The Corner Penthouse

If you sell physical goods online, and you live in the United States, you will eventually have a need to buy United Stated Postal Service (USPS) postage online. Not only is it more convenient, but it's substantially cheaper than buying it at your local post office, where they charge the retail rates. Big time sellers can sign up for many different services and pay monthly fees, but what about us little guys and gals? What options are there for us? Well, I thought I would take a quick look at five postage stores that sell USPS postage without charging a monthly fee.

I am listing these in order of recommendation, so the first one is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and the last one should be avoided at all costs!

This is going to be a quick comparison, and not meant to be a full comprehensive comparison. I won't be looking at all of the services offered (generally just First Class, Media Mail, and Priority) or all of the features of each store, just the things that are most important to me when making my decision of which to use for all of my postage purchases - both for eBay orders and for general package postage. Since I don't use Priority Mail Express, it will not be listed, though most (if not all) stores offer it.

I won't be looking at prices as all stores generally offer the same rates for small weight packages, and there are so many different variables in determining rates that it would be hard to sufficiently compare them all. The one thing I can tell you for certain is that all five stores listed below offer cheaper rates than you will find in your local post office.

eBay Integration means that the site imports your eBay orders and then automatically forwards the tracking information to eBay after you buy the postage. General Postage means you can buy package postage for anyone there, not just for eBay orders.

Click on the store name under their logo to go to their website.

Services Offered	-	First Class; Media Mail; Parcel Select Ground; Priority Mail - Regular/Legal/Padded Flat Rate Envelopes, Small/Medium/Large Flat Rate Boxes, Region Rate A/B Boxes, Your Own Packaging (aka Size-Based "Cubic").
What's Missing	-	Nothing, as far as I can tell.
eBay Integration	-	Yes
General Postage	-	Yes
Pay As Needed	-	Yes
Requires Account Balance	-	No, but you can have one if you want.
Accepts PayPal	-	No, but you can use a PayPal MasterCard Debit Card.
Notes	-	Bright and cheerful large interface is good for people with bad eyesight. Offers Media Mail, but requires a box checked under Extra Services to activate it. Customer service can be contacted via a normal e-mail address, no stupid forms, chats, or phone systems. I contacted support and they replied in MINUTES! The only negative is that you have to do a ReCaptcha every time you log in. (UPDATE - AS OF OCTOBER 2021, THEY ALSO OFFER UPS POSTAGE.)

Services Offered	-	First Class; Media Mail; Parcel Select Ground; Priority Mail - Regular/Padded Flat Rate Envelopes, Small/Medium/Large Flat Rate Boxes, Your Own Packaging.
What's Missing	-	Legal Flat Rate Envelope.
eBay Integration	-	Yes (use the "buy postage" link on transaction page for that order)
General Postage	-	Yes (use the special link above)
Pay As Needed	-	Yes
Requires Account Balance	-	No (you don't need a PayPal account balance)
Accepts PayPal	-	Yes, obviously!
Notes	-	As customer service is practically non-existent, it takes more work than it should to get a refund on a label.

Services Offered	-	First Class; Media Mail (see below); Parcel Select Ground; Priority Mail - Regular/Legal/Padded Flat Rate Envelopes, Small/Medium/Large Flat Rate Boxes, Region Rate A/B Boxes, Your Own Packaging. (switch to "Carrier Packaging" to find some of the USPS envelopes and boxes).
What's Missing	-	Media Mail, if your item isn't listed in specific categories. (this was the case at the beginning of May 2019, but they may have fixed this by the end of the month).
eBay Integration	-	Yes, obviously!
General Postage	-	No
Pay As Needed	-	Yes
Requires Account Balance	-	No
Accepts PayPal	-	Yes
Notes	-	It's only good for eBay orders. Customer service is practically non-existent because we all know that eBay sucks.

Services Offered	-	Priority Mail - Regular/Legal/Padded Flat Rate Envelopes, Small/Medium/Large Flat Rate Boxes, Region Rate A/B Boxes, Your Own Packaging.
What's Missing	-	First Class, Media Mail, Parcel Select Ground.
eBay Integration	-	No (presumably)
General Postage	-	Yes
Pay As Needed	-	Yes (presumably)
Requires Account Balance	-	No (presumably)
Accepts PayPal	-	No (presumably), but you can use a PayPal MasterCard Debit Card.
Notes	-	They only offer Priority Mail online, so they're extremely limited, and thus pretty useless.

Services Offered	-	First Class; Media Mail; Parcel Select Ground; Priority Mail - Regular/Legal/Padded Flat Rate Envelopes, Small/Medium/Large Flat Rate Boxes, Region Rate A/B Boxes, Your Own Packaging.
What's Missing	-	Nothing, as far as I can tell.
eBay Integration	-	Yes
General Postage	-	Yes (I assume, though it is a free eBay seller's account)
Pay As Needed	-	NO!!!!!
Requires Account Balance	-	YES!!!!! $10 MINIMUM.
Accepts PayPal	-	No, but you can use a PayPal MasterCard Debit Card.
Notes	-	Requires payment info just to sign up, and will put a $1.00 hold on your card for several days even though you didn't buy anything. Since October 2009, they have a free account for eBay sellers, otherwise you have to pay a monthly fee. I discovered the account balance requirement when I tried to buy my first postage and the site would not allow me to pay just the amount of the postage. I e-mailed customer support through the webform and rep "Taige K" told me that "due to USPS regulations, the minimum amount of postage you are allowed to buy on a metered account is $10". After I replied asking why I'm able to pay less than that - the *exact* amount of postage - on eBay, PayPal, AND Pirate Ship (all three sites do not require a "minimum purchase" for postage), another rep named "Shayna J" replied with, "We are not those other carriers. We only allow you to purchase a $10.00 minimum." They didn't even try to justify their "lie" of trying to put the blame on USPS.

In conclusion, that's my look at these five postage stores. Obviously, Pirate Ship is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and Stamps.com should be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS if you're a small-time seller.

[UPDATE - JULY 27, 2021]
Stamps.com via ShippingEasy.com attempted several times to STEAL MONEY FROM ME for UPS postage bought two weeks earlier. This is even more reason to AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!