printer a few months back but passed, its good to hear the testimonial from an actual user!

Rick, where did you buy your Dymo? I've seen them at Sams Club. Is that about the lowest price I will find, or are they available somewhere online?
 
I guess I like the idea of having a postage meter type look on the envelope without having to print stuff online.

Anyway, I guess I'll pay the $19 per month for a year and revisit it next year. The new machine arrived yesterday and it is rather cool looking.

Favre-you cost me $50 in our football pool. Damn you.
 
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