Stamps.com

If you are tired of running to the post office, waiting on the long lines, run a business or sell things online that need to be shipped; Stamps.com will help you save time and money, while making you look very professional. How does it do that? Stamps.com allows you to print postage right onto your envelopes or to a shipping label, which you affix on your packages. All you need is a PC, a printer, an internet connection, and if you're reading this, I'm sure you have all three of them. Once you have the equipment, it's easy to get started, especially with the starter package that they provide. The package includes:

- Free Digital Scale ($50 value) - ours was delivered in 1 day by the local Staples, I was surprised.
- $25 in Free Postage! - that's pretty much $25 in free money
- Free 29-day Trial - you don't pay a penny unless you are happy with the service and keep using it after 29-days. Just cancel within 29 days and your card won't be charged anything. On top of that, you keep all the free gifts.
- Stamps.com PC Postage Software - you need this to print postage, manage addresses and track shipments
- Free Starter Labels - a set of labels to get you started

Yes, they give you all of that for free; so you don't have any doubts about trying them out. Once you have the software installed, it's very easy: simply enter the address you want to ship to or choose one from the internal address book (yes, you can import data from other sources such as Outlook and Spreadsheets). Then, select the type of mail you want to send, the weight, and add any options that the US Postal Service offers - such as Certified Mail. Once you made your selections, hit print and voila, you just printed postage from your home or office.

Now lets put the basics aside, and I'll tell you about some of the cool features.

- Hidden Postage: This feature is used to conceal the shipping cost normally displayed.

- Free or Highly  Discounted Tracking Confirmation! - This is also one of their latest additions, and it saves a lot of time and money. All of your packages can be sent with tracking number without the need to go to the post office. Simply print your postage with Tracking Confirmation, and you'll be able to track that package through View Reports, which keeps track of everything you send along with the tracking numbers or at USPS.com. You can also give the tracking number to the recipient and let them track the order as well. The best part is that it's free with Priority Mail and only 13 cents for First Class Mail. How? Well, it saves the US Postal Service a lot of labor and helps them be more efficient at processing mail pieces already encoded with tracking numbers. For us, especially for those of us sending hundreds of pieces per week, the savings really add up. And if you're sending something important and valuable, for an extra fee you can add Signature Confirmation, which requires a signature at delivery.

- Address Verification: This pretty much taps into the USPS's addressing database to verify every address you are trying to ship something to. It will modify the address to the correct format, and if the address doesn't seem to be valid, it will let you know and give you a list of possible addresses. This feature alone has saved us a lot of time and we were able to avoid bad addresses 95% of the time. 

- Print Stamps: This feature allows you to print stamps. Simply feed your printer with a special sheet of stamp sized labels, and print stamps. This is great for sending international mail.

All in all, the service is great. If you decide to keep using the service after the free 29-day trial, the cost of the Power Plan is only $15.95 for unlimited use. It'll pay for itself many times considering the time you save, along with the free tracking service for Priority Mail.

Try Stamps.com PC Postage for Free
with Free Digital Scale & $25 in Postage

Coupons and Offers Editorial Team