Postage Meter Rental Guide

Postage Meter Rental Quick Summary:

• Cheap postage meters are available to rent/lease only (you can’t purchase a postage meter in the US)
• Rentals of the best postage meters for small businesses typically run between 12 and 60 months
• Postage meters cost, on average, between $20 and $200 per month
• Prices are not transparent so use our tool to request free quotes

There’s a hard way and an easy way to rent a postage meter.

In this guide we’ll take the sting out of postage meter research and take you through the main models and pricing of the best postage meter companies in the US: Pitney Bowes, Quadient (formerly Neopost), FP and Data-Pac.

Hint: If you are interested in a particular supplier, click the dropdown arrow on the left-hand sidebar to navigate straight to their section.

To make things even easier for you, our unique quote-gathering tool does all the hard work for you. Click here to tell us a bit about your business, then we’ll ask postage meter suppliers that match your requirements to get in touch. It’s as easy as that!

Postage meters take the stress out of delivering direct mail to your customers.

Postage Meter Rental Companies

Before reaching out to suppliers, it’s worth clarifying exactly what you need a postage meter for.

The best machine is one that meets all your needs, but doesn’t exceed them. That might seem obvious, but some postage meter rental fees actually include hidden charges for not using your meter to its full potential.

Sensible questions to ask yourself include:

• How much mail do you send on average?
• What types of mail does this include (letters, postcards, parcels etc.)?
• Do you need additional features? For example, the ability to print marketing messages on your envelopes?

The next step is to find postage meters that meet your requirements.

Pitney Bowes Postage Meters

Quadient (formerly Neopost) Postage Meters

FP Postage Meters

Data-Pac Postage Meters

Cost of Renting a Postage Meter

Postage meter rental costs vary because there are several options and service levels to choose from.

Broadly speaking, prices start from just shy of $20 per month for a basic machine like the IS-280 iMeter from Quadient. For a larger machine, you’re looking at as much as $1,200 or more per month.

It’s worth bearing in mind that these postage meter rental prices exclude postage costs. The USPS sets postage rates, so they’re completely independent of the lease agreement with your postage meter supplier. You should also factor in the cost of ink and envelopes (or boxes and parcels, depending on what it is you send).

Potential Savings

A metered First Class ordinary letter is 5¢ cheaper than the cost of a stamp. These savings add up considerably over time. If you were to lease a postage meter, here’s how much money you’d save on postage over your contract:

Remember, you’d save even more money if you qualify for Commercial Rates with USPS. This is often the case for companies using postage meters because lots of the pre-sorting is done before mail reaches the Post Office. You just need to make sure you’re sending at least 500 pieces of First Class mail per month and meet the Commercial Mail requirements.

Can I Buy a Postage Meter?

No. Because stamps actually count as a form of currency, federal law regulates the creation of postage stamps. The USPS is responsible for controlling the number of stamps in circulation at any given time and only authorizes five suppliers to rent out postage meters.

Benefits of Postage Meter Rental

Spend Less on Direct Mail

Companies get generous discounts on postage just for using a postage meter. The reason is you’re doing a lot of the post office’s work for them, so it’s in their interests to financially incentivize you.

In fact, it’s up to 9% cheaper to send a letter that you’ve stamped with a postage meter than to use the regular stamps from the post office.

And, if you take into account the even lower rates for presorted mail, you can cut your total postage spend by considerably more. For example, you’d save 15¢ per individual First Class letter if you pre-sort mail in bulk addressed to the same 5-digit ZIP code thanks to Commercial Rates.

Save Time

In the time it takes one of your employees to weigh and add stamps to a package, your competitors are using postage meters to do the job a hundred times faster. It’s no wonder the average small business wastes up to a day each month on manual mail processing.

Postage meters also eliminate the need for regular trips to the post office. A typical machine includes built-in digital weighing scales and a system for topping up your postage balance online. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it frees your staff to focus on more valuable work.

Pay Accurate Postage

If you don’t have enough time to weigh each piece of mail, you’re not alone. Most firms rely on guesswork and shortcuts when it comes to applying postage to packages en masse.

But when you’re charged more because an item in your shipment exceeded the maximum letter dimensions for first class, it’s time to think about getting a postage meter. Postage meters calculate and print the correct amount of postage every time.

Protect Yourself From Rising Rates

The USPS raising stamp prices every year is about as safe a bet as the Earth orbiting the Sun. Fortunately, metered postage rates don’t increase nearly as often, thanks to rate protection guarantees.

A rate protection guarantee is a rate freeze that applies to all mail you process with a postage meter. If you negotiate a guarantee as part of your lease, you can be confident that external events won’t impact your business case.

Track All Your Spending in One Place

Postage meters are internet-enabled, which means you can purchase postage online. It’s as simple as keying in an amount on the meter itself, or doing it through your supplier’s online portal.

There’s no more receipt paper trail to track, and postage management software means monitoring your monthly spend is much easier. Advanced reporting solutions are indispensable in large businesses sending lots of mail.

Prevent Fraud and Abuse

Postage management tools can help reduce fraud by letting you customize permissions and set spending caps. Pitney Bowes Inview software, for example, lets you set purchase authorization levels for different employees.

Next Steps

Securing the best price on a postage meter rental really comes down to two things; preparation and persistence.

With a bit of forethought, your postage meter will be worth thousands of dollars to your business. By the time your lease comes up for renewal, signing on the dotted line should be a no-brainer.

But it cuts both ways. A hastily signed agreement will do more harm than good if your needs increase later on and your postage meter can’t scale with your business.

In short, it pays to take time to ensure the agreement you choose is the right one for your firm.

Finding a postage meter system for the right price can be a time consuming process, but our comparison service does all the hard work for you. Click here to tell us a bit about your business, then postage meter suppliers that match your requirements will be in touch in a matter of minutes. It’s as easy as that!