When buying a postage scale, the first thing to be considered is whether you prefer a digital or an analog scale. For casual purposes, an analog scale will probably be enough, and will almost certainly be cheaper. For business purposes, though, it's a good idea to buy a digital postal scale, since even small miscalculations in postage can result in loss of profit.
If you decide to buy a digital scale, there are a few things to keep in mind. Make sure the scale is easy to read, and that the display is of sufficiently high quality that it will not degrade and become unreadable over time. If possible, you should give the scale a test run, too, to see whether it is easy to use. Many low-quality postal scales have unintuitive design that can make them extremely frustrating to use. Be mindful, too, of what capacity you need. Will you be weighing letters, small parcels, larger packages, or some combination of the three? Some postal scales have an option for inputting the weight manually in order to calculate the cost of the postage. This might be a good option if you weight large packages only occasionally.
One advantage of digital postal scales is the number of features they can include. Again, for casual purposes, you probably just need a digital scale that will give you a readout of the weight. But it's good to be aware of the features that are available. Some scales, instead of just providing the weight, will also provide you with the actual cost of the postage for the item you are weighing. Since postal rates change frequently, this information will sometimes have to be updated. On older and lower-quality scales, this updating is done by replacing a chip in the scale. This is a frustrating way to update your information, and many newer scales update their rates via an internet connection.
If you are buying a postal scale that calculates rate information and you want to do some "comparison shopping," you might consider getting a scale with a built-in comparison feature. Some scales can compare rates between different USPS services, and there are even postal scales that let you compare the rates of other package-handling services such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL.
If you need to connect your
shipping scale to a postage meter in order to print out postage, make sure that the scale and the meter are compatible. Most postage meter vendors supply scales that are designed to work with their meter, but it is also possible to buy third-party scales. If you do so, make sure the two devices will communicate accurately and easily — you don't want to waste time and effort troubleshooting your devices later on.
There are even some postal meters with accounting features, such as allowing you to automatically charge postage to a client or to a separate department. With so many options to choose from, the most important thing is to determine your needs and preferences and buy a scale with just what you need and no more.
