Stamps.Com: My Real-Life Experience

I am an eBay seller, and I also sell on Amazon.com. I use a lot of postage inside a month's time. Post offices, while well-located, are pains in the butt.

USPS.com is a good site as well, but it takes a long time to get stamps that you order to come in the mail. Plus, if you don't buy a lot of stamps, which I did not, you seem to have to order a lot. So, I started looking into stamps.com. I like their software, their interface and their customer service. The interface is very shiny and user friendly. The "free" scale interfaces very nicely with the software and allows you to weigh your packages and select the delivery service you want. You can also add services like delivery confirmation, insurance and various other things. All in all, the interface just about rationalizes the expense. Read on.

I signed up for one free month of service, with a promise of $10 in postage after 30, 60 and 90 days of paid monthly service charges. I also ordered the "free" scale, which I had to pay $9.14 shipping to get it to me and they never mention that fact. The scale took about 3-4 weeks to arrive. So, by the time I got the scale, the free month was up and I took the hit and paid the 15.99 for the month, they bill in arrears, so be mindful of that. You don't really even get a free month because they bill you 30 days from the day you started, in arrears, but they never tell you that until you go to cancel your account.

The scale works beautifully with the stamps.com interface, truly a great design. The USB plug in and the power on and tada, the software sees the scale and you are ready to go.

So, after the first billing cycle had passed and 30 days had lapsed, I sent in the first coupon for free $10 in postage. You have to use the form they provide and you must use stamps.com postage, or your claim will be denied and null. I filled the requirements and sent it in. I continued to buy postage and mail my stuff out as usual. The 15.99 was hanging out in my head and I hated it, but I loved the convenience and ease of using this program, so I continued. The $10 in free postage never showed up. 30 days passed again, I sucked it up and paid the $15.99 fee again, and still no postage. I mailed off form #2 for my second installment of $10 in free postage. Remember, I still had not received free postage #1 yet. I continued to use the software and I loved it, still do, but I digress.

So, after about 6-7 more days of that constant reminder in my head of 15.99 a month for something that is free from the post office, I called them. The lady I spoke to was very nice and professional and did not seem in a hurry. She was also American and spoke so I could understand her. Their call center is not in India, which is a very good thing. I told her that I wanted to cancel my membership for two reasons, I was tired of paying 15.99 a month for something that was free from the original source and I had not received my $10 in free postage, the first or second "requests". She immediately credited my stamps.com account with $10, for the first request that had not been given to me. She told me that it takes them about 8-10 weeks to process these requests but she could not find my request in the system, but she would give me the first $10 as an act of good faith.

I agreed to stay on as a customer, but in my mind, had already decided to stop the service. In the meantime, I sent an email through their Web site complaining about the lack of the rebated postage hitting my stamps.com account and I was very disgruntled. After the first call, I immediately took the $10 worth of "free" postage and printed postage to zero the account, all in my plan to call back in a day or so to cancel the service. I also immediately changed my credit card on file with stamps.com to a debit card that did not have enough in it to hit it with the full 15.99 service charge. Before I got a chance to call again, I got an email back from their customer support with a "coupon" for the $20 in free postage that I had "couponed" in to them, following their requirements to a tee. Amazingly, the coupon worked and I had an additional $20 in "free" postage in my account, for which I immediately, again, printed postage to zero the account.

I waited about a week and called again. Again, I was greeted by someone who was not in another country and was very professional. I told her I wanted to cancel my subscription and was ready to leave stamps.com. She pulled my account and saw that I had purchased "quite a bit" of postage during my three months and wanted to know why I was canceling. I told her I was tired of the 15.99 service charge and thought it was exorbitant for the service that is free from the post office. She immediately informed me that I qualified for a lesser package (this information is available nowhere online or in the paperwork I received) - this lesser charge is 7.99 a month, but has fewer capabilities, like cost tracking and package shipping, etc. I continued to tell her I wanted to cancel and these folks are very well coached and good at their game.

After a few more attempts to continue to rob my account of 15.99 every month, she agreed to cancel my account. At this point she said "you have used this account x number of days, so I have to prorate your charges for this month." I explained that I thought I was paid for the month and it was at this point that she told me they charge in arrears... Whatever I figured, I had gotten more postage than I thought I would, so I agreed and she proceeded. I had used about 2/3 of the month and they gave me a 6.77 credit in my account. She gave me a confirmation number and I was done. A few minutes later, I received two emails, one with the prorated amount and one with the cancellation confirmation number. All in all, it seems honest and forthright, but they don't tell you everything and are very good at convincing you to stay on. Be savvy and you can get free service and free postage, but the train will eventually quit running and it will be time to get off.

Bottom line, I would not recommend this to anyone. It's a rip-off, plain and simple. The "free" scale has no display on it. So it won't work without the stamps.com interface. The "free postage" really does not exist, as they eat that up in monthly service charges. And the "free for a month" is a bunch of bunk, because they charge in arrears.

I have, however, found a way to still be able to print postage on demand and not be charged a monthly fee, but it requires an initial investment. I purchased a Dymo LabelWriter Twin Turbo and its doing the same job now. You can also buy online postage from endicia.com with NO service charge. I will write a review about this when I have some real time under my belt with use of this new system.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy your day!