Maybe You Shouldn’t Print Your Own Postage: 6 Times To Forget It

Have you been considering printing your own postage? Maybe you have heard about how this technique can save you time and money, whether you have a small business or a large one, or even if your family generates a lot of mail. All you need is a computer and a printer, which can be either inkjet or laser.

But maybe printing your own postage wouldn’t be a good fit for your circumstances. Here are six situations where we don’t recommend it:

1. If your equipment isn’t in reasonably good working order, then trying to print from it, specially on a tight deadline, could be frustrating. Your computer and your printer both need to be functional, and you need to have printer cartridges on hand. A reliable internet connection is also a necessity.
2. In many rural communities, and even in small cities, going to the post office is an important part of the social fabric. Don’t give this up if this is true for you. If you are a writer who works alone, you may enjoy the respite from work that going to the post office offers you. If you are at home alone juggling a small business of any sort with taking care of your preschoolers, you may need the brief bit of conversation with other adults that you can get at the post office. (Now in these cases, if printing your own postage made sense to you, you could still do it but just not take advantage of the US Postal service program to pick up your mail.)
3. If you do so little mailing that the fee would be disproportionate to the benefits.
4. If you live or work in one of the few areas where the US Postal Service doesn’t do mail pickup, then you could still print your own postage but would have to take it yourself to the nearest post office. By the same token, if you are located in an area where mail or packages get stolen, you would be better off standing in line!
5. If you prefer to use only the PhotoStamps program, described extensively on other parts of this website, then you are set. (But if you do a lot of mailing, you may want to do a cost analysis and see if printing your own postage isn’t a lot more economical. You can add logos to it.)

Do one or several of the categories on this list fit you? If so, don’t print your own postage.

But if you would like the convenience of knowing your postage needs are easily handled, do take a look at the program available here: