Founded in 1996, just as the Internet revolution was beginning to take shape in the minds of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, Stamps.com spent three years prior to its official product launch working closely with the U.S. Postal Service to develop the first secure digital postage product that enables customers to print postage using a standard PC and printer. For many customers, notably small-business owners and people working from home offices, the service was an attractive alternative to waiting in lines at the post office and more cost effective than traditional postage meter products.

However, the original product was somewhat limited by regulations requiring Stamps.com postage to be tied to the destination address and to be mailed within 24 hours of printing. For many initial customers, these limitations decreased the value of the service, and after flirting with Internet postage, they returned to traditional postage. Knowing it needed to address this issue in order to increase the stickiness of its service, Stamps.com began working with the Postal Service to create a product that would dramatically increase the convenience of the Stamps.com service.

After years of development and a six-month beta testing period, Stamps.com introduced NetStamps in July 2002. Different from other Internet- or meter-based products, NetStamps is a new form of Internet postage that can be printed in any denomination and stored indefinitely for use at any time. Stamps.com is the first and only vendor to receive approval from the Postal Service to offer this new form of postage.

"We still see a tremendous market opportunity for Internet postage," says Ken McBride, chief executive officer of Stamps.com. "We believe NetStamps will help increase the number of Internet postage users by providing a more convenient and compelling product for our customers."

Stamps.com customers can print up to as many as 25 NetStamps at a time on 81/2-inch by 11-inch NetStamps label sheets available through Stamps.com at a low cost of $3.99 for a pack of 125 labels. To try Stamps.com's postage-printing service, potential customers can go to www.stamps.com to sign up for a 29-day, no-risk trial promotion being offered by the company. The Stamps.com offer includes free postage, a complimentary sheet of NetStamps labels and a free download of the Stamps.com software. A subscription to Stamps.com's online postage service begins at $4.49 per month.

In addition to the convenience of printing stamps at any time, for use at any time, NetStamps users can take advantage of the following benefits: