The Internet is empowering more and more entrepreneurs to launch businesses online. Whether it’s an e-commerce store that sells products or an Internet business that provides services to customers, mailings and shipping are part of daily operations. In fact, for e-commerce stores, business reputation depends on the speed and quality of shipping. With postage meters, also called postage machines, business owners can save time and money on this critical task.

Postage meters allow business owners to directly print exact postage on package labels and envelopes without the need to go to post offices to weigh and stamp them. They calculate the exact postage based on the weight, destination and type of mail. Besides, you can also keep track of the amount spent on shipping costs. Business productivity is also boosted as time saved is spent on more profitable tasks, such as business development.

How Do Postal Meters Help Small Businesses?

Postal machines are a boon for small businesses already short on time and money, not to mention staff for frequent trips to the post office. Some of the main advantages of using them are:

Convenient measurement: With postage machines, businesses can print and pay for postage directly at the office. You don’t have to wait in long lines at the post office for shipments to be weighed and sealed. You only need to make the trip to send the shipments or pick them up at your office.

Easy management of all types of emails: They can handle most types of mail: postal packages, priority, domestic first class, express, international first class, international postal packages, etc. As it is easy to print directly onto envelopes, bulk mails can be sealed accurately and quickly.

Cost savings: They always seal packages with accurate postage, unlike the situation at post offices where exact postage is not available all the time. Packages are weighed on a scale on the postage meter and postage is calculated accordingly.

What are the disadvantages of postal meters?

Although postal meters offer many advantages, they also have some challenges to face. Some of them are:

Lease rates: The use, rates and distribution of these machines is administered by the postal service of the country. Postage machines cannot be purchased and must be rented for long-term use. The lease fee can range from $ 20 to $ 500 per month depending on the model.

Change of postal rates: Postal rates can be changed by the postal service and this should also be reflected on the postage machines. While the latest digital meters can be updated electronically, lower cost models must be manually updated by the leasing company.

Government restrictions on repair: The government does not allow postage meter troubleshooting and repair by any personnel except the licensed landlord. This can cause delays and the business has to resort to regular mail until the meters are back up and running.

The convenience of owning a postage machine, reducing operating costs, and saving time from them greatly outweigh its disadvantages. Postage meters bring professionalism to official mailings and shipments and allow business owners to invest more time and money in business growth and other revenue-generating initiatives.