mommacude
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:00:32 PM
I'm considering ordering the Stamps.com 'power plan' which gives me a free scale, but is 18.99 a month (probably a lot of you know this) and I'm wondering: for those of you that use this, do you charge any extra for postage (a few cents on each sale, perhaps) to cover that, or do you just consider that part of your costs? I'm trying to cut corners where I can just getting started. . . and with AuctionWatch fees, Paypal fees, and eBay fees, it starts to add up. TIA for any input.
Christine
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eyeguy6
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:05:51 PM
Christine - With the $18.99/mo plan there is no surcharge on the postage purchased. I signed up for the plan and Office Depot delivered my free digital scale the next day.
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dman3
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:20:58 PM
Dont charge your buyers extra for these things its all a cost of running the auctions.
What I have done incressed the starting bids to cover the cost of running my sales this way.
http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
Email [email protected]
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ExecutiveGirl
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:22:44 PM
All I am going to say is I used Stamps.com for over 2 years and finally got rid of them and switched to a MUCH better company - Endicia.com. Endicia offers free Delivery Confirmation (Stamps.com doesn't), and they are MUCH cheaper than Stamps.com - at only $9.95/month. Also, Stamps.com has THE WORST customer service I've ever seen. Endicia goes above and beyond for their customers.
So you might want to consider Endicia instead of Stamps.com. Especially if you're looking to cut corners.
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mommacude
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:35:56 PM
Thanks guys!!
I'm glad this forum is here for us newbies. 
Christine
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ahc3
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:44:16 PM
I actually use real stamps. Most items I send out though weigh under a pound, and I can often buy the stamps below face value, anywhere from 85-90% of face. I spent $35 on a great digital scale. I used to use Pitney Bowes and Stamps.com, now I just use stamps and am saving a lot of money.
A hint for Pitney Bowes customers. When I canceled, they offered me a LOWER rate, much lower. If you are paying too much, it might be a good idea to discuss it with them, they are flexible.
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mommacude
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:46:59 PM
it looks good, but it doesn't give the pricing on their site, isn't that odd?
Also, if I sign up, how do I make sure you get credit.
Christine
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vargas
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:51:55 PM
What I have done incressed the starting bids to cover the cost of running my sales this way.
This only works each and every time if your item sells at the opening bid each and every time.
A higher starting bid does not guarantee a higher final bid... so don't count on it to recoup any added costs.
Unless you sell in a highly competitive category where you must charge exact postage to attract bidders, there's nothing wrong with charging a nickel to a quarter above the actual postage to help cover your costs.
In the event your category is highly competitive and you cannot tack on a small, reasonable handling charge, then consider the cost of using a postage service as a convenience to YOU... believe me, the time and hassle it saves is worth a few bucks a month.
edited for typo
[ edited by vargas on Oct 17, 2001 06:54 PM ]
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mommacude
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posted on October 17, 2001 06:55:33 PM
Good point. . . standing in line for an hour holding my 2 year old on one hip to keep her from running away was worth about 18.99 in itself!! LOL
As for real stamps. . .that's funny I never considered it, because I used to only sell Beanies and everyone always wanted those sent Priority so I had to go get it weighed. Guess I need to get a scale too.
So that's added to my list
1)Scale
2)Digital Camera (stop borrowing my neighbor's)
Christine
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buddhafinder
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posted on October 17, 2001 07:59:05 PM
Endicia is a much better product, cheaper, and provides free Delivery Confirmation for your Priority Mail packages. I wouldn't want to go back to stamps.com. You can buy a scale like that for $50, which you would save in the first 6 months at Endicia.
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ExecutiveGirl
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posted on October 17, 2001 08:05:21 PM
You don't even need to spend $50 on a scale... just look up postage scales on ebay.. there are several...
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avaloncourt
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posted on October 17, 2001 08:28:04 PM
You'll find a lot of us reformed Stamps.com customers here. We all got tired of service or billing problems and switched to the clear winner, Endicia. It's a great service with some great people running the show.
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fetishtemple
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posted on October 17, 2001 08:55:46 PM
Back around the dawn of time....I tried E-stamp and it sucked big time, so I switched to Postage.com.
After a week or two I began to realize that I had "switched Peter for Paul" and gave up and went back to standing in line at the post office for postage...after all I had to stand in line anyway to get the delivery confirmation stamp. However, standing in line was cheaper than using Stamps.com because there was no misprinted, lost postage.
Then Simply Postage came along. It had a great scale and printed very accurately so there was no more lost postage. The labels were only about a penny a piece...but you still had to stand in line for the stamp on the darn delivery confirmation. We stuck with Simply Postage for about a year and a half.
Then came the new age dawning and Endicia was born!!! Superior customer service (actually unrivaled among the internet companies), low cost, free Delivery Confirmation (from the proceeds we purchased a new 10 pound scale in a month), and we became ta da ...... BULK MAILERS!!!
Now all I do is print out the postage labels, apply them to the package, go in the back door/loading dock entrance at the local Post Office and drop the days tub off. I also get to pick up a new tub or two for my next load cause they are always conveniently sitting there.
This is the best postal experience I have had in my five years of internet/catalog shipping.
ENDICIA rocks! Many thanks to Harry and the rest of the crew.
Hope this helps...it is just one person experience but I think there are more than a few on this board that have shared this experience with me.
Dee
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kathyg
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posted on October 17, 2001 08:59:37 PM
I have been using stamps.com for just over a year now, and I will report that I am very happy about it. I've never had a single problem that required technical support, so I can't comment as to that aspect.
But I will say in general that if you are serious about mailing a lot of stuff, a service such as this is worth every penny that they charge you in service fees. It doesn't necessarilly need to be stamps.com, but when you figure what your time is worth vs. the monthly fee, it's a no brainer.
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jfpnatl
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posted on October 17, 2001 09:11:10 PM
Ive treid them all also, Endicia is far the best service yet. Take from those who have used several, theres nothing like Endicia!!
Stamps is pits for customer service and billing problems. Once I cancelled they billed me for 4-5 months after that. I called, sent e mails and they just wouldnt let me go. Finally after two mts of Pure
H^%l raisng and my bank had to do a charge back to get a refund of the fees they had been charging.
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litlnemo
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posted on October 18, 2001 03:15:44 AM
Stamps.com is way better than going to the Post Office all the time -- but that's not saying much.
I used them for more than a year, and there were constant hassles, but it was still worth using. (The service got worse and worse as time went on, though -- be warned.)
As a Mac user, though, I finally got sick to death of having to run Virtual PC to use the Stamps.com software. So I got a regular old postage meter and I'm using that instead. It's much faster and less hassle.
However, I am still small-scale enough (mostly my mail-order rubber stamp business, not much eBay stuff) that it would be cheaper to use PC Postage if I could. Is there any provider out there who is Mac-compatible? Endicia is not, which is a shame, since I've heard such glowing reviews.
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mommacude
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posted on October 18, 2001 03:21:31 AM
I'm going to sign up for Endicia right now!! Thanks!!
Christine
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BJGrolle
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posted on October 18, 2001 06:30:29 AM
I chose ClickStamp.com from Pitney Bowes because I don't use DC as a regular routine and the cost is only $1.49 a month.
And the system is flexible. I can either print out the postage by package weight (when I don't need any extras) or by exact cost (when I do need the extras like DC or for International shipments).
Endicia seems like a great service if integrated DC and International support is a must for you.
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mommacude
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posted on October 18, 2001 06:39:29 AM
What's DC?
Christine
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wowwow85
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posted on October 18, 2001 06:48:34 AM
HOW DO YOU GET STAMPS AT 80-90 % OF FACE VALUE???????????????
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buddhafinder
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posted on October 18, 2001 06:55:03 AM
Christine -
DC is Delivery Confirmation - free with Endicia. Also can be free by using the USPS web site to print a label.
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kolonel22
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posted on October 18, 2001 07:13:43 AM
I have a few questions for those of you who use Endicia
1. If you just want to print out postage labels what do you print them on?
2.Is there a special Printer required or special label or can I print them on my HP LaserJet 6p?
3. Do they supply a scale?
4. Is it easy to use?
I just received an e-mail from Half.com offering Simply Postage and was considering them until I read the information here about
Endicia.
Anyone have experience with Simply Postage?
I always appreciate the great advise, support and willingness to share that you get here on AW
Thanks in advance
Health & Happiness
"The Colonel"
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avaloncourt
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posted on October 18, 2001 07:26:53 AM
1. If you just want to print out postage labels what do you print them on?
I use labels that are 4 x 3 1/3 or equivalent to Avery 5164/5264. These are the same size that ClickStamp uses and they are a common shipping label. I buy them in bulk from a seller on ebay so the end price makes them 1.1 cents per label.
2.Is there a special Printer required or special label or can I print them on my HP LaserJet 6p?
No special printer, you are using the same printer as I have.
3. Do they supply a scale?
They do not supply a scale. Sorry. They can be had cheaply enough though.
4. Is it easy to use?
Some people have problems with the initial setup and testing to the printer. I was up and running within a few minutes. I have templates set up for the labels indicated above and a lot of people have downloaded those and it has made their set-up process easier. The templates allow you to use those labels for printing Delivery Confirmation with the postage. The address/postage prints on one label and the Delivery Confirmation barcode prints to the label next to it.
[ edited by avaloncourt on Oct 18, 2001 06:52 PM ]
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buddhafinder
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posted on October 18, 2001 07:27:16 AM
Hi
I print postage on Avery comptible labels matching 5164 (6 per page). I use one label for simple postage, and two labels if I want Delivery Confirmation.
Some people use the free Priority Mail labels from the PO. I don't think you could use those in your printer, though. Works great on an inkjet.
Endicia is easy to use. It is very flexible, and the software lets you print custom messages or logos on your labels and envelopes. It auto verifies the address, and gives you the zip+4 to use.
Downsides - occasionally the address you want to verify will not be correct, or the buyer gives it to you in a non-standard format. You can't print postage unless you have the valid address. This has happened to me about one in 200 packages. The plus is that you can correct the address with the buyer and fix mistakes. The down side is that I sometimes just use the software to print the label and use stamps. As I say, very rare, but it does happen. If you don't have an alternative, it can be frustrating at that point.
Endicia sells some special labels, but they are too expensive, in my opinion. Most standard types of labels will work, and the software has templates for all common sizes already. With the laser printer, you'll need to be sure to get 'laser' rated labels, and I think you'll only be able to use labels on sheets, not individual labels like the PO provides.
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ahc3
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posted on October 18, 2001 08:40:02 AM
I've purchased some really good lots on ebay itself. Two places to look:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&query=face&categoryid=&ht=1&st=0&category1=261&maxRecordsPerPage=100&SortProperty=MetaEndSort
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&query=discount&categoryid=&ht=1&st=0&category1=261&maxRecordsPerPage=100&SortProperty=MetaEndSort
Also, if you don't want to deal with ebay, do a search engine search using discount postage and you will find dealers who can supply you with stamps below face value.
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loggia
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posted on October 18, 2001 04:08:17 PM
Another thumbs up for Endicia.
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bestvalues
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posted on October 19, 2001 12:03:44 PM
What type of fees are we talking about for this service? Endicia?
Thank you.
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ExecutiveGirl
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posted on October 19, 2001 12:35:49 PM
Endicia costs $9.95 per month. That's it.
And, of course, you just buy your postage.
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wbbell
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posted on October 19, 2001 12:56:10 PM
HOW DO YOU GET STAMPS AT 80-90 % OF FACE VALUE?????????????
Off of eBay, of course. Try: http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/all/category262/index.html
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