What Is Stamps.com?

Shipping is one of the trickiest things to automate or streamline for small business owners, but that’s where Stamps.com comes in.

What is stamps.com, how does it work, and what are the benefits for your business?

Read on, and we’ll tell you everything you need to know about using this service.

What Is Stamps.com?

Stamps.com is a shipping software that offers steep discounts (up to 40-76%) on USPS and UPS rates. With fast delivery, Priority Mail services, free tracking, integration with major eCommerce platforms, and online shopping carts, Stamps.com has many options for shipping for small businesses.

All a small business will need to use Stamps.com to ship products is a compatible computer, printer, and scale. The best part? Stamps.com will even provide you with the scale.

What Are The Steps For Shipping Through Stamps.com?

Stamps.com makes shipping easy, and of course, that means you can expect the software itself to be easy to use, too. Getting started is a snap.

Stamps.com Features For Small Businesses

In general, compared to most full shipping software, Stamps.com is a bit limited. That said, Stamps.com does a good job of fulfilling its purpose: simplifying the process of purchasing postage from the USPS and UPS.

Here are a few of the features Stamps.com offers:

Do I Need Special Equipment?

As we mentioned above, you won’t need any special equipment to use your Stamps.com account.

As long as you have a computer with a current browser, an internet connection, and an ordinary office printer, you’re all set. You don’t even need any special labels to print postage on. The only special equipment required is the postage scale that Stamps.com sends you when you sign up for the service.

Stamps.com Costs

Stamps.com offers three levels of service to its users. The price is the same whether you use the web-based software or install it directly. Be aware that the postage cost is not included in the monthly subscription.

Stamps.com lets new users sign up for a four-week trial period with a hitch. If you like Stamps.com and sign up for a paid account, you will be charged for the first month you used the service. When you sign up for the free trial, you’ll receive a credit for $5 in postage that you can use during the trial period. After the trial, you’ll receive two $10 postage coupons; you can redeem one per month.

Here are the subscription plans:

Pro

Stamps.com’s Pro plan is priced at $19.99/month and includes these benefits:

• One user at a single location
• Ten reference codes (cost codes)
• Customer support via phone and email
• Free digital scale

Premier

Stamps.com’s Premier plan is priced at $24.99/month and includes everything on the Pro plan, plus:

• Three users at a single location
• 50 reference codes

Enterprise

Stamps.com’s Enterprise plan has custom pricing, depending on your needs. It includes these benefits:

• Three or more users, at multiple locations
• Printable certified mail forms
• Dedicated account manager
• 1,000 reference codes

As you consider using Stamps.com to purchase postage, you should also keep in mind the numerous shipping discounts the company provides. Stamps.com users can access USPS Commercial Base, Commercial Plus, Cubic Pricing, and Negotiated Service Agreements.

Here are the available USPS discount rates:

• Up to 16% on all Priority Mail Express shipments
• Up to 30% on Priority Mail shipments
• Up to 26% on First Class Package Service
• Up to 12% on Priority Mail International
• Up to 7% on Priority Mail Express® International
• Up to 5% on First Class Package International Service
• Up to 40% off USPS insurance rates on most mail classes
• Free USPS Tracking with Priority Mail Service
• Free Package Pick-up

Stamps.com users can access UPS discounts too:

• Up to 78% off on UPS Ground shipments
• Up to 73% for UPS 2nd Day Air services.
• Up to 69% for UPS Next Day Air services
• Up to 62% for UPS 3 Day Select services
• Up to 86% on UPS International shipping services

For more information on the available price plans and features, read our Stamps.com review.

Types Of Businesses Best Suited For Stamps.com

Stamps.com best fits smaller sellers who ship between 50 and 500 orders monthly. It’s also good for merchants previously using USPS and UPS exclusively for their shipments.

Merchants who ship fewer than 50 orders per month would be better off signing up for a free plan with shipping software such as Shippo, ShipStation, or ShippingEasy. Those who ship over 500 orders per month would also benefit from the advanced features of these software solutions, even though plans cost about $10 more per month.

How To Set Up A Stamps.com Account

Your first four weeks are billed as a free trial because you don’t have to pay while testing Stamps.com.

However, if you decide to keep using the software, you’ll be back-billed for the trial period.

During the trial, you’ll receive several freebies:

• Free postage scale. You will be billed $9.99 or less for shipping and handling
• $5 free postage
• Free postage labels you can use to print postage from Stamps.com

To sign up, visit Stamps.com. Because Stamps.com users are issued a license to print official US postage, the USPS requires registration information that includes a name, telephone number, and physical address where postage will be printed. You will need to enter credit card information in order to sign up for an account.

Once your account is up and running, be sure to integrate your online store and the marketplaces you sell on. Stamps.com offers integrations to a number of shopping carts and marketplaces. See their website for a full list.

How To Cancel A Stamps.com Account

If you decide Stamps.com is not for you, cancel during your first four weeks, and you’ll owe nothing. You can cancel online or by phone. After the trial period, you can cancel any time to stop using the service.

What To Consider Before Using Stamps.com For Your Business

Stamps.com is a good online postage service that performs as advertised. However, in practice, Stamps.com may not be right for many online sellers. Larger businesses likely require more features than Stamps.com can offer, especially the ability to ship with more carriers than just USPS and UPS. However, for smaller merchants, Stamps.com might fill a need perfectly, so don’t dismiss the software out of hand if you fit into that category.

Using shipping software is just one of the smart shipping strategies that business owners should be putting into practice. That’s especially true when you add significant discounts on shipping costs that more than make up the monthly subscription cost.

At the same time, Stamps.com’s relative simplicity compared to its cost may mean it’s not the ideal solution for your business.

Fortunately, you have a lot of good options to choose from. Check out our list of this year’s best shipping solutions to find the one that will fit your business best.

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