Tired of rising postage costs, and lost time waiting in line to pay for stamps? Well, luck is at hand since you don’t have to suffer any longer, the solution is to get your self a franking machine.
If you also post out serious amounts of mail, you may want to speed up the entire process by using franking machines. This machine accurately calculates the postage every time you post out mail.
Additionally, it’s more convenient than stamps as you can easily buy postage online, around the clock.
What is a Franking Machine, Anyway?
A Franking machine is a device that prints the postage stamp together with your company logo on postcards and envelopes.
If you are running a business and there are many physical business mails to be sent daily, then this machine is perfect for your business.
A franking machine gives you a flexible and easy way to pay for postage on the business mails. This is also by far the cheapest and quickest way of dealing with bulk business mail.
Benefits of Franking Machines
Here are ten good reasons businesses should use a postage meter:
1. Saves Time
There’re times when you’ve to queue up in the post office to purchase postage stamps. With franking machines, you can buy postage online, and you don’t have to run to the post office every time to get the postage stamps.
2. Improves a Business’s Professional Image
You can customize the franking marks and add your business’s promotional text and logo for branding and advertising.
Even better, you can imprint instructions on envelopes to return it to your company’s address just in case it’s undelivered.
3. Prevents Over Stamping
Every so often when you’re not sure of the exact weight of your mail, you send it using a postage stamp of higher value.
Higher value postage stamp results in wastage of your money. Franking machines help you prevent this as they come with an integrated weighing scale.
4. Ensures Timely Delivery of Mails
A Franking machine is very fast and can frank a batch of mails per minute. This can result in timely delivery of mails.
5. Inexpensive Way To Handle Bulk Mails
Franking is about 30 percent cheaper compared to old-style stamping since every time you know the exact postage amount.
6. Under Stamping
Just as in the case of over stamping when uncertain of the weight of your mail, you might under stamp and attract inconveniences. Using a franking machine will allow you to avoid such embarrassment and inconveniences.
7. Accountability
Franking machines are also very useful when it boils down to tax returns. They generate accurate reports on your costs of postage and provide a chance for the business to claim its full expenses from the taxman.
The machines can also help you keep a record of postage across different departments in your business, allowing you to devise measures to control costs.
How to Use a Franking Machine
You may be aware that using franking machines can help save businesses a considerable amount of money and time on postage costs. However, many people don’t know how a franking machine works.
Below is a quick overview of how a franking machine works:
- Place Mail on to the franking machine’s built-in weighing scale – you then get the correct weight so no risk of overpaying on postage.
- Choose the preferred service and size of the mail.
- Add your business message using the franking machine’s buttons and screen.
- The franking machine automatically computes the correct postage.
- Insert envelope or label into the franking machine’s printer slot. Your mail will be franked with the right unique code, business logo and message, date, and postage
- Your mail is now ready to be posted at your local post office. It’s as simple and quick as that!
Note: The whole process can differ from model to model.
Frequently Asked Questions about Franking Machines
In this section, we will address some of the most frequently asked questions in relation to franking machines and provide you with a series of answers:
1. Do you save money-using franking?
Yes. Franked mail is way cheaper than using stamps.
2. What is a franking machine in the simplest layman terms?
A franking machine allows businesses to weigh mail accurately and correctly assign the right amount of postage to an item. The entire process is referred to as ‘franking.’ A franking mark is the same as a stamp.
3. Is using a franking machine good for businesses?
Yes. Businesses save a lot of money on postage. Also, owing to the professional look franking efforts provide, businesses can enhance their reputation and enlarge their client base.
4. Do I have to purchase a franking machine or can I rent one?
You can do either, depending on your current situation. Many businesses choose to rent one instead of purchasing. This is because a franking machine can be quite expensive.
If you buy, you’ve the large initial cost of purchasing the machine and all the accessories that go with it, including envelops and inks. However, if you rent one, you can do so for a small monthly or weekly fee.
5. Is a franking machine cheaper than stamps?
Yes, this is why most businesses use them. As long as you’re spending more than £70 on postage monthly, you could make save up to 50 percent by owning a franking machine.
6. Do franking machines need servicing?
As with any machine, to make sure it is in good working condition, it needs to be serviced. However, if you rent or lease a franking machine, it’ll be serviced and repaired at regular intervals.
Conclusion
So, if you are a business in search of a more economical way of managing your postage, a more professional image, and an easy to use system, a mail franking machine could be the way to go.
