Earnings per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Numerator:
Net income from continuing operations	$ 58,046	$ 80,455
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	157
Net income - Pitney Bowes Inc. (numerator for diluted EPS)	58,046	80,612
Less: Preference stock dividend	10	11
Income attributable to common stockholders (numerator for basic EPS)	$ 58,036	$ 80,601
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares used in basic EPS (in shares)	192,241	201,337
Effect of dilutive shares:
Conversion of Preferred stock and Preference stock (in shares)	304	334
Employee stock plans (in shares)	636	1,008
Weighted-average shares used in diluted EPS (in shares)	193,181	202,679
Basic earnings per share:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.30	$ 0.40
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00
Net income attributable to Pitney Bowes Inc. (in dollars per share)	0.30	0.40
Diluted earnings per share:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.30	0.40
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00
Net income attributable to Pitney Bowes Inc. (in dollars per share)	$ 0.30	$ 0.40
Anti-dilutive shares not used in calculating diluted weighted-average shares (in shares)	8,870	7,779