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USPS shipping labels with postage
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Tim View Drop Down
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    Posted: 24-October-2008 at 7:31pm
Hi there,
 
Our site is http://www.stuffington.com.  It's been live since October 6, 2008.
 
I got the shipping component setup to run with USPS API web tools so we can get shipping rates and also to print shipping labels.  I was not aware that said printing labels actually have no postage applied at all.
 
I am confused as to what worth it is to print a shipping lable that won't ship.  We have to go to the USPS click-and-ship site and print a shipping label that has postage.
 
Am I out of luck on being able to print a shipping label with postage through ProductCart?  Specifically, is it possible to still use the USPS web tools API for live shipping data during ordering, but have some other source that will allow us to generate shipping labels with postage?  Or am I stuck using the USPS click/ship site to do the labels?
 
Thanks in advance, and for what it's worth I have NO CLUE why the USPS would allow an API that prints labels without postage, requiring you to do a second step outside the system.  Seems utterly useless to me.  If I have to go outside the system, why would I print labels from ProductCart?
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Tim Salam
Stuffington Bear Factory
~Teddy Bears Made in the USA~
http://www.stuffington.com/
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katharina View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote katharina Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-October-2008 at 8:31pm
We are not printing labels at all from PC.  We basically cut an paste the addresses from the invoice into UPS and Endicia.  We use www.endicia.com for postal labels.   There are other products out there, but I really like endicia.  It's way faster then using click and ship.
Katharina
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Points: 135 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProductCart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-October-2008 at 4:50pm
Originally posted by Tim Tim wrote:

If I have to go outside the system, why would I print labels from ProductCart?


... because there are plenty of convenient ways to print postage without a label. For example, using the popular postage systems provided by PitneyBowes.
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Points: 4 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TrekLightGear Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-October-2008 at 1:37am
I have to agree with Tim. Whether you use Endicia, Pitney Bowes, Click N Ship (as I do), or anything else to print your postage, as Katharina said you still have to manually copy and paste each line of the customers address from PC into that 3rd party app to calculate the shipping rates and print the postage. I've never even used PC to print out a USPS label because there's really no point for me, I'm already leaving PC and manually entering all the address info anyways and Click N Ship already prints the label along with the postage.   

I think the real question is why isn't there a way to print USPS postage from PC without having to copy and paste addresses for every order? Copying and pasting multiple lines between windows in order to process every order is an inefficient process no matter how good Endicia or Pitney Bowes is for printing postage. I'm not saying that EI's advertising is misleading, but I definitely misunderstood and thought that PC would allow me to print USPS postage when I purchased it. I was pretty surprised to find out that it only allows you to print address labels which is why I think this is a good topic to discuss.
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Points: 135 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ProductCart Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-October-2008 at 2:32am
If you use a Pitney Bowes integrated scale and postage system, all you need to enter in many cases is the ZIP code. Also, ProductCart does include a way to export addresses to be imported on USPS.com, if you ship from there (e.g. see the feature on this demo store)

That said, we certainly agree that things could be simpler and Endicia integration remains high on our development wish list. It is something that we hope to tackle by the end of 2008.
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katharina View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote katharina Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-October-2008 at 10:39am
We do the cut and paste with endicia at the time of shipping in the warehouse.  This has the advantage that you already have the order information open and you can cut and paste back the tracking number to pc.  Also we have noticed that you can cut and paste the entire name with address into endicia.  You do not have to do line by line.  You paste it all into the name and then again into the address block in endicia.  It will eliminate the douplicate name in the address block.  Nifty!  I wish UPS would be as simple as Endicia, but it is working for now.
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Tim View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tim Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-October-2008 at 12:12pm

Just a follow-up subsequent to the additional comments...

Regarding ProductCart and printing labels, here's the bottom line.  It's USPS's fault, not Early Impact.  When I discovered that the labels I'm printing don't have postage, I called USPS web tools support and told them something was wrong.  They talked to me like I was an idiot and were clearly bewildered as to how I could POSSIBLE expect to print labels WITH postage through their API.  Given my FIFTEEN YEAR background in web development, online marketing and custom web-based software development, I think this is completely insane.  With an API, you can pass EVERYTHING needed to charge a business for postage then report back a usable, postage-enabled label to the ProductCart interface for in-system printing.  But no, apparently this isn't of any import to USPS.

I can appreciate that Endicia is "easy to use," but I also have to pay to use it.  In other words, forget it.  I have enough cost-encroachment problems in business.
 
Regarding how this whole shipping label thing is advertised by Early Impact... It would be good if it was made VERY clear that you can print labels that will require postage applied outside the system.  Spin it positively by showing several suggested, tried-and-true methods that customers have come to use including Endicia, Pitney Bowes, etc.
 
I don't have any bone to pick with ProductCart.  It's not EI's fault that USPS's API is fundamentally useless at the end of the day unless you've got some sort of medium to high volume situation going on.
 
P.S.> Good to know about the export to USPS as mentioned earlier.  Wasn't aware of that yet.  Should be useful during the season for us.


Edited by Tim - 28-October-2008 at 12:13pm
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Tim Salam
Stuffington Bear Factory
~Teddy Bears Made in the USA~
http://www.stuffington.com/
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Stuck View Drop Down
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Points: 0 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stuck Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-October-2008 at 8:30pm

Here is another option for anyone using Quickbooks, this is the program our company currently uses for US Postal shipping.

This program is tied into Endicia & does print the actual postage as well directly onto the labels. We have this setup to print onto our Zebra thermal printer which spits the self adhesive labels out in about 1 second each, makes for a very efficient system for Priority Mail package shipping! There is an upgraded cost over the straight Endicia plan to use this ($40.00/month vs. $15.95 for Endicia,s Premium Plan), however we feel the labor/time savings for us easily offsets the $1.20 per work day additional cost. This pulls & pre-populates the shipping addresses already entered into our Quickbooks invoices or cash sale receipts, so this works very efficiently for us, especially along with the thermal label printer using 4" x6" peel & stick labels. Smile
 
Now all we need is the updated version of the "ProductCart Quickbooks Order Importer" hint, hint and we will truly be cooking with gas! SmileSmile


Edited by Stuck - 28-October-2008 at 8:34pm
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