Productivity Tip: Sign up for Stamps.com
A couple of years ago, I didn’t understand why a friend of mine used Stamps.com. Who wants to pay $16 a month just for the privilege of printing their own postage, when you can go to the post office for free???
I quickly realized that going to the post office isn’t really free. How much time do you take away from your real business by running to the post office? Even if I do it on the way to the office or another errand, there is still time spent parking the car, waiting in line, and having the clerk ring up my purchase. Best case scenario, I waste 10 or 15 minutes. Worst case scenario, if I have to make a special trip to the post office, I have to go downstairs, walk to my car, drive to the post office, wait in line there, drive back to my office, park the car, walk to the office building, go back upstairs. All that can easily take 30 to 45 minutes, depending on traffic and the line at the post office.
If I have to send one special package a month, I will waste 10 to 45 minutes on it, according to my calculations above. What does that cost me in terms of work that paying clients want me to do? A minimum of $50, and maybe up to a couple hundred bucks. I guess that buying postage at the post office isn’t so “free” anymore!
And with Stamps.com? I spend less than 30 seconds and I never leave my office. I just weigh my package and print a label with the right postage on it, and voila! So that $16 per month fee is recovered by sending only one package per month. And the convenience just warms my heart.
You can do the same exact thing from USPS.gov as you can on stamps.com. The only thing that stamps.com provides that you cannot get from USPS.gov is the ability to print postage for First Class mail from your home or business. That may seem like a significant advantage that stamps.com has. But keep in mind that you can only ship packages or envelopes up to 13 ounces via First Class. Otherwise, you have to use Priority mail which you can print and pay for on the USPS.gov website. If you are shipping things less than 13 ounces, you can always use normal stamps.
So, stamps.com does not provide much benefit over using the post office website. And for $17.99 a month, forget it. Their service only really appeals to people with very specific needs and for most people simply does not have the value add to justify the monthly fee. Perhaps there are other value add services they have of which I am not aware. I don’t know.
In addition, I got stung by the monthly charge after I let the trial period slip. Most companies will refund you your first monthly charge if you let a trial period lapse then call as soon as you realize you were charged for a service you are not using. Well, the brass at stamps.com institute policies that don’t agree with that. They would rather entice you with a trial period, then ding you when you make a simple mistake by forgetting to cancel before the trial runs out. In today’s day and age where many people have accounts with dozens of websites and do much of their shopping, shipping, travel plans, etc. on the internet, it is unfair to hold people that sign up for trial to a charge them for a service they do not use then refuse to refund their charge if they cancel shortly after the trial period ends. Maybe unfair is not the right word since trial users do have to agree to a terms of service which outlines they will be charged. Maybe the better word would be disreputable. Actually, that is the perfect word to describe stamps.com. Not to mention I never recall seeing anything about a monthly charge. I suspect it was buried in a multipage agreement with an accept/decline button that I assume many people simply accept without reading at all.
I will never use stamps.com now simply because of this encounter. And I will advise against using stamps.com to anyone that may potentially use them. It has left such a bad taste in my mouth, that I am taking the time to post this. What a great way to build a solid reputation for a publicly traded company.
Scott – this is why websites have “terms” – It helps to actually read what you’re signing up to so you don’t go screaming bad news to people who can read for themselves … no matter how tedious *reading* can be, it helps to *understand* what you’ve put your money into before crying to the whole world that you’ve been ’scammed’.
I think stamps.com is awesome and I will ALWAYS use them! I can’t let you sit here and dog them like this, buddy.
I received my first sheet of stamps as a gift from my Dad last year with a picture of my face on 20 stamps and it was SWEET! I’ve been ‘hooked’ ever since!
I’ve spent about $150 since then with these guys (so much for the gift that keeps on giving, eh?)
No matter what anyone says; you cannot simply go to the USPS and get stamps with an image of your face on the the actual stamp! (or any other ‘uploaded’ image you want on the stamp)
My Pops uploaded an image of my ugly face and made real stamps that work in the mail! Easy as that!
You wouldn’t believe how happy it makes my Mother to get a card with my face on the stamp! Go tell the USPS to do that for you and they’ll escort you out the door with homeland security waiting outside to do horrible things.
It’s the little things that are worth it – and so what? I’ll pay an extra $0.04 per stamp for that! Tell me a *good* reason why I shouldn’t use stamps.com and I’ll give you 7 million why it is the best place for *CUSTOM* stamps…
7 Million people cannot be wrong – what makes you such a victim here? Is it the reading part?
Scott – so what if it’s *not* the same ol’ stamps from USPS.. Of course you’re paying more, this isn’t the march of dimes here – full color prints of my face on stamps is all I care about here – what were YOU looking for ?! It sounds like your comment doesn’t even match up with stamps.com and you’re just being negative to say something.
Just buy the regular stamps direct from USPS if you’re so darn concerned about stamps.com….7 million stamps.com users can’t be wrong – you’re being negative about getting CUSTOM stamps!?!?! Why sign up if you really did read the fine print (which is HIGHLY SUSPECT).
Scott – I do like all your other comments on here, however – sorry to speak up about this but it really is a good deal when you want what they offer.
You’re experience was bad because you simply didn’t read.
So sorry.
-Paul
I know, I’m a horrible speller.
I did take the time to read the terms of service this company operates under, many aspects of which appear to be in direct conflict with existing consumer law.
STAMPS.COM IS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.
As an online business owner I see the very existence of Stamps.com as a shocking example of ineffective government regulation.
In October, I sign up with stamps.com thinking it was a apart of the USPS but found out it wasn’t. How can a company charge way less than the United States Post Office, that’s unheard of.
I didn’t sign up for it because I don’t send mail or packages out often to use the service. I thought I see what this company has to offer, it offered a scale which I didn’t have or owned. It offered several free $10 to my account which I didn’t need. And for the last three or more months which I didn’t know, they were charging me 17.99 a month. I am a student and have a car, why would I need such a plan. I don’t even have netflix. I called and they said they were charging for a “postage license”. I don’t understand it at all.
I am feed up with this company. I called and complained, they wont issue my refund so I’m taking up here. I am willing to sue this company for those who are hurt. CLASS ACTION!
Stanley
San Francisco, California.
Stanley – Why did you sign up for stamps.com? A simple reading of the site would indicate that you don’t need such a service and therefore shouldn’t sign up for the account. It’s really best for businesses that mail packages. As a business owner, I find that the monthly fee more than makes up for the time I save by not having to go to the post office to mail packages. But if I wasn’t mailing packages, I definitely wouldn’t be using stamps.com. I’m not sure what harm the company did by charging you the monthly fee you signed up for, but good luck with your lawsuit.