If you use a postage meter, you already enjoy the flexibility of having access to postage at any time of the day or night. So why switch to online postage? To give your business another level of convenience and to reduce costs. In addition to letting you purchase postage via the Web, online postage vendors supply complimentary software so that you can manage mailing lists and print your mailing labels right along with your shipping labels. You can also track and confirm your shipments, and send automatic e-mails to alert customers that their packages have shipped. More good news—signing up for online postage typically costs a good deal less than what you’d pay for a lease on a postage meter. And you won’t need to pay for those pricy software updates that postage meters require when postage rates change. Here’s how the online postage process works:

1. Download software from your online postage vendor’s site.
2. Weigh your envelope or package and determine your postage.
3. Print your postage and mailing labels using your computer printer or a label printer. Your postage labels include a bar code that indicates the postage amount and the zip code of the address to which you’re mailing.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pick an online postage vendor

Order online postage through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) or one of its preferred vendors.

I recommend: The USPS’s Click-N-Ship service is free. It dispenses postage online for Express Mail and Priority Mail (and Global Express Mail, Priority Mail and Airmail Parcel Post for international packages). You also get access to services such as mailing list storage and shipment confirmation. Stamps.com, Endicia and Pitney Bowes’s Shipstream Manager all charge a monthly fee but offer more services, such as the ability to interface with third-party database programs, including the contact-management program, ACT, making it easier to build and store mailing lists. They also provide postage for more mail classes (including first class, media mail) and a wider variety of label-printing options. Stamps.com and Shipstream Manager give you a complimentary digital shipping scale when you sign up. Click-N-Ship, Stamps.com and Endicia are compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems while Shipstream Manager works with Windows only.

Print your labels faster

If you’re printing hundreds of postage labels, you can save time by using a label printer that accommodates label rolls.

I recommend: The DYMO LabelWriter 400 Turbo can print one label per second. It’s a thermal printer so it doesn’t need ink or toner. When you buy this Windows- and Mac-compatible printer, you get free access to DYMO’s new online postage service. Want a free LabelWriter 400 Turbo printer? It comes with the Endicia’s Starter Kit that you get when you sign up for Endicia’s online postage service. The Zebra LP 2844 is another thermal printer that will make quick work of printing your mailing labels.

Turn postage stamps into marketing tools

Sometimes a no-nonsense postage label just won’t do. Give your postage some marketing muscle with customized postage stamps that feature your logo or other images that promote your company.

I recommend: Stamp.com’s service PhotoStamps. Upload your logo or image to the PhotoStamps Web site and design your stamps for free with the help of PhotoStamps’s customization interface. PhotoStamps will then print the stamps and ship them to you. PhotoStamps works with Windows, Mac and Linux. Another option for Windows and Mac users is Endicia’s PictureItPostage. Design your own stamps by downloading free PictureItPostage software, or just upload your image or logo to PictureItPostage. Either way the stamps will be shipped to you in about a week.

Stock up on mailing supplies

You can’t print your postage and send your packages if you don’t have labels, envelopes and other tools of the mailing trade.

I recommend: Order supplies, including free USPS envelopes and labels, from the USPS. Labels, envelope-sealing products and more are available from the Pitney Bowes Online Store. If you don’t have a postal scale handy or you need a quick estimate on postage costs for a future mailing, consult the USPS Rate Calculator.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When deciding which online postage vendor to use, check the system requirements to make sure that the vendor’s software is compatible with your computer’s operating system (including your version of the operating system) and your printer.
• •  Most of the online postage vendors offer a free trial period. Take advantage of it to make to sure they deliver what they promise. If they don’t offer the trial period to you up front, ask about it.
• •  When designing customized postage stamps, avoid the temptation to include cute or controversial images unless they fit your company’s image.