5 Alternatives to a franking machine

Time to renew your franking machine and looking for an alternative?

Here’s a guide to alternatives to franking mail to help you find what suits your business mailing habits the best.

With a wide range of options from sending mail online, mailing from home, ways to save time and keep costs low. We will cover the pros and cons of each viable option to help you choose which option is the right fit for your company.

1. Hybrid Mail

Hybrid mail is an online service where you upload files you wish to send and your chosen provider will print, process and mail on your behalf. This allows you focus time on business-critical tasks rather than printing and processing mail in house. No need for stocking ink, paper or envelopes and paying monthly for a franking machine or stamps. It also enables remote working and improved print quality whilst saving you not only time but also on postage.

Hybrid mail is set up for letters, documents, invoices and postcards. Unfortunately, the system doesn’t work for sending parcels. So depending on your letter to parcel ratio even with the savings it might not be the best or only mailing option you will need.

EDWPS offers a Hybrid mail solution, PostBox Now. To learn more about how you could start sending letters online or get any further advice please see our dedicated Hybrid Mail page or speak to one of our in-house experts.

Pros of using a Hybrid Mail Service

· No contract or monthly fees

· No setup expenditure

· No minimum mailing volumes

· Saves time and resources

· Mail out of hours

· No special equipment or software needed

· Reduces overheads

· Enjoy postal savings and discounts

· Professional print quality

· Full history of mailing, tracking and updates

· No additional overheads; paper, envelopes or ink

· Accessible online

Cons of a Hybrid mail system

· Can’t send parcels through the system

· Some template limitations

2. Stamps

Stamps are the original way of sending mail in the postal system and are still used to this day for a reason. You can buy them in bulk to gain cheaper prices, they are easily accessible to buy in the post office or online. There is no minimum quantity or contract simply stamp letters as you need. Royal mail offers business’ an online option to buy stamps for letters and parcels, ideal for those who send both. Although you will still need to visit your local Royal Mail delivery office.

They do still require you to print and prepare your mail before sending which for most limits the print quality and can be time consuming to prepare and drop off. When you mail in any sort of regular volumes stamps aren’t always the most cost-effective option. When mailing in monthly volumes above 200 or if you are finding stamping letters in house time consuming you should really consider alternatives to stamps.

Pros of stamps for letters

· No investment needed

· Ideal for small monthly volumes

· Can have handwritten elements to your mail

· Buying in bulk can make savings

· Can buy online or in store

· Can send both letters and parcels

· No contract or monthly fees

· No minimum mailing volumes

Cons of stamps for letters

· Additional overheads paper, envelope and ink

· Consumes an employee’s time preparing and mailing

· Outset cost of buying stamps in bulk

· Limited print quality

· Costly with larger monthly volume (200 plus)

· Visits to your local delivery office is needed

3. Email

The first thing you should know about email marketing is that your data has to be GDPR compliant. Mailing data is treated di