Every stamp Stamps.com sold was a barcode from an ordinary printer, proof to the Postal Service that someone had paid. For more than a century, postage had meant a trip to the post office or a leased postage meter. In 1999 the U.S. Postal Service began testing postage bought over the internet. Stamps.com was one of the first companies approved to sell it. It went public that June, aiming at small businesses and home offices that mailed often.

Goodbye to the Meter

The bet was that a printer and an internet connection could replace the postage meter. Small offices that mailed often had little reason to lease one if their printer could do the job. Stamps.com handled the security the Postal Service demanded. It encoded each printed stamp with a barcode that proved it was paid for. Customers paid a monthly fee for the software and service. In return they got no lines, no meter lease, and postage ready at any hour.

Shipping Labels for Online Sellers

Stamps.com priced its offering at $11 a share in June 1999. The stock rose fast, then fell hard in the crash that followed. The company cut costs and outlasted its rivals. It found steady growth in shipping labels for online sellers, and it bought ShipStation and other shipping tools as e-commerce grew. In 2021 Thoma Bravo took Stamps.com private for about $6.6 billion.

Cover: The Letter, Mary Cassatt. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a woman with a letter (the mail).