Shipping labels
To ship an order, you need to buy and print a shipping label. A shipping label works like a stamp that shows that you’ve paid the proper amount of postage. It also provides the information for the carrier to perform the delivery: the sender’s and recipient’s addresses, the weight and dimensions of the package, and the requested service.
If your business is located in the United States, you can buy and print shipping labels for USPS domestic and international shipments right from your store admin with the Shipping Labels app. The Shipping Labels app is free to use and offers lower rates than rates at the post office.
You can also buy shipping labels if you are from Belgium or the Netherlands. If you are from another country or using another shipping service, you can buy shipping labels on your shipping carrier’s website.
Buying and printing shipping labels
To buy and print USPS shipping labels from your store admin, you need to install the Shipping Labels app. Depending on the destination, you can buy a domestic or international shipping label. The app will automatically choose the correct type of label based on the customer’s address.
The app doesn’t support purchasing labels for Media Mail delivery service.
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.
To buy and print a shipping label:
- From your store admin, go to Apps → App Market.
- Search for the Shipping Labels app and click Install.
- Go to My sales → Orders.
- Select an order that you want to buy a shipping label for.
- In the Shipping details section, click Buy shipping label:
- Check the shipping address or addresses if you ship abroad. You can change any of the addresses by clicking the Edit address or Edit info.
- In the Package weight and size section, select the type of packaging for this order and specify the weight of a package and its dimensions. Click Continue.
- This step is for international shipping. Skip it if you ship within the US. Fill in the Customs Declaration:
- In the Sender Credentials, enter the sender’s name and phone number. Your number is required in case customs will need to clarify any details.
- In the Items to declare, add a brief description about the shipping goods. For example, coffee beans. Select the country of origin for each item — you can look it up on the product’s label or on its package. The declared value for each item, its quantity, and net weight is filled in automatically based on order details. Taxes for declared item value are paid by a receiver.
- If a total declared value of the order is over $2,500, you will see the ITN code field. You need to add the International transaction number (ITN) since your shipment is over $2,500. To get the ITN, you need to apply for the Automated commercial environment (ACE) account. Once you have an account, you can register your parcel and get the unique ITN code.
- If the shipment value is $2,500 or less, you don’t have to enter ITN.
- You can add information for Customs by clicking Do you have any additional info to provide to Customs? and filling in an invoice, certificate or license numbers, or any other note. This information is optional and will not affect label price.
- Click Next step.
- If you want to update the order status to Shipped and send an email to a customer immediately after buying the shipping label, tick the Mark order as shipped and notify the customer by email checkbox on the right-hand side. If you want to change the order status to Shipped manually after you’ve actually shipped the product, untick the checkbox.
- Select a shipping service. App prices for shipping labels differ from the USPS retail prices. Some services are discounted, and others are not.
- In the Printer settings section, select your printer type to print a shipping label of the appropriate size: Regular laser (label size is 8.5 x 11 inches) or Label printer (label size is 4 x 6 inches).
- Click Buy Shipping Label. If you don’t have a credit card connected to your store, you will be able to add one to buy shipping labels. Once the purchase is complete, you will see the shipping label details and a tracking number.
- Click Print Shipping Label.
- Open your store admin on desktop and go to Apps → App Market.
- Search for the Shipping Labels app and click Install.
- In your mobile app, go to Orders.
- Tap an order you want to buy shipping labels to.
- Tap Buy shipping label.
- Check the address. You can edit it by tapping Edit address.
- In the Package weight and size section, select the type of packaging for this order, and specify the weight and dimensions of the package. Tap Apply changes.
- This step is for international shipping. Skip it if you ship within the US. Fill in the Customs Declaration:
- In the Sender Credentials, enter the sender’s name and phone number. Your number is required in case customs will need to clarify any details.
- In the Items to declare, add a brief description about the shipping goods. For example, coffee beans. Select the country of origin for each item — you can look it up on the product’s label or on its package. The declared value for each item, its quantity, and net weight is filled in automatically based on order details. Taxes for declared item value are paid by a receiver.
- If a total declared value of the order is over $2,500, you will see the ITN code field. You need to add the International transaction number (ITN) since your shipment is over $2,500. To get the ITN, you need to apply for the Automated commercial environment (ACE) account. Once you have an account, you can register your parcel and get the unique ITN code.
- If the shipment value is $2,500 or less, you don’t have to enter ITN.
- You can add information for Customs by clicking Do you have any additional info to provide to Customs? and filling in an invoice, certificate or license numbers, or any other note. This information is optional and will not affect label price.
- Tap Next step.
- Select a shipping service. App prices for shipping labels differ from the USPS retail prices. Some services are discounted, and others are not.
- In the Printer settings section, select your printer type to print a shipping label of the appropriate size: Regular laser (label size is 8.5 x 11 inches) or Label printer (label size is 4 x 6 inches). Tap Done.
- Before buying a shipping label, decide on notifying the customer. If you want to update the order status to Shipped right after buying the label and send a customer the tracking number, tick the Mark order as shipped and notify the customer by email checkbox. If you want to change the order status manually after you’ve actually shipped the product, untick the checkbox.
- Click Buy Shipping Label. If you don’t have a credit card connected to your store, you will be able to add one to buy shipping labels. Once the purchase is complete, you will see the shipping label details and a tracking number.
- Click Print Shipping Label.
- Open your store admin on desktop and go to Apps → App Market.
- Search for the Shipping Labels app and click Install.
- In your mobile app, go to Orders.
- Tap an order you want to buy shipping labels to.
- Tap Buy shipping label.
- Check the address. You can edit it by tapping Edit address.
- In the Package weight and size section, select the type of packaging for this order, and specify the weight and dimensions of the package. Tap Apply changes.
- This step is for international shipping. Skip it if you ship within the US. Fill in the Customs Declaration:
- In the Sender Credentials, enter the sender’s name and phone number. Your number is required in case customs will need to clarify any details.
- In the Items to declare, add a brief description about the shipping goods. For example, coffee beans. Select the country of origin for each item — you can look it up on the product’s label or on its package. The declared value for each item, its quantity, and net weight is filled in automatically based on order details. Taxes for declared item value are paid by a receiver.
- If a total declared value of the order is over $2,500, you will see the ITN code field. You need to add the International transaction number (ITN) since your shipment is over $2,500. To get the ITN, you need to apply for the Automated commercial environment (ACE) account. Once you have an account, you can register your parcel and get the unique ITN code.
- If the shipment value is $2,500 or less, you don’t have to enter ITN.
- You can add information for Customs by clicking Do you have any additional info to provide to Customs? and filling in an invoice, certificate or license numbers, or any other note. This information is optional and will not affect label price.
- Tap Next step.
- Select a shipping service. App prices for shipping labels differ from the USPS retail prices. Some services are discounted, and others are not.
- In the Printer settings section, select your printer type to print a shipping label of the appropriate size: Regular laser (label size is 8.5 x 11 inches) or Label printer (label size is 4 x 6 inches). Tap Done.
- Before buying a shipping label, decide on notifying the customer. If you want to update the order status to Shipped right after buying the label and send a customer the tracking number, tick the Mark order as shipped and notify the customer by email checkbox. If you want to change the order status manually after you’ve actually shipped the product, untick the checkbox.
- Click Buy Shipping Label. If you don’t have a credit card connected to your store, you will be able to add one to buy shipping labels. Once the purchase is complete, you will see the shipping label details and a tracking number.
- Click Print Shipping Label.
That’s it! You’ve 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:
- 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.
For international shipment:
If you chose the First class mail as your shipping service, all required customs information is already included in the label.
If you chose the Priority mail as your shipping service, there might be from 1 to 4 pages in the file depending on shipment details. First page is the shipping label containing customs information. Remaining pages have to be submitted to customs. Attach remaining documents to the side of the box, so that they can be detached and studied by customs personnel. - Request a pickup or find the nearby post office to hand over the package to the carrier. You can click Schedule a pickup or Find a post office on the shipping label details page to be redirected to the USPS website to finalize shipping.
- Ship the order.
FAQ
How do I buy USPS insurance and extra services?
Currently, if you buy a shipping label from your store admin, there is no option to buy insurance or extra services. Although USPS includes insurance in some shipments. So when you buy a shipping label from your store admin, it already has insurance. Shipping labels with insurance will have a note about it:
You can also buy these extra services if you print a shipping label directly on the USPS website.
Why should I fill in the Customs Declaration for international shipping?
Shipping overseas means you have to comply not only with the US law but with other countries’ rules as well. Depending on a country, import and export regulations may vary for different products. Information you provide about the product type, its cost, weight, size, and country of origin will be reviewed by customs to calculate the duties to be paid by your customer upon receiving. For instance, receiving country customs may apply fees on the total package value.
Is the ITN code necessary?
If the total declared value of the parcel is more than $2,500 — you have to apply for an AES account and register your parcel to get the ITN code. Filing incorrect information can lead to penalties up to a maximum of $10,000 per violation as enforced by the Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) within the U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection within the Department of Homeland Security.
There is no need for the ITN if the shipment is valued less than $2,500, or you ship to Canada.
Do I have to pay custom duties for international shipping?
No, custom duties are paid by a receiver. That means, you don’t need to include the custom duties cost in the price. Duties on shipments are charged by customs for their service and must be settled before your shipment can be delivered. You can include this information in the product description, or add it as the payment instruction at checkout in your payment method.