posted on September 8, 2001 11:51:28 PM
Wow. This is the best thing I've seen in
awhile. Does anyone have any idea if this service will only be for a limited time?
Also, can anyone recomend a good place to buy self-adhesive shipping labels? Are these expensive?
Finally, what is a good PC program for printing
labels? (I don'r have a laser printer) but the quality looks very good on white paper.
posted on September 9, 2001 04:32:48 AM
Do you have to use the whole label, or can you use just the free delivery confirmation part and slap that on a media mail package?
Just wondering...
Thanks for the information. I had three Priority packages sitting here that are going to the Post Office on Monday. All three had delivery confirmations on them. I printed the labels off the USPS web site and saved myself $1.20
heike55,
This is another way the Post Office Is encouraging people to use their Priority Mail service. I guess it’s like them supplying FREE boxes, tape and mailing labels for people who use priority Mail. Since this is for Priority Mail only, you can’t just cut the delivery confirmation part and slap it on a media mail package?
posted on September 9, 2001 07:15:47 AM
I have been using this free delivery confirmation service for some time via postalstreet.com. Not sure you can just sign up - I was asked to participate by a postal account executive - but it has saved lots for me. I use an inkjet printer and 5" wide clear tape to affix to the package.
But as noted before, it costs 15 cents for the e version of dc for Media Mail and unless you use a service like endicia, you can't access it without paying.
One caveat - a lot of postal clerks are totally lost about this e delivery confirmation and it is not scanned at the window - just on delivery.
posted on September 9, 2001 08:09:17 AM
Thanks for the praise everyone! I suspect that once you print the label it is entered into USPS's tracking computers so the clerk doesn't have to scan it.
I use Pitney Bowes indica postage (A heck of a deal for 1.50 a month plus postage. It uses cheap STANDARD 5164 lables too!) Because it's not stamps and sender tracable, I can put small packages in the mailbox. This saves me a heck of a lot of time. The problem has always been that because it wasn't scanned, it didn't show up in their system until it was delivered. I'm hoping that this solves that problem too.
posted on September 9, 2001 08:55:01 AM
Skaplin, THANK YOU! I'll be using this starting tomorrow morning. I ship 50+ packages a week & use Stamps.com, but sure hate paying .40 extra for DC - PLUS still having to stand in line at the PO..this is GREAT! Now I can print out postage AND DC and just hand over the packages...no stamping...YIPPEEE!!!
[ edited by countryhorse on Sep 9, 2001 08:55 AM ]
posted on September 9, 2001 11:57:39 AM
You can get the free Delivery Confirmation AND print postage in one step. It uses the same backend as the USPS Web page.
posted on September 9, 2001 12:20:19 PMThank you skaplin!
I have more than a dozen Priority packages to mail tomorrow and this will be a great stopgap until I can get Endicia to work on my old HP 560c printer!
(I'd be using your service today, Harry, but there's no printer settings info available for a 560c and no CS on Sunday!)
edited to fix ubb
[ edited by vargas on Sep 9, 2001 01:02 PM ]
posted on September 9, 2001 04:43:08 PM
Endica seems a little spendy for me. They want $9.95 a month. ClickStamp through Pitney Bowes is only $1.99 a month. IMHO the ability to include delivery tracking on the same label does not justify the cost difference.
posted on September 9, 2001 05:31:25 PM
I just bought a bunch of postage from the USPS to avoid standing in the lines that are gradually becoming longer...so I won't be signing up with any online postage for at least a month...but in comparing the PitneyBowes service I see that they don't mention supporting Media Mail. For me, I need that kind of support. Also, their website seems a little harder to navigate than Endicia's. But everyone does have to choose the service that does meet their needs the best.
As for the free DC, I have one package to go Priority tomorrow, so I went for the free DC label online just to see how it worked. (I haven't been using DC regularly anyway, but I was curious.) Not bad. Snitched one of my kids' glue sticks, applied shipping tape for good measure, making sure to leave the barcode untaped of course.
But I notice they recommend you use labels that stick. I wouldn't. I looked up the cost of a full sheet at OfficeMax and it's 44 cents. So you might as well pay the 40 cents for the little green stickers!
posted on September 9, 2001 05:58:09 PM
What USPS domestic mail classes are available through ClickStamp® Online?
1st Class
Priority Mail
Priority Mail Flat Rate
Express Mail
Express Mail PO to PO
Express Custom Designed
Express Mail Flat Rate
Post Card
1st Class Oversized
Parcel Post Inter BMC
ParPost NonMachine Inter
Parcel Post Intra BMC
Parcel Post NonMachine Intra
Library Mail
Media Mail
Bound Printed Matter
For all the specs, see http://pitneyworks.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pitneyworks.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_refno=010330-000095&p_created=985992494
posted on September 9, 2001 08:19:47 PM
Hey, thanks skaplin! I've bookmarked the label website.
I have what might seem like a stupid question, so please bear with me. It seems to me that the main difference between Endicia and ClickStamp (besides price) is that Endicia makes it more convenient to add the DC. But both systems (and maybe all of them) print out the address and postage at the same time on one label, if I understand them right. I'm wondering how to adapt such a system for my needs.
Here's my current system:
1. Print out a screen shot of the list of items I have to pack (has auction title, method of shipping, and customer's name, address, etc.).
2. Hit the handy-dandy label button in AuctionTamer to print out my labels (just the address, nothing extra or fancy).
3. Then I take the list and labels downstairs to my basement where I have my packing table, supplies, and inventory stored.
4. I pack everything up and it's ready to go!
To use the online postage system, I would have to know the weight of each package to print the labels with the correct postage. So, since it's not possible right now (till the kiddies grow up and move out and a bedroom opens up ) to have my packing center and computer on the same floor, let's see, I'm getting tired and I don't want to say something stupid right now...
Do I seal the package, pencil on it somewhere who it goes to, weigh it still in the basement (so I don't have to carry the packages to the 2nd floor office and then back down again), write the weight on my packing list, take the packing list back upstairs to the office, and then print out the labels? Then I can take the labels back down to the basement and stick them on the packages?
Sorry if it sounds complicated, but it was worse when I used to bring the inventory up from the basement to pack in the office and then had to take it back down to pack it in the car! At least now my inventory is with my packing center!
posted on September 10, 2001 10:06:38 AMI have been using this free delivery confirmation service for some time via postalstreet.com
Litlux -- Talke with your PostalStreet account manager. Endicia has partnered with PostalStreet and you can get the Endicia postage printing capability at a special price. You sign up via the PostalStreet Web site.
posted on September 10, 2001 10:27:02 AM
I just printed some out but my printer reads the cut line as a page break and prints the label on one sheet and the part you cut off as a second sheet. That's OK because I am going to see what half page labels cost and print the cut away part on them and the part you keep on a plain page.
posted on September 10, 2001 11:04:41 AM
I don't think Avery makes them. Found a site that sells 2 labels per sheet: http://www.onlinelabels.com/ol400.htm
50 packages using this tool is going to take all day! The site is hella slow... Did you notice the label on the screen is a 218Kb JPG? If it was GIF, it would be a fast 30Kb. Better have DSL/Cable folks! For now, I'm sticking with Endicia. Plus I have the Priority Mailing Label template set up already.
[ edited by sun818 on Sep 10, 2001 11:16 AM ]
posted on September 12, 2001 02:47:21 PM
Hi BJGrolle,
I'm in the same boat as you as I pretty much did the same thing. I sell books as well. Everything is downstairs but my PC and printers are upstairs. I've shipped about 5000 items at this point and haven't had too many problems, virtually none on Ebay but I've had a few problems on Amazon and Half so I decided to give Endicia a try. It easily takes me an extra hour of frustration putting on the labels and getting everything set to go. Endicia is pretty much set up to print only one label at a time or one sheet with the same weight. Very time consuming. I've tried writing on the package what it contains, printing out my EOA and taping it (ended up ripping stuff trying to get the tape off) and also used rubber bands to hold the EOA on the package. Right now about the only way I can see to speed things up is to buy a cheap PC and printer for the basement and network it as I have DSL. More $$ than I think I can justify.
posted on September 12, 2001 06:09:31 PM
Hi marlenedz,
Sounds like we have a very similar setup.
Since my son started preschool last week, I've been looking forward to doing my postal runs after I drop him off. And my post office has gradually been getting busier, probably because of all the new home-building going on around our area. So I've been trying to find a way around not spending a good chunk of his preschool time at the PO, if you can empathize with that.
So if you have to print out 1 label at a time, then if you have to ship out, say, 10 or more packages at one time like I do, you would have to print out a label, re-insert the sheet, print out the next label, and repeat that until you have all your labels, which might mean 10 times or more. So the time saved at the PO is easily eaten up going through this procedure at home, unless you spend more than 1 hour at the PO, which is probably unlikely.
I know I've been trying the free DC from the USPS and I've been a little disgusted with the time it takes. As was previously mentioned, the site is slow and I've got cable and it's even slow with that! I had 7 Priority packages to ship today. It took me longer to cut and paste all the address information (that's already inserted in AuctionTamer) into the fields on the USPS website, wait for the labels to be generated, and print them out one at a time, than simply printing out the labels through AuctionTamer and filling out the green DC slip manually!
I haven't even been using DC as a rule for quite awhile. I had 1 customer request it today for a Media Mail package. And the time it took to fill out the slip by hand was nothing. And I could even prompt AuctionTamer to print out another set and stick those on the green DC slip, thereby saving even more time over the USPS website.
I guess it's a tradeoff, whether you go USPS free Priority or Endicia, or whoever, vs. sticking to the "old" systems. You're either spending more time to save money (the customer's actually since you'd be charging for the DC most likely) or charging full price for the DC to save the time.
posted on September 12, 2001 08:42:35 PM
BJBrolle,
The first time I tried it I had 40 packages to ship out and ususally have from 100-150 to ship on a weekly basis. I thought I was going to scream. My printer is on the opposite side of the room, so I had to get up and down 40 times to re-insert the paper. You also have to keep track of what row/column you are on and change it. If you forget, Oh well. I have both a laser and ink jet and would prefer to use my laser since it is much cheaper to operate but it could never handle printing one label and re-inserting since it gets too hot and will jam. So it comes down to an extra 10/mth for the service, labels that I didn't have to buy before, more expensive inkjet cartridges, I still have to go to the PO to drop them off and sometimes I still have to wait in line to get another tub if they are waiting on someone and I generally have international packages anyways. They do not allow people to drop off packages on the back dock and my mail box is on the street so if I am home and waiting on the street my mail carrier will take them but I'm not always home when they deliver. I have all packages and boxes so dumping them in a mail box isn't an option unless I wanted to drive around town to drop some in one box and some in another as I will quickly fill them up. In terms of cost benefit I have to ask myself just what I will lose on AMazon/half for those people "who didn't get it" as opposed to spending the extra time to label them and the extra costs involved. I'll continue to do this through X-mas but at that point I just may do AMazon and half and do Ebay the old way unless Endicia improves the software or I decide to break down and buy another PC. Plus I had to raise my shipping price to recover some of the cost and I don't know at this time, if I am losing sales or not as it is too early to tell. If you aren't having problems or just a few with your current system, I wouldn't bother.
posted on September 12, 2001 09:43:53 PM
> so I had to get up and down 40 times to re-insert the paper
Maybe I misunderstood here, but why would you need to get up and down 40 times? Don't you just let your first set of label sheets run through? That way, your next set of inserts will be all the same row and column. Let's say you had a 4x4 label. I would print row 1, column 1 for 100 prints. Then after that is finished, I would re-use the labels and now print on row 1, column 2 and so on.
Thanks for the tip. I've only had my inkjet for a couple of months so I don't know what it's capable of when doing labels. It might work fine doing it that way so I'll have to give it a try. I've tried doing this on my laser in the past but it won't work since the paper gets too flimsy with missing labels and jams up. Maybe the newer lasers are better.
