posted on August 25, 2003 01:03:50 PM new
To make a long story short, I have had 6 packages become "lost in the mail" since July 27th. I didn't use delivery confirmation for 2 reasons up until this point. #1 Most of my items were easily replaced and cost me 60 cents and #2 I address the envelopes the night before and then my husband fills the orders and goes to the post office when I'm at work.
Well, after this I have to rethink my plan. We are deciding to sell more expensive (cost to us anyway) videos and I don't want to spend the money for delivery confirmation at the post office. I looked into stamps.com, but they require that you print out the slip the same day you mail it. This isn't an option for us - not picturing hubby taking over that job anytime too soon.
Does Endicia let you print it out the day before you ship the item and if so, what type of thermal printer do you use if any (I have an order pending at Quill and may as well add it on while I'm at it).
As an aside, they have a new postal employee that started right around the same time we started having problems - would you mention it or just chalk it up to coincidence? (We ship about 50 packages a day and have none disappear until this time)
posted on August 25, 2003 01:19:12 PM new
ihula,
we use endicia and love it. We print out the postage the day we use it. But, I had one I did not use for several days and called endicia and said it was no big deal. It was accepted and delivered just fine. I really do not believe it is a problem.
We print all of our postage on regular paper and tape to the packages. We use an inkjet. It works great. A thermal printer would, of course, be easier.
Hope this helps, cramer
You will not be sorry if you go with endicia. It has greatly enhanced our business.
edited for spelling.....uuuggghhh
[ edited by cramer on Aug 25, 2003 01:20 PM ]
We started using Endicia about 3 weeks ago and absolutely love it.
If it's after 5 p.m. when you print out your label, it automatically asks you if you want the next day's date on it.
You also know that you can get free eDelivery Confirmation directly from the USPS.com web site, right?
We use a laser printer. Have used one for years and only paid about $400 for an HP LaserJet 2100 about 3 years ago. And the toner lasts forever! I think I've changed out one cartridge in the last 18 months and that's with a lot of pages of printing, too.
I have been using Endicia almoust two years. I always print the day before and then take them to the post office. The software has an auto check for after 5pm it asks if you want to put the next days date on the slip and after 5pm on Fridays it asks you if you want to ship on Monday.
I use the tracking on media, first class, and parcel. While it costs a little more for tracking, I have found it to be a benefit. I have shipped several thousand packages, and the only ones that seem become missing are the ones without.
posted on August 25, 2003 01:26:35 PM new
Forgot to say....we have never lost a package. We did have one delayed. It is also great to be able to go into your postage log and check tracking. I'm sure you will be happy.
posted on August 25, 2003 01:27:04 PM new
Thanks - I think I have to give them a try. I did look into the free eDelivery confirmation on the USPS website, and that's where a learned you have to print it the day you send the package out, so I just went back to my old ways since that wasn't an easy option for us.
posted on August 25, 2003 01:29:20 PM new
The one at the post office asks if you want to print the confirmation for today or tomorrow or for 2 days later. I use it all the time and most of the time I want it for the next day.
posted on August 25, 2003 04:50:53 PM newhula-lady:
I've been an ENDICIA CHEERLEADER for 3 yrs & couldn't live w/o them!
My DYMO LW330 label printer makes it virtually impossible to make a mistake -- got mine at OfficeDepot for $150 & it was worth every penny.
Nice thing about Endicia is that the PO respects yer mail! I've never had one lost, & my PARCEL POST travels almost as fast as PRIORITY:
Mail Class Number Average Minimum Maximum
Other 23 3.7 days 2 days 7 days
Priority Mail 43 2.8 days 1 days 11 days
Package Services 102 4.4 days 2 days 13 days
posted on August 25, 2003 05:01:44 PM new
I use Endicia and don't use the thermal printer.
I also had to do a 'date correction' I had printed out postage, and didn't make it to the PO so it will let you print out a small 'date correction' and tape it up near the postage, works great!
Art Bell Retired! George Noory is on late night coasttocoastam.com
posted on August 25, 2003 05:35:22 PM new
Cramer's correcto! Harry came here once & mentioned that the date was no biggie if yer a day or so off once or twice -- donna sweat the smallies!
posted on August 25, 2003 05:36:03 PM new
I use stamps.com, and you actually can post date all of your packages. In fact, I just did 50 labels that are dated for Wednesday. It is similar to Endicia, in that after 5pm it will roll over to the next day for it's post date. You also get a free scale, which is cool. You also get Delivery Confirmation free. One thing that I really like is the fact that I can simply cut and paste the entire address into one field to print postage. You cannot do that at the Post Office Website. you can cut and paste into individual fields, but this can take 3-4 times longer than having to do it once.
posted on August 25, 2003 08:46:45 PM new
Endicia works great.
You can print out postage as much as 7 days in advance.
You can theoretically drop your packages if they fit, into a mailbox, even if they weigh over a pound, because you are known as a "Known Shipper".
I usually drop mine off at the Post office dock as late as 6:30 PM without waiting in line. The Lobby closes at 5:00 so this gives me extra time.
For insurance you can use U-Pic, which if you set it up through your Endicia Software and reporting system, should give you around 60 cents per $100 insured.
AS an example, Insurance on 10 Packages valued at $10 each would cost you 60 cents to insure them all, as compared to the Post Office $1.30 x 10 = $13.00. ($13.00 vs $.60)
I think others people on this list may be set up on a different insurance program, so other peoples total cost to use U-Pic could vary.
Stealth mode, means the price you pay for shipping will not show up on your package, so the person will probably not neg you for the extra 25 cents you charge over actual postage for shipping supplies.
I use a Zebra LP2844 4" x 6" label printer and could not be happier.
posted on August 25, 2003 10:00:12 PM new
What is the cost of the labels for a Zebra LP2844 4" x 6" label? I use the Dymo 330 which I think are higher in cost (per label).
Thanks,
Dave
Friends don't let friends vote Republican!
posted on August 26, 2003 07:48:56 AM newWe have used Endicia combined with u-Pic (for insurance) for a year and a half and we wonder how we ever got along without it.
TOP programs, which we highly recommend.
For credit card companies, a simple "Delivery Confirmation," will not stop a Charge Back, as it doesn't include a signature - we finally went to the section of Endicia, and set ours to REQUIRE a signature on everything we ship with the exception of small trinkets which are shipped 1st Class, Insured, Delivery Confirmation.
It is amazing how quickly the "LOST" in shipping stops when the buyer KNOWS you can produce his signature for receipt of the package! It solves the Charge Back problem too and satisfies our Credit card Processor.
posted on August 26, 2003 07:59:54 AM new
I am looking into the Zebra just for ease of use since it uses the single label, and I think the UPS 4X6 labels should fit into it. Those are free if you have a UPS account and I think it's the same thermal printer that they use (or at least compatible). The thought of free labels and not having to use ink may just be worth spending the extra money.
posted on August 26, 2003 12:13:33 PM new
I use U pic online ins so we just drop them off at the PO, no waiting
The date correction, I was, I think 3 days late, (weekend) so I felt I should do the date correction... didn't know if it was important or not, thanks!
Art Bell Retired! George Noory is on late night coasttocoastam.com
posted on August 26, 2003 07:32:43 PM new
Endicia is a great service, I wish everything worked half as well. We also use U-Pic for insurance. I added an Eltron 2442 thermal printer a few months ago and wish I'd done it sooner, I've save so much money on ink and labels. We got the printer for $66 shipped from an eBay seller, they had more last time I checked. You can also use this printer with UPS Worldship, but you need install a seperate driver to use it with both applications.
posted on August 27, 2003 07:26:54 AM new
I have been using Endicia for over a year and have used it with over $11,000 in postage. I have found it to be a great service, a little more difficult to set up than Stamps.com, but the software is far more powerful.
I started using an inkjet printer, but it did not like the labels, and they would run if they got wet. I then purchased a Dymo thermal printer. This printer worked very well, but I was spending $50-$100 a month just on labels, and it would not handle UPS. So then I moved to a laser printer HP 5L. I got my labels free from UPS, but it would Jam a lot of labels, and you had to load each label individually. Just this week I got a Zebra Eltron 2642 off of Ebay for $95. It took a little work to set up since it did not come with drivers (you need two sets one for endicia, and one for UPS). This is by far the best label solution I have dealt with. I get the labels from UPS for free, and it will pay for itself with just what I save in toner costs. It even automatically peals the labels off for me. It is a time saver, not huge, but probably about 20 seconds a package over the laser printer I was using. I ship 100 packages a week so that is about 30 minutes a week I have gained.
I would have purchased one of these printers earlier, but I had looked at them and thought they were all around $400-$500.
"For I know the plans I have for you." says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11
posted on August 27, 2003 08:20:26 AM new
I probably should have thought this through better before I bought the Zebra printer. I bought it yesterday with the free year of Endicia (hubby said he wanted to buy it through them instead of ebay - just to make sure it was set up properly to work with them - we tend to not buy electronics through ebay in general). Well I just went into my post sale management and noticed a "print postage" button. Apparently Vendio is set up with Stamps.com.
It also just dawned on me that this isn't going to solve my problem of printing out the slips ahead of time and having hubby package while I was at work because I can't print out the slips with the weight on them except for our more common items. For a lot of our items it will depend on how much packaging material he uses. The up side is that we can drop off our packages later in the day since they will be all set to go, so maybe we will just do as much as we can and then finish up when I get home from work.....am I missing another option? Our post office used to have a rule that we had to drop off our items by 3:00, but that was when we were just giving them a blank check and they would do all the postage after we left.
posted on August 28, 2003 06:11:36 AM new
Finding printer drivers can be an issue. The UPS is easy becuase it is on there worldship software. The Endicia was a little more difficult becuase I had to search the internet for it. There are several good internet sites to find these from such as www.printer-drivers.com. I was installing this on a Windows ME system so I had to find some older drivers to run it. There was also a driver at www.zebra.com, but I could not get it to work with Endicia. I actually got the driver from http://www.censystems.com/Products/thermal%20printers/Eltron/index.shtml. They are a reseller of the Eltron printers.
I spent about 4 hours learning and setting the printer up. This took some time, but if you are not familiar with doing this type of thing you may not want to purchase something like this off of Ebay.
"For I know the plans I have for you." says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11
posted on August 28, 2003 11:53:08 AM new
2 Questions.
1. How exactly does U-Pic and Endicia work together to save money? I saw someone's reply about $100 worth of insurance for 60 cents or something. Does it run by total insured value of all packages shipped and not by the individual package?
2. If so, does insurance on all packages shipped make sales higher?
