PayPal, Stamps.com Ink a Deal

Online payment processor PayPal and online postage provider Stamps.com have joined forces to enable PayPal users to buy and print postage from their accounts.

The companies say the Web-based service will allow PayPal sellers to calculate the exact amount of postage needed and to print a shipping label with the buyer's information already on it, according to a PayPal statement.

In addition, the electronic delivery confirmation feature will allow sellers to verify delivery of their shipments online.

Santa Monica, California-based Stamps.com also allows customers to print U.S. Postal Service postage from a PC.

Working Together

Ken McBride, chief executive officer of Stamps.com, says the deal with PayPal is his company's first partnership.

"Our focus is on delivering a complete Web-based technology for shipping and mailing," McBride says. "Integrating our functions with PayPal, the leader in the payment space in the online auction space, [makes sense] because the natural place for a shipping transaction is following a payment transaction."

Mountain View, California-based PayPal could not be reached for further comment at deadline.

The postage service, which is expected to be available later this year, is part of a new delivery service that PayPal launched in June.

PayPal also entered into an agreement with United Parcel Service of America, in which UPS digital shipping tools will be built into PayPal's online payment process, enabling sellers to print shipping labels and buyers to receive tracking numbers via e-mail.