On-line post office gets U.S. stamp of approval

CHICAGO -- Add one more item to the list of things you can do on the Web: Buy postage.

The U.S. Postal Service announced its PC Postage program, which enables individuals and businesses to buy postage over the Web, using a credit card or electronic bank debit, and then print bar-coded stamps directly onto envelopes, labels and business documents, using a standard laser or ink-jet printer.

At this point, PC Postage is for domestic mail only.

Two California companies, Stamps.com of Santa Monica and E-Stamp of San Mateo, received clearance from the U.S. Postal Service to offer their services on the Web, and two other companies, NeoPost of Hayward, Calif., and Pitney Bowes of Stamford, Calif., are beta testing.

The technology behind the products could have applications that go beyond the mere purchase and printing of postage. Stamps.com technology, for example, "could be applied to print other items of value like airline tickets, coupons and gift certificates, right over the Internet," said Jeff Green, co-founder and vice president of marketing for the company.

Galileo International, parent of the Apollo and Galileo CRSs, hinted as much last March when Stamps.com announced it had received a "strategic investment" from the CRS company.

"We expect our travel agency customers to benefit from Stamps.com's postage solution and we are exploring the possibility of leveraging Stamps.com's Internet technologies for secure [on-line] delivery for travel-related documents," the company said at the time.Galileo declined to elaborate.

As for selling postage over the Internet, a key target for companies in the business will be the self-employed/ home office (SoHo) market.

The idea is that Internet-based postage buying is potentially cheaper than using a postage meter and more convenient than running out to the post office during open hours to buy stamps.

Stamps.com, which plans to roll its product out nationally over the coming months, said that although the SoHo office market makes up a substantial portion of the $44 billion stamp and postage meter marketplace, these businesses are the most neglected when it comes to postage convenience.

The Internet postage systems have certain differences. With Stamps.com, for example, users download free software and set up an account. E-Stamp's system entails buying a starter kit for $49.99 and using an "electronic vault," a small piece of hardware about the size of a roll of stamps that is used to store up to $500 worth of downloaded postage.

According to E-Stamp, the advantage is that users do not have to keep getting on the Internet each time they want to buy. One thing that may bring retailers up short if they consider the products is the surcharge, according to Robin Fetsch, who operates Specialty Tours from her home in Falls Church, Va.

Stamps.com and E-Stamp, for example, have programs that include a 10% "convenience fee" on postage used with monthly minimum charges of $3.99 and 4.99, respectively, and maximum fees of $19.99 and $24.99.

Asked if she is interested in using the Web to buy postage, Fetsch said, "I really don't want to pay an extra 10%. "It's enough to make me bother to run to the post office."

Agents interested in finding out more about the various Internet postage systems can get information at the following Web sites: