1. A method comprising: prior to a user printing postage at a user computer for a mail piece containing an item to be mailed, receiving from the user a designation of a recipient to receive the item, and receiving a free-form description of the item; printing by the user computer postage indicia bearing an amount of postage for a mail piece containing the item; in response to the mail piece being mailed via a postal authority, receiving by a postage indicia service a transmission from the postal authority containing a scanned image of the mail piece; and sending by the postage indicia service a notification to the recipient that the item has been mailed, wherein the notification includes the free-form description of the item and access to the scanned image, and sending the user a notification that the mail piece has been scanned.