Postal costs are simply one of the costs of doing business. You pay to ship merchandise, to mail notices and invitations and catalogs and to otherwise communicate with your customers. Did you know that companies that use postal scales save an average of 10%-15% off their annual postage costs?
Types of Postal Scales
There are 2 basic types of postal scales: manual and electronic. A good mechanical scale may be the best option for your business if mailing and shipping costs are a relatively minor part of your expenses. In most cases, if the post from your office is more than 90% letters that weigh less than 13 ounces – the weight for first class postage – with only the occasional package requiring more postage, a simple mechanical scale that is accurate to within half an ounce is most likely sufficient for your needs. Weighing heavier envelopes to calculate the correct postage can save you both time and money, but there’s no need for a fancy digital postal scale with all the bells and whistles.
Special Considerations for Digital Postal Scales
When comparing digital postal scales, especially those that are designed to interface with a postage meter, there are a few significant things to look for.
- Compatibility
If you already have a postal meter, then your choice of postal scales may be limited to those that are compatible with your postal meter. Most manufacturers sell postal scales that are designed to be compatible with their various models of postage meters. If you’re planning to interface your new scale with your postage meter, then compatibility will have to be a major consideration in your decision.
- Ease of Updating Postal Rates
Since postal scales translate the weight of a package into the postage amount, they need to store the postal rates. If the rates change, then they need to be updated in the machine. In most electronic postal scales, the rate information is stored on a microchip in the machine. Before you make a decision, be sure to find out how the manufacturer handles postal rate changes. In many cases, you’ll have to buy a new microchip (or microchips in the case of scales that use several) and install it, and in some cases, you’ll be expected to return the scale to the factory for upgrade and update. Choose the option that makes the most sense and is least disrupting for your company. It may well be worth some extra up front expense for a postal scale that includes free upgrades if the postal rates change.
Handling Oversize Packages
Another consideration is how well the scale can accommodate the types of packages your company is likely to send. Check the dimensions of the weighing platform and the capacity of the scale to be sure that it will be adequate for your company’s usual needs.
Special Postal Scales Features
Some postal scales have ‘nice to have’ features that can become indispensable to your company once you start using them. Among those features that you might like to have are:
- Locking weight will lock in the weight of a package when it’s weighed. This can come in very handy when packages are large enough to block your view of the scale.
- Password protection will help prevent unauthorized use of the postal meter and scale
- Accounting interfaces on some scales allow you to assign costs across departments and clients for accurate billing and then retrieve the information when it’s time to bill
- Manual entry is a handy little feature that allows you to manually enter the weight of a package that exceeds the scale’s capacity in order to have postage rate calculated.
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