Systems and methods for activation of postage indicia at point of sale

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for activating a postage indicium for shipment of a postal item to a recipient using a postage account of a third party, the operations comprising:

• scanning, by a scanner of a point of sale terminal of a retail location, a piece of stock selected by a retail customer for use in creating a value bearing postage indicium for shipment of the postal item, wherein the point of sale terminal comprises a point of sale terminal of a retail store checkout aisle, wherein the piece of stock is selected by the retail customer from among a plurality of pieces of stock available at an aisle of the retail location, and wherein each piece of stock of the plurality of pieces of stock includes a pre-produced token adapted for activation as a value bearing postage indicium;
• receiving, from a scale of the point of sale terminal, weight information that indicates a weight of the postal item, the selected piece of stock having been selected for use in shipping the postal item from the retail customer to the recipient;
• receiving, at the point of sale terminal, address information that includes address information corresponding to the retail customer and the recipient;
• determining, based at least in part on the weight information and the address information, an amount of postage for the value bearing postage indicium for shipping the postal item to the recipient;
• and
• initiating operations to activate, at the point of sale terminal, the pre-produced token of the selected piece of stock, wherein activation of the pre-produced token of the selected piece of stock changes a status of the pre-produced token from an unactivated status to an activated status, wherein the pre-produced token, when activated, comprises the value bearing postage indicium having at least the determined amount of postage for shipping the postal item to the recipient, the operations to activate the pre-produced token comprising:
• accepting, by the point of sale terminal, payment, from the retail customer;
• and
• charging a postage account of an operator of the retail location the determined amount of postage;
• wherein the postage account of the operator of the retail location is associated with a postage service provider;
• wherein the operator is a third party with respect to:
• 1) the shipment of the postal item, 2) the retail customer, and 3) the recipient;
• and wherein the pre-produced token is changed from the unactivated status to the activated status after the charging of the postage account of the operator of the retail location.

A system for activating a postage indicium for shipment of a postal item from a sender to an intended recipient using a postage account of a third party, the system comprising:

• a plurality of postage stock pieces disposed for selection by retail customers for use in creating value bearing postage indicia, wherein each postage stock piece of the plurality of postage stock pieces has a pre-produced token thereon, the pre-produced token of each postage stock piece of the plurality of postage stock pieces being incomplete so as to render each pre-produced token unacceptable for use as a postage indicium;
• and
• a point of sale terminal of a checkout aisle of a retail store location, the point of sale terminal comprising:
• a scanner device operable to scan a postage stock piece of the plurality of postage stock pieces selected by a retail customer for activating the pre-produced token as a value bearing postage indicium, and
• a produce scale device adapted to weigh produce items and postal items,
• wherein the point of sale terminal comprises an instruction set executable by a processor of the point of sale terminal to cause the point of sale terminal to:
• obtain a postal item weight for the postal item from the produce scale device,
• receive address information that includes address information corresponding to the retail customer and the intended recipient of the postal item,
• determine, based at least in part on the postal item weight and the address information, an amount of postage value for the value bearing postage indicium for shipment of the postal item, and
• communicate the determined amount of postage value, the address information, and information obtained from the scanner device by scanning the selected postage stock piece to an activation system to activate the pre-produced token as the value bearing postage indicium;
• wherein the instruction set of the point of sale terminal is operable to receive payment by the retail customer for activating the pre-produced token as the value bearing postage indicium with a postal authority by charging a postage account, of the operator of the retail store location, the amount of postage value;
• wherein the activation system activates the pre-produced token after the charging of the postage account, of the operator of the retail store location, a full payment amount;
• and wherein the operator of the retail store location is a third party with respect to:
• 1) the shipment of the postal item, 2) the retail customer, and 3) the intended recipient.