The Complete Handbook of Postage Meters

Chapter 1: Understanding Postage Meters

A postage meter is a machine that applies prepaid postage directly to an envelope or flat piece of mail, printing an official impression that proves the postage cost has been paid to the postal service. It replaces the need to apply individual stamps. The meter prints a unique indicia—the mark itself—that includes the amount of postage, the date, and a machine serial number that identifies which meter applied it. Once printed, that indicia is as valid as any postage stamp; the postal service honors it and processes the mail normally.

The postage meter exists to solve a problem that stamps alone cannot: when you send dozens or hundreds of pieces of mail per week, affixing individual stamps becomes operationally slow, expensive, and vulnerable to fraud. A business sending 200 invoices per month can either buy 200 stamps, apply them individually (a labor-intensive task prone to errors), and accept the possibility that an employee might pocket the stamp money. Or it can use a meter, which automates the process, records the postage used, allows only authorized users to operate it, and qualifies the business for postal discounts that stamps do not.

The meter is a closed system that works with the postal service, not against it. The business (or the rental company on the business's behalf) pre-pays postage directly to the postal service—either in lump sums or through monthly charges—and the meter dispenses exactly that amount as mail is processed. The postal service audits the meter