Franking Machine Suppliers - Recommendations please

[cubzworld]

We are just in the process of ending our contract with Neopost mostly due to the ridiculous premium rate call they charge for us to recredit and for every other small charge they can think of.

I have looked at moving to Smart Stamp but we need a system that can be used by any member of staff regardless of their technical ability. We do not post enough on a regular basis for a Royal Mail Account. (Spend approx £100-£200 a month)

Therefore I am looking for a Franking Machine supplier (with scales included) at reasonable rates.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Many thanks

Tracy
Jetset 2

 

[borobabe]

pitney bowes had an offer on, not sure if it is still running but I have just signed up to a months free trial with £20 free postage on it.

 

[deniser]

I was going to sign up with Pitney Bowes until I checked the website and found hidden charges they hadn't told me about.

 

[KeithGreen]

I considered both Neopost and Pitney Bowes. We did some Google research and found people who seem to provide a sort of franking brokerage service.

In the end we decided to stick with stamps. No hidden charges. No consumables ink, labels etc. We can buy them at a discount because we buy from stamp dealers who bulk buy unused but obsolete stamps from the Royal Mail. I realise they are liable to pilferage by staff but if you are interested do a Google search on "discount postage stamps". You can also buy unused stamps on Ebay.

 

[Cathy]

If you're only doing that much mail why not print directly from Royal Mail, ie in the price finder when it says 'buy now' or 'print now'?

Failing that, we used Smart Stamp for a long time and you can set templates up fairly easily that just need a weight/class edit. If there are any printed mistakes you just send off a request for a refund (freepost!) and they've always, in my experience, been credited.

 

[cubzworld]

Thanks for your advice - what do you mean by price finder? - we are travel agents so send out confirmations & tickets etc.

Looking at Smart stamp we looked at that and it appears that you have to type in the address for each label not something our staff have the time to do.

Same problem with stamps - we have variable weights for tickets etc.

Whilst I hate all the extra charges incurred with franking machines I feel this is our only option and so we are looking for the cheapest way possible.

Many thanks
Tracy
Jetset 2

 

[Courir]

Hi there,

Instead of SmartStamp take a look at Royal Mail's Postage Online which is similar but without the monthly charges. You can print directly on to envelopes as well. Have not tried it but one of the Dymo label printers with this would be nice.

Another option for small volume mailings is to buy envelopes from Royal Mail pre-paid with the postage. They have the usual sizes in window or non-window and I find them a useful option. A tad more expensive than normal supplies of envelopes but should be a lot cheaper than a franking machine. Click here for details.

Out of interest I had an article published yesterday on Hellmail (leading postal services site) - Please click here to read my article about saving money with postal services!

Best of luck, Mike

 

[holidayinyourpocket]

A few words about Pitney Bowes. I used them in a previous business for 2 years and their offering is excellent - free scales and franker and not bad prices. They even threw in a free logo so my mail was branded.

The real issue is when stuff goes wrong. 20-25 minute holds on the phones, staff who haven't a clue, machines breaking and being replaced with second hand models.

They also have the habit of sending you more ink cartridges (which are 3 x more expensive than if you get them eslsewhere) without you asking and then invoicing you. Trying to get them taken back is so soul-destroying you end up not bothering.

I tried on 3 seperate occasions to cancel the contract and failed. I've left the company now and would never use them again.

 

[Andy27UK]

Used Pitney Bowes for a few months and so far so good. Got the machine on a lease and it's ours after 5 years if we still use it. It pays for it's self in postage easily and we spend around £300/month with royal mail.

 

[dragonfly]

I know you say you don't spend enough for a Royal Mail Account, but have you applied for one?

In my opinion it is the way to go. We print out own envelopes with a Postage Impression, then simple fill in the online form and take them to the local post office. (we.re a courier company so getting one of the vans to drop them off isn't a problem) We don't spend that much more than you on postage to be honest.

Only thing to watch out for is the min order value of £5, we keep a few non-time sensitive sales letters pre prepared so that we can add them to the post to bulk it up, on the odd days we're short of post.