(COMTEX) B: Stamps Can Now Be Bought Online
B: Stamps Can Now Be Bought Online
WASHINGTON, Aug 09, 1999 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- No need to leave
home to buy stamps any more. The Postal Service on Monday launched PC
Postage, a stamp that can be printed through personal computers.
Whether it's used by the average consumer mailing holiday cards or
wedding invitations or a business sending correspondence, the system
eventually could change the way many people put postage on their
envelopes.
Consumers would go online to one of the companies offering PC Postage.
With an ordinary laser or inkjet printer, a barcode would be printed on
each envelope to indicate mail processing information and postage
payment. For packages, consumers would enter the weight, buy the
appropriate amount of postage and print it on labels to be put on the
packages.
''With PC Postage you can purchase and print postage 24 hours a day,
seven days a week from the convenience of your home or office,'' said
Pam Gibert, Postal Service vice president of retail.
Wellington Wilson, a San Francisco businessman whose Wellington E-Group
is creating an online shopping mall, provided his own testimonial.
''This operation is so slick, so simple, so easy,'' said Wilson, who
has been using the Stamps.com product as part of a pilot program since
January.
Stamps.com of Santa Monica, Calif., and E-Stamp Corp. of San Mateo,
Calif., began offering the computerized postage on Monday. Two other
companies -- Neopost Inc. of Hayward, Calif., and Pitney Bowes of
Stamford Conn. -- are to begin offering the products in coming months.
Consumers can use those companies' Web sites to purchase and print
postage for domestic first-class, Priority and Express Mail and for
parcel post envelopes and packages.
With each company, the consumer goes to the company's Web site to
register and download any required software. Some companies offer the
software free while others require a fee.
Consumers also will pay handling fees to the companies -- they will
range from $1.99 to $19.99 a month depending on usage rates, according
to companies' plans -- along with payment for the postage. Purchases
can be made either by debit or credit card.
The procedure for usage can also vary. Some companies have hardware
that can be purchased and used offline to print stamps. For others, the
postage is downloaded directly off the Internet.
During the three years of working on PC Postage, each company has had
to meet requirements to ensure the security of the system, Gibert said.
Even with high-tech stamps, the traditional stamp isn't headed for
extinction, Gibert said.
''We don't see that stamps are going away,'' she said. ''It's simply
another choice.''
Copyright 1999 Associated Press, All rights reserved.
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By JANELLE CARTER
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