Easy Savings for Small Business: Create Your Own Office Mailroom
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/article/articles/1265/1/Easy-Savings-for-Small-Business-Create-Your-Own-Office-Mailroom/Page1.html
Merrin Muxlow
Merrin is a writer, yoga instructor, and law student based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for Resource Nation, an online resource that provides expert advice on outsourcing and purchasing decisions. Resource Nation matches business owners and entrepreneurs with business service providers in 100+ categories, from payroll processing to postage meters.
By Merrin Muxlow
Published on 07/2/2009
You’ve all heard of big companies with “mail rooms,” right? A mail room is pretty much an inter-office post office. Big companies process mail on site because it’s cost effective, convenient, and allows a business to process more outgoing mail each day. Small businesses can have their own “mail room,” too, or at least their own mailing system: you can use a postage meter or online service to pay for postage, package shipments, or an other service offered by the USPS, including receipt of delivery and COD verification.
Create Your Own Office Mailroom
You’ve all heard of big companies with “mail rooms,” right? A mail room
is pretty much an inter-office post office. Big companies process mail
on site because it’s cost effective, convenient, and allows a business
to process more outgoing mail each day. Small businesses can have their
own “mail room,” too, or at least their own mailing system: you can use
a postage meter or online service to pay for postage, package
shipments, or an other service offered by the USPS, including receipt
of delivery and COD verification.
How On-site Mailing Works: Postage Meters vs. Online Mail Service
If you want to process and mail shipments directly from your office, you have two options: postage meters or online mail services.
Postage meters work similarly to parking meters- you can refill them (usually up to $1,000) and apply postage charges to your meter balance. The postage meter itself is leased, not purchased, so you’ll pay a monthly charge for the equipment in addition to paying postage charges. Some postage meter companies also allow a monthly billing option for a fee (usually about $10 in addition to the cost of equipment, depending on your mail volume and meter balance). Meters are usually equipped with postal scales, which weigh mail in order to assess exact postage charges. Envelopes are stamped and postmarked at your office, and labels can be printed for oversized or oddly shaped shipments.
Online mail services work similarly to postage meters, without the need to lease meter equipment. Companies like stamps.com allow you to print postage directly from your computer- and they even throw in free postal scales to all customers for weighing shipments.
Online mail services tend to work better for companies with smaller mail volume, or those who ship packages or mail shipments infrequently. Postage meters, to contrast, are often used as a component of a larger mailing system.
Mailing System Equipment
A postage meter is just one piece of the mailing system. Most businesses choose to purchase additional mailing equipment in order to take full advantage of on-site mailing capabilities. Equipment that folds, stacks, seals, or bundles materials for mailing is often purchased separately- unlike the meter itself, a business can own mailing system equipment. Here are a mailing system components that are worth considering:
How On-site Mailing Works: Postage Meters vs. Online Mail Service
If you want to process and mail shipments directly from your office, you have two options: postage meters or online mail services.
Postage meters work similarly to parking meters- you can refill them (usually up to $1,000) and apply postage charges to your meter balance. The postage meter itself is leased, not purchased, so you’ll pay a monthly charge for the equipment in addition to paying postage charges. Some postage meter companies also allow a monthly billing option for a fee (usually about $10 in addition to the cost of equipment, depending on your mail volume and meter balance). Meters are usually equipped with postal scales, which weigh mail in order to assess exact postage charges. Envelopes are stamped and postmarked at your office, and labels can be printed for oversized or oddly shaped shipments.
Online mail services work similarly to postage meters, without the need to lease meter equipment. Companies like stamps.com allow you to print postage directly from your computer- and they even throw in free postal scales to all customers for weighing shipments.
Online mail services tend to work better for companies with smaller mail volume, or those who ship packages or mail shipments infrequently. Postage meters, to contrast, are often used as a component of a larger mailing system.
Mailing System Equipment
A postage meter is just one piece of the mailing system. Most businesses choose to purchase additional mailing equipment in order to take full advantage of on-site mailing capabilities. Equipment that folds, stacks, seals, or bundles materials for mailing is often purchased separately- unlike the meter itself, a business can own mailing system equipment. Here are a mailing system components that are worth considering:
- Stamp and postage printing: One of the most basic mailing system features that can be customized for your business. You can print custom postage (your logo) or, using an online mailing service, even order actual postage stamps customized with photos or company graphics.
- Letter-folding equipment: Equipment that can fold materials, such as brochures, into a more convenient shape for mailing. For example, folding 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper into envelope-sized forms.
- Shrink-wrap equipment: Shrink wrappers can seal goods in plastic for easier shipping.
- Bundling machines: Collects multiple materials into a “bundle” for more convenient mailing.