Stamps.com Review (2023) – Ultimate Pros & Cons Of Stamps.com

When it comes to printing postage online, Stamps.com is more than likely the first thing that comes to mind. As with any service, it’s not something that may be “right” for everyone. In this Stamps.com review, I’ll talk about what it does and provide a complete overview of its key pros and cons.

What is Stamps.com?

Stamps.com is an online shipping software that lets users purchase and print shipping labels for USPS and UPS. The software can be used anywhere including home or office. Moreover, it integrates with platforms such as eBay, Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, and Volusion.

How does Stamps.com work?

For starters, you would sign up for the 4-week free trial that has zero commitments. If you’re not into the service for whatever reason, make sure to cancel the service before the free trial period ends. If you don’t cancel, your credit card will be charged every month thereafter. 

Once you open an account, you can use the Stamps.com website or their desktop software to print postage, request package pickup, import orders from various marketplaces, notify customers of shipped packages, and more.

To print a label, simply fill out the shipping address, package weight, select a shipping class, purchase and then print the label. The total postage amount is deducted from your account balance.

A standard home or office printer can be used to print labels. However, a thermal printer with 4×6 labels works the best (we’ll discuss printers and labels later in this Stamps.com review).

Is Stamps.com legit?

With over 732,000 registered subscribers, Stamps.com provides a legitimate service for a flat monthly fee. It has thousands of positive reviews on various major consumer product websites. While there are also a number of negative reviews, Stamps.com is 100% a legit service.

Stamps.com pricing

Plans	Price	When To Use
Stamps Pro	$17.99/mo.	If you need one user and one location.
Stamps Premier	$24.99/mo.	If you need multiple users at one location, printable certified mail forms, and more reference codes.
Stamps Enterprise	Custom pricing	If you need multiple users, multiple locations, and a dedicated account manager.

Stamps.com offers three plans – Pro, Premier, and Enterprise. The only real differences between the plans are price, number of users, and the number of locations you’ll use. 

The Stamps.com Pro plan, which is the most popular, costs $17.99 per month and includes:

• One user/login (multiple users can still use it but under the same account).
• One location (e.g. home or office).
• Up to 10 reference codes, which is for categorizing shipments.

The Stamps.com Premier plan costs $24.99 per month and includes everything in the Pro plan, plus:

• Up to three different users can use the service with a single account.
• Single location.
• Printable certified mail forms.
• Up to 50 reference codes.

The Stamps.com Enterprise plan is their large, custom priced plan that is tailored differently around each business. This plan includes everything in the Pro and Premier plans, plus:

• Multiple users.
• Multiple locations.
• Up to 1,000 reference codes.
• Dedicated account manager.

Interested in Stamps.com? Take Stamps.com for a spin with this 4-week free trial.

Discounted shipping & insurance rates

Stamps.com is able to offer discounted commercial-based shipping rates. The discounts vary by mail class. Here are the current discounts for both domestic and international shipments:

• Up to 30% discount on domestic mail classes.
• Up to 12% discount on international mail classes.
• Up to 40% discount on USPS insurance rates.

Stamps.com features

In terms of features, Stamps.com doesn’t slack here. It offers just about every feature you’ll need to print, manage, and track all of your shipments. Best of all, these features come standard with all Stamps.com plans:

• Hide/remove shipping cost on the shipping label.
• Print both domestic and international labels.
• Print multiple labels at once with batch label generation.
• Printable SCAN forms that groups packages together for easier carrier pickup or drop-off.
• Set-up return shipping labels.
• Import orders from eBay, Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify.
• Notify customers of shipments.
• Access to all USPS mail classes.

Importing orders

Whether you’re selling on eBay or Shopify (or these Shopify alternatives), the ability to import orders into your shipping software with ease is crucial. Thankfully, Stamps.com has it covered. Stamps.com is able to automatically import orders from Shopify, eBay, Amazon, Etsy, PayPal, and more.

To set-up automatic order importing, follow these steps:

1. Go to orders tab.
2. Click on settings icon on the upper right corner.
3. Select the stores tab on the left navigation.
4. Click on “add.”
5. Select the store or marketplace, and then follow the prompts to connect to it.

Alternatively, orders can be imported manually using .CSV or .TXT file formats.

Printing labels with Stamps.com

You can print labels by logging into your Stamps.com account using any web browser. Or, you can download the official Stamps.com desktop software and print from there. The desktop software is a bit faster to work with and looks something like this:

After entering the shipping information and selecting a USPS mail class, you’ll have the option to print, e-mail, or save the label in PDF format. 

Here’s what a 4×6 label looks like:

As mentioned earlier, a computer and a home printer will suffice. For a more professional look, a thermal printer with self-adhesive 4×6 labels is recommended. 

Here’s a couple of links to the most popular thermal printers and 4×6 labels:

• Zebra thermal printer
• DYMO thermal printer
• Rollo thermal printer
• 4×6 labels for Zebra and DYMO
• Labels for Rollo

Either printer above will work. We use the Zebra thermal printer because you can adjust the width of the label size, which is a feature that we need.

Customer support

Their support department is open Monday to Friday from 6am to 6pm Pacific Standard Time (PST). The support department can be reached via phone and e-mail. Support can be reached toll-free at 1.855.889.7867.

While the software is ridiculously easy to use, issues can arise at some point. So it’s important to have access to a real, human support department.

Pros of Stamps.com

After throughly using and testing the service beyond the free trial period, here are the key Stamps.com pros:

• More convenient than PayPal and postal office.
• Discounts on domestic & international shipping rates.
• The ability to complete all forms electronically.
• Import orders from Shopify, eBay, Amazon and Etsy.
• Desktop software and web interface are easy to use.
• Mailing log for all shipped packages.

Cons of Stamps.com

Stamps.com has limitations that may deter certain users. Here are the key cons of using Stamps.com:

• Limited availability of carriers.
• Somewhat difficult to cancel services (too many upsells).
• Shipping records are lost if service is canceled.
• Desktop software is available to Windows users (Mac users can only use the web browser to print labels).

Stamps.com alternatives

In the event that Stamps.com isn’t a good fit for you and your online business, here are some alternatives to Stamps.com that may work better:

Stamps.com Alternative #1: ShippingEasy

With an intuitive interface and seamless integration for order importing, ShippingEasy may just be the best alternative to Stamps.com. You’ll have access to some nifty features like logos on labels, branded shipment and delivery confirmation, and automated returns. ShippingEasy supports USPS and UPS. Premium plans start at $29 per month. 

Stamps.com Alternative #2: ShipStation

ShipStation supports and offers discounts for USPS, UPS, and DHL Express. With ShipStation, you can brand tracking pages, bulk print labels in batches of 500, manage inventory, and schedule carrier pickups. Moreover, you can integrate and connect ShipStation to dozens of other shipping carriers and ecommerce tools. Premium plans start at $9.99 per month. 

Stamps.com Alternative #3: Shippo

By default, Shippo supports and offers discounted rates for USPS, UPS, and DHL Express. Moreover, it supports over 85 other carriers that can connect to your account. Premium plans start at $10 per month. 

Conclusion: Is Stamps.com worth it?

Whether you’re selling products online or running any kind of business that requires shipping physical items (e.g. documents), Stamps.com is a service that you should probably take a look at.

Stamps.com has strong integration options for importing orders from Shopify, Squarespace, PayPal, Amazon, eBay and Etsy.

Best of all, Stamps.com offers a 4-week free trial period at no cost. So in reality, there’s nothing to lose for trying it out.

FAQs about Stamps.com Review

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Stamps.com that we’ve heard from our readers.