Help with Royal Mail Smart Stamp please

HOLsale

i'm seriously considering getting royal mails smart stamp thing, it would save sooo much time

does anyone here use it?

it prints labels as well as postage, is that correct?

also, a few years ago you could have an affiliate link for a trial for this

i have looked on quidco but couldn't find anything under royal mail... i was hoping to get some cashback from signing up for the offer (i intend to keep it if i get it!) however if that's not still running are they still doing the free trial period with free postage? if so, do you have a link?

CIS

I use it , but as fas I know there isn't a free trial period.

You can print postage on to envelopes or labels, AFAIK , you cant just print labels without postage.

Sometimes I find it easier to print on to a sheet of paper and then affix it to the envelopes, especially if your using envelopes that wont go theough the printer,and its cheaper than using labels.

gonzo10

We've been using it since it was launched, infact I'm using it right now! It does save an awful lot of time. We do large mailings (8,000+) and used to stick labels on to envelopes, then stamps and then we would put a return address on the back. With SmartStamp its one easy process. It's worth the £50 yearly subscription as we save more than that in time.

HOLsale

that's brilliant, thanks

what about the issue of the postage marks expiring at 11:59pm the day after printing... does this mean i couldn't use the post box the next street over on a saturday afternoon?

does it mean they have to be at the sorting office by that time frame?

also, the postage automatically includes the COP is that correct?

oh thanks for the plain paper tip, might use that for somethings

does anyone know what avery number (ie j5102) i would need if i wanted just the one large label on the front where you can put your return address, the customers address and the postage on it (it's the same size as the label they use on royal mails website for the 'try it yourself' thing) would that be 4 or 6 labels to a sheet?

HOLsale

CIS wrote:

Sometimes I find it easier to print on to a sheet of paper and then affix it to the envelopes, especially if your using envelopes that wont go theough the printer,and its cheaper than using labels.

so it's ok to also print the actual postage on plain paper? they don't have a problem with that? sounds good as most of my parcels go out in recycled jiffy bags so i wind up taping them up quite well anyway and already use paper to cover up the old writing if it's large

krishna

The "free" trial period works like this.
1. you can download the software and test it all out, but it won't print valid postage. Does mean you can make sure it works for you before you fork out any money though.

2. Sign up and pay your fee, but if you decide you don't like it you can cancel within 1 or 3 months (can't remember which) and they issue a full refund.

Main problem we have had is that the charity I work for doesn't have any cards (credit/debit), but you have to sign up using one. You can then opt to pay using direct debit, but in spite of all the reassurances I was give by Smartstamps (when I thought about signing up using my own personal card), they DO continue to hold onto your card details. Got around the problem when I cancelled the account the card was attached to (didn't want it anyway)

gonzo10

SmartStamp are offering a three month trial (if you're not happy after three months they'll give you your money back). Promotion ends 31st March 2006.

https://www.royalmail.com/smart5

CIS

Ive never had a problem with printing on to thw paper and sticking it on, its no really any different from the psotage printed sticky lables that companies print and stick on the front of envelopes.

gonzo10

CIS wrote:

Ive never had a problem with printing on to thw paper and sticking it on, its no really any different from the psotage printed sticky lables that companies print and stick on the front of envelopes.

Sometimes I just print on to a piece of paper and stick it on the envelope. Saves wasting a dozen or so labels.

Savvy_Sue

BTW, not quite the same topic but I recently discovered that Royal Mail will come and pick your stamped or franked mail up for you! If you only want the service occasionally it's £5 per lift, it's not often a problem for us but when you are sending out 500+ heavy A4 envelopes and the local PO has shut and there's none nearby with parking outside it can get to be a problem! It will be cheaper to pay £5 for this when we mail our Annual Report than to pay ME to drive to a PO with parking and lug multiple boxes in (plus the PO with parking won't get that heartsink feeling!)