03/ 27/ 2002
If your business spends $30-100 and more on postage per month, you might benefit from using Pitney Bowes' "Personal Post Office," which is for very low volume usage and which was described in last week's Workshop. Today's Workshop, also by contributor Jeffrey Moses, features the Pitney Bowes "B702 PostPerfect Postage" meter, which is for businesses with higher volume.
First, a recapping from last week of several reasons a small business would use a postage meter. One of the main benefits is convenience. With a meter, you don't have to run to the post office for stamps, and you'll never again run out of postage during a late night mailing. The Pitney Bowes B702 PostPerfect Postage meter prints postage on 10-15 envelopes a minute, and the postage is downloaded via the phone line. The equipment comes with all required hookups; all you have to do is plug it into the phone line and set-up transmission. Payment for postage can be made by credit card, or an account can be set up for quarterly billing.
The second reason to rent a meter: incremental saving on mailings. The B702 comes with a digital scale that weighs to 0.1 oz accuracy, meaning that you won't have to guess how many stamps you need to put on a heavy envelope. You'll know exactly how much postage is required for any piece of mail. Each additional ounce requires less postage than the first ounce, so in theory this feature can save you money.
The third reason a small business might choose to use this meter: to achieve a professional appearance for envelopes. Almost all large businesses and organizations use postage-meter printing rather than hand-applied stamps, both for convenience and for the fractional savings on extra ounces. This is a subtle feature, but it will make your company look larger.
Now to some basics on the B702:
- Cost: $28.75/month, or $23.75/month without the digital scale.
- Prints 10-15 envelopes per minute (handles large envelopes and envelopes up to one inch thick).
- Manual feed.
- Pin number security for operation.
- Automatic date setting.
- Postage access takes approximately 90 seconds via phone line.
- Display alert warns when postage funds are low.
- Postage accounting reports on postage used.
- Film ribbon for printing: 2 for $43.99.
- Each film prints postage on 1200-2200 envelopes.
Pitney Bowes can be contacted directly toll-free at 1-800 574-8639 (www.pitneybowes.com). There are, of course, other companies selling competing equipment. You can find them by typing in "Postage Meters" or "Mailing Equipment" in your favorite search engine. Or you can look under "Mailing Equipment" or "Mailing Services" in the Yellow Pages.
Don't think a postage meter is right for your small business? Keep reading our Tip of the Day for more solutions for your mailing and shipping needs.
