Buying shipping labels for the Netherlands

To ship an order, you need to buy and print a shipping label—an identification label that helps a carrier service to transport a package from you to your customer. Each label is unique and contains key information: the sender’s and recipient’s addresses, the weight and dimensions of the package, its contents, and the requested carrier service.

If your business is based in the Netherlands, you can buy and print shipping labels for PostNL domestic and international shipments from your store admin. Since the Netherlands is a part of the European union, all shipments within Europe will be considered domestic.


Buying shipping labels within store admin

To buy and print shipping labels from your store admin, you need to install the Shipping Labels app. Rates for labels bought from your store admin are lower than retail rates at the post office.

When you buy a label, you will be billed through the same payment method you used to pay for your online store subscription. You can get an overview of your payment method in My Profile → Billing and plans. If you don’t have a credit or debit card added to your online store, you will be able to add one during the purchase process.

Shipments of PostNL are not insured, so no claim can be submitted based on purchase value. You are only entitled to a reimbursement of the shipping cost. You can buy PostNL insurance as an extra service if you print a shipping label directly on the PostNL website.

To buy and print a shipping label:

  1. From your store admin, go to Apps → App Market.
  2. Search for the Shipping Labels app and click Install.
  3. Go to My sales → Orders.
  4. Select an order that you want to buy a shipping label for.
  5. In the Shipping details section on the right-hand side, click Buy shipping label:

    Buying_shipping_labels_for_Europe.png

  6. Check the shipping address. You can change any of the addresses by clicking the Edit address.
  7. In the Package weight and size section, specify the weight of a package and its dimensions. Click Continue.
  8. (This step is for international shipping. Skip it if you ship within the EU.)
    Fill in the Customs Declaration: enter sender credentials, add a brief description of the goods, specify the Harmonized System code used to classify a product. If necessary, leave additional information (references, invoice, certificate, or license numbers). This information will be reviewed by customs to calculate the duties to be paid by a customer upon receiving. All required customs information will be included in the label, there is no need to download and print additional documents.
  9. Select a shipping service. Our reseller prices for shipping labels differ from the PostNL retail prices. Some services are discounted, and others are not.
  10. In the Printer settings section, select your printer type to print a shipping label of the appropriate size.
  11. On the right side, pay attention to the Mark order as shipped and notify the customer by email checkbox. If you select this option, the order status will automatically update to Shipped immediately after the shipping label is purchased, and the customer will receive an email with a tracking number. If you want to change the order status to Shipped manually after you’ve actually shipped the product, untick the checkbox.
  12. Click Buy Shipping Label. Once the purchase is complete, you will see the shipping label details and a tracking number.
  13. Click Print Shipping Label.

That’s it! You’ve purchased and printed a shipping label.

You can see all of your shipping label payments on the Payment history page in your store admin. To open the Payment history page, go to your Billing and Plans page and click View Payment History.


What’s next:

  1. Place the printed shipping label on the box with the order and affix it securely with tape. Try not to tape above the barcode as it could make it harder to scan at the post office.
  2. Drop off your package at a PostNL location nearby. Or if you have a Mijn PostNL account, book a pickup by PostNL pick-up service.
  3. Ship the order.