SOFTWARE
Internet postage just got easier. After about a year of hoop-jumping, E-Stamp and Stamps.com have acquired the US Postal Service's official approval, paving the way - in the dramatic words of E-Stamp's literature - "to transform the way people buy and use postage." (Both companies sought the market's stamp of approval by joining the Internet IPO frenzy, with Stamps.com going public in June and E-Stamp filing in August.) Thanks to these desktop programs, you no longer have to wait in line for service from flesh-and-blood clerks, but you will pay a surcharge for the point-and-click convenience.
Both E-Stamp and Stamps.com handle everything from letters to larger packages, allowing you to download postage as data and print barcode-like stamps with your printer. And both let you send priority letters.
For ease of use, though, Stamps.com wins by a mile. It's easy to install via download, and its simple, browserlike interface had me printing stamped envelopes in the time it took to complete E-Stamp's setup. Stamps.com also has a special pricing plan for light mailers, which saves cash and avoids the hassle of E-Stamp's bulkier program.
But for the serious home-office setup, E-Stamp is considerably more robust. I can drag and drop information from contact databases without importing. And, as Microsoft's epostage partner, E-Stamp boasts more Word-based features. I can, for example, print stamps directly onto letters, which then slide into special envelopes with windows for both address and stamp, saving me from envelope printing entirely. Expect that kind of integration to only get tighter.
More important, E-Stamp comes with an electronic "vault," a small hardware plug-in that stores postage on the PC itself, letting me get stamps without going online. That means not having to rely on my budget ISP to get that big mailing in the box by the end of the day.
E-Stamp: 10 percent fee per purchase; $49.99 starter kit includes $25 postage. E-Stamp: www.estamp.com.
Stamps.com: $1.99 monthly flat fee up to $25 postage, 15 percent fee per purchase above $25; $19.99 maximum monthly fee. Stamps.com: www.stamps.com.
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