| REVIEWS
Cruising
Cyberspace
Web
Site Pick Of The Month
By Pam Wegmann
In the fourth quarter
of last year, we visited the revamped site of the United States Postal
Service and profiled a new capability of purchasing postage through the
Internet. This month, we visit one of these e-postage sites:
http://www.stamps.com
This is the site
of one of four private companies approved by the U.S. Postal Service to
sell postage products. Here you can purchase and print postage from
your desktop and print it onto envelopes or labels any time of the day
or night. All you need is a PC, a laser or ink-jet printer, and an
Internet connection.
From this site, you
can download the software that will enable you to print the postage, open
an account for as little as $10 with a major credit card, and you’re on
your way. The company makes its money from the monthly service fee
it charges for using its site to purchase and download postage. The
monthly fee is tied to the amount of postage you use and ranges from a
minimum of $1.99 to a maximum of $19.99.
Stamps.com makes
this new flavor of e-commerce easy to implement. The site is
visually clean and easy to follow with its red, white and blue color scheme
and logically labeled links to its individual pages. There’s lots
of white space and clear, concise content.
At the Postage Service
link, you will find instructions and answers to FAQs (Frequently
Asked Questions) that will address everything you need to know to buy your
stamps over the Internet.
Clicking on the Pricing
Plan link provides the simple schedule for calculating the monthly service
fee that will be assessed against your credit card account each month.
To help you compare and evaluate the cost of purchasing postage online
versus using a traditional metering device, a calculator is provided under
this particular link.
The Mailing &
Shipping page is one of the most useful. There, you will find
a list of the usual USPS services available at Stamps.com. The content
at this page tells you how the site works with First Class Mail, Priority
and Express Mail, International Mail, Certified Mail, Delivery Confirmation
and more.
The Customer Support
link provides answers to common customer questions and trouble shooting
suggestions.
If you want a preview
of the mechanics of how online postage works, in the middle of the Home
Page, you will find a link called Online Demo, which provides an animated
step by step demonstration of how this new process works. If you
like what you see, click on Sign Up to set up your account.
And just in case you are still wavering, there’s a link to a free
trial offer that gives out $20 in free postage.
So if you
are ready to give up most of your trips to the post office, check out this
site, sign up and get your stamps from cyberspace.
Knowledge is Power!
:-)
February 2000
Questions/Comments
can be sent to pam@info-matters.com
or faxed to 504.738.0016. You can also reach Ms. Wegmann at 504.738.0070.
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