Endicia

Benefits:

I like that I can still print on rolls using my Dymo printer. It is quick and fairly easy once you get the hang of it. I also like that you can weigh each letter and get an accurate price based on that.

Drawbacks:

I don't like that you have to log into the program every single time you want to print postage. The old Dymo stamp would remember the login I formation. I also don't really enjoy that you need a serial number before you can even print on a roll. I understand that it's necessary to ensure that people are using legitimate rolls, but it's a nuisance I didn't have to deal with before.

In sum:

Over all, the software serves its purpose. I didn't have to empty out my postage balance, it simply switched it over to the new software. It was easy to download and install on my computer and it started working right away. My only wish is that they sold the rolls at Staples or local stores so I don't have to wait a few days to print stamps.

Benefits:

Easy to use in the past but now the service is very very slow with delays in printing up to 4-5 minutes per label

Drawbacks:

Customer Service hold times exceed 30 minutes. Online service slows to a crawl at time.

In sum:

Been with them 20 years or more and service has gone steadily downhill and now that Stamps.com bought them the service is much worse.

Benefits:

Very easy to install and self explanatory to use. Can be used for all major shipping carriers domestic and international. For a small shipping store it is all you will need to take care of all shipping needs for customers.

Drawbacks:

Sometimes there are glitches but customer service is easy to reach and issues can be resolved immediately so there is no long wait for the customer.

Benefits:

Lots of integrations (shopify, squarespace, ebay, paypal). Discounted shipping. Well-known within the industry.

Drawbacks:

I was misled and told I needed Endicia in addition to Stamps.com. When I realized I didn't need a subscription to Endicia, I called to cancel and when I FINALLY got through to someone, they cancelled my Stamps.com account instead and I lost all of my history, API calls, settings and integrations for Stamps.com I am still waiting for a refund.

In sum:

Terrible. The customer service is extremely difficult to reach and they made a major error that cost us a lot of money.

Benefits:

The software makes it easy to print postage from any computer and send directly to your DYMO label printer. It automatically tracks your account balance and you can refill your account with one click.

Drawbacks:

Only integrates with USPS. If you want to ship with other carriers like UPS or FedEx, you need to use another solution.

Benefits:

I love that Endicia is an easy way to print my postage at home, PER USE, and does not require subscriptions like some other competitors (like Stamps.com). Their software is easy to use and very compatible with my DYMO postage printer.

Drawbacks:

I hate that when the printer jams up, it is like pulling TEETH to get a refund from Endicia. To date I've wasted about $50 in postage that was never refunded to me because copies of the misprinted postage was not deemed satisfactory by the company. So be careful when you print- because their policy is pretty much "if you mess up you are SOL." It's also impossible to get a real human to talk to to argue with.

In sum:

GREAT alternative to other postage printers, easy to use, but poor customer service.

Benefits:

Endicia is a postage printing application. We were an Endicia customer for eight years. A company like us, we're not in the postage printing business. We're in a business that needed to print postage and mail things. Endicia was great. On those rare occasions when we needed technical support, we called, they helped and we went on our way.

Drawbacks:

Apparently Endicia was sold, developed some sort of affiliation with Stamps.com or something. They introduced new software that doesn't work. We spent hours and hours with multiple technical support people. We got differing answers on our problems from some of them and from others, they just said they were not familiar with the new software and we were not the only ones complaining. But here's our biggest complaint. The change required us to throw away all of our stamp materials AND to throw away all of our postage scales. Yes, the new version of their software doesn't work with the scales we've been using, for which we spent money on. Just send them to the trash was their recommendation. Sorry, but we're just not going to contribute to the massive amount of e-waste this country produces. We did reach out to management. They said, "sorry".

In sum:

We're all done with Endicia. We found PitneyBowes SendPro product to actually work.

Benefits:

It's very easy to use and lets you quickly cycle through different service options to find the best fit for the package you need to ship. Endless amounts of templates available for different purposes.

Drawbacks:

Modifying templates tends to be somewhat difficult and the maximum postage amount we can purchase at one time so we end up making more payments than we would like to but other than that it's been a very reliable software for a long time.

In sum:

Easily create US Postal Service shipping labels for all their different services and to almost any location in the world.

Benefits:

It works... barely, at least it is desktop.

Drawbacks:

As the title says, it used to be great. Then along came Stamps.com and acquired the company. The software has absolutely tanked. More bugs than a swamp in summer. Takes forever to load (60-90 seconds vs 10 seconds before). Constantly "phones home", which bogs down processing. New address verification is about as dumb as it gets, and pops up in a new window, which causes you to constantly switch focus. I have, LITERALLY, spent over 5 hours on the phone with tech support in the past two months. Even they don't understand some of the things it is doing, and often play guessing games to get it to work. I feel for Endicia employees, really. They are still great to work with, but they are saddled with the Stamps servers, which are overloaded and frequently down, and of course the mandated (by Stamps) changes, like the address verification which used to be lightening fast and intelligent. Also Stamps uses a different insurance company than Endicia did, and it is horrific to work with if you need to file a claim.

In sum:

I have in the past written glowing reviews of Endicia. Its people, its software, and its performance. Now, until, and unless, major improvements (actually, repairs) are made, I would only recommend this to my worst enemy.

Benefits:

I really like the batch feature. When shipping a large quantity of items in the same weight class import all of them and print them all at the same time. It saves a lot of time.

Drawbacks:

I'd like to see some updates on international shipping. Making returns easier and validating addresses would be a great improvement.