Are you a professional or home-based business owner looking for a digital shipping scale? If so, the task of finding a good scale to meet all of your needs is not going to be easy. That is exactly why we have created this site. We want to help educate you on finding a scale to fit your needs. So let’s jump right into it!
There are plenty of brands with different features and options, so let’s look at some of the most common ones you will need for your shipping needs.
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Digital Shipping Scale Brands And Prices
You can save money on a generic digital shipping scale, but we recommend you use a brand name. Quite simply, generic brand scales tend to break easier and will often need to be replaced. If you’re going to spend money for your business you might as well do it right the first time and save money in the long run. Here is a list of brands we recommend:
- – Jennings Postage Scale
- – Escali Shipping Scale
- – WeighMax Postal Scale
- – UltraShip Shipping Scale
- – Pelouze Shipping Scale
- – USPS Postal Scale
- – Digiweigh Postal Scale
If you’re looking for a small scale to weigh envelopes and small packets, the Pelouze SP5 5lb scale will fit the bill perfectly. This will run you about $33 on www.amazon.com.
For most home-based businesses, a 55lb scale will be perfect. You can expect to pay $30 for an UltraShip 55lb scale or $33 for a WeighMax 75lb scale.
If you plan on doing some real heavy-duty shipping, you should check out scales by Pelouze or Weighmax. They have scales that can handle over 350lbs. They aren’t your tabletop design either. They have something that looks like a bathroom scale, with the digital reader attached to a wire so you can place it where you like. These will cost a bit more around the $100 range, but well worth it if you’re into heavy shipping.
Scale Features
We haven’t found a postal scale that wasn’t able to show both metric and imperial weights. That is kilograms, pounds, grams, and ounces for those of you who aren’t familiar. With the touch of a button, you can instantly change between the two. This is quite handing depending where you live and the requirements of your postal service.
Depending on your use, you will find a mix of battery-powered, adapter powered, or both. Most home-based businesses can get away with using rechargeable batteries, whereas, professional shippers will require a power adapter. If you have a power outlet available, it really is best to avoid using batteries. Not only will it save you time, but it will save money on batteries over time. Nearly all will have power saving features that you can adjust accordingly to save on power usage even though a digital shipping scale uses very little power.
A common problem people have had in the past was weighing an item, removing it from the scale, and forgetting what the weight was. Now it is possible to remove the item and the scale will still display the last recorded weight. This feature is especially handy if you are doing things alone or in a rush.
More Features
The manufacturers understand that a digital shipping scale needs to meet the demands of their customers, so most brands have been built with durability in mind. When items are to be shipped, whether it’s a letter or a parcel, precise measurements are required to avoid shipping mistakes which will cost you money. That is just another benefit of using a digital or postal shipping scale as opposed to a regular electronic kitchen scale.
Not all scales will come with special holders for tubes or letters, but most will have detachable faceplates in order to help you measure your packages.
It’s a good idea to become familiar with all the ins and outs of your digital shipping scale. It is important to understand how to use the tare function. All scales will come with this handle feature to help you offset the weight of packaging and wrappings.
Some of the newer digital scales have the ability to connect to wireless networks or be plugged directly into a computer. These can also save a vast amount of time depending on your needs. However, these units will usually cost more than your average postal scale.
Weights and Sizes of Digital Shipping Scales
Depending on your needs, you will find that a digital shipping scale can measure things from the very light to the extremely heavy. But it is best not to use a “one scale fits all” mentality. If you plan on shipping letters and envelopes, you should spend the extra few dollars to buy a scale that is designed for 5.5lbs and under. This will allow you to be super accurate down to 100ths of a gram in most cases. If you are looking to weigh boxes or heavier items, then you may opt for the scale that sits on the ground and has an external reader instead of the tabletop scales.
A digital shipping scale is one of the most important parts of your business. With a bad scale, you have the potential of wasting thousands of dollars by overpaying for shipping fees. We encourage you to explore and keep checking back on our site for new information on scales and shipping tips.
