Mailing Equipment Buyer's Guide

What is mailing equipment?
Mailing equipment refers to everything you need to cut down on the time, effort, and costs associated with sending out large amounts of mail. This includes machines that print, fold, insert, bind, label, weigh, and stamp your envelopes and packages so they are ready for shipment. Mailing equipment can also quickly open, sort, and track incoming mail so you can concentrate on more productive activities for your business.

Mailing equipment can drastically streamline the process of sending out mailings, handling large amounts of letters at speeds appropriate for any size business or project timeline. In addition, mailing equipment can help you track your work so you know where every piece came from and where it is going.

Mailing equipment basics
The most common piece of equipment for mailing management is the postage meter. A postage meter can stamp mailings right from your office. You set the amount you want to preload onto the meter (up to $1,000). The meter prints the indicia, the mark that replaces a stamp, and deducts that amount from your available balance. Postage meters can save you money with accurate pricing and save you the time of waiting in line at the post office. They can handle any grade of mail from bulk to overnight express.

Postage meters can also encode the sender and recipient of the mail in a two-dimensional barcodes. Modern digital postage meters will automatically update the base cost of postage as changes occur. You can also take advantage of other features such as password protection, reset buttons, and preset memory functions for regular mailings.

You may want a postage meter base, as well. The base handles envelopes as they pass through the meter. It includes a feeder which guides envelopes through the machine, a sealer to moisten and close your mailing, a stacker that piles mail in a tray after it's stamped, and a tape dispenser for printing postage and affixing it to mailings such as packages and larger, bulkier envelopes.

You need to weigh your mailings to know how much each piece costs, so accurate scales are essential. Scales are often attached to postage meters for more efficient operation, but they are also available as standalone devices. While digital scales are preferred for larger mailings and packages, they are significantly more expensive than standard spring scales. However, spring scales need to be adjusted frequently for accuracy and have very small weight limits.

Many mailings require hundreds or thousands of letters to be folded neatly and placed in envelopes. Different types of letter-folding machines let you factor in the volume of mail and how quickly you want to get the folding done. At the low end, friction letter-folding machines can fold a few hundred pieces per hour, while high-end vacuum letter-folding machines can handle thousands. You can choose a machine based on the type of fold you desire - single, double, c-fold, or brochure. Some machines can count how many total pieces need folding and the number of sheets in an individual mailing piece.

Other mailing equipment
There are other, more sophisticated mailing equipment options you can explore:

• Letter peelers: Take the sticker off of the backing sheets of labels quicker than peeling it off by hand
• Shrink wrap machines: Wrap and protect items before you package them for shipment. These include heat-gun or tunnel-based sealers to set the shrink wrap around the item to keep out moisture, debris, and fingerprints
• Bagging systems: Bundle newspapers, magazines and catalogues in a polyethylene film bag for easy mailing
• Sleeve wrappers: Gather products to wrap individually or in packs
• Tabbers: Seal single-page documents with a perforated tab at one end to create self-mailers
• Letter opening machines: Open mail at speeds of up to 600 envelopes per minute. Varieties includes chadders, which open mail by cutting an eighth of an inch from the end of the envelope, or slitters that cut through the top of the envelope, minimizing harm to envelope's contents.

Purchasing differences
There are three ways to acquire mailing equipment. The first is to buy it outright. You have to come up with all of the money up front, but you own it free and clear and can use it for whatever you'd like. Of course you're responsible for paying for all costs of maintenance and any upgrades. Next is leasing, where you make regular monthly payments for the duration of the lease - typically three to five years. Finally, you can rent mailing equipment. While you don't have a contract and can return the equipment at any time, you pay a higher monthly fee. Both rental and leasing agreements usually include provisions for maintenance and regular upgrades.

Note these three options are available for any type of mailing equipment except postage meters. Since postage meters are regulated by the United States Postal Service, postage meter providers can only lease them out to companies or to brokers for distribution. While the base is a counterpart of the postage meter, it is a separate option and can be purchased outright.

• How much does my office spend on postage?
• What is the amount of mail I will send out daily?
• Should I buy, lease, or rent my equipment?
• Will I work with standard letters or a variety of packages of different weights?
• How do I choose the best postage meter provider?
• Will I receive telephone support or an in-person visit?

Mailing equipment pricing
The costs for mailing equipment vary widely. You can find low-grade equipment for as little as a few hundred dollars. But high-end industrial sized equipment is far different - expect to pay thousands to tens of thousands for mailing equipment that can process thousands of pieces of mail per hour.

You can lease mailing equipment starting at $25 per month and reaching as high as hundreds of dollars per month depending on the size of your business and the complexity of your mailing needs.

Metered mail systems can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars including the postage. Optional add-ons such as feeding or automation systems can run an additional $100 to $200 per month.

• Let's make a deal. Mailing equipment vendors may be able to throw in a few months of service for free, depending on the length of monthly contract you agree to or the total cost of the purchase.
• Before you bulk up. If you wish to conduct discounted bulk mailings, you need to get a special permit from the USPS.
• Up, up, up. Prices for your mailing equipment may goes up if your average monthly usage increases from the previous year. However, the prices might not be adjusted if you use it less than you expected.
• Certification counts. Make sure that the provider that you buy or lease mailing equipment from is post-certified with the United States Postal Service.

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