How Printing Your Own Shipping Labels Can Help You Save Time and Money

Each package shipped via the Unites States Postal Service (USPS) has a shipping label that contains information about the sender and the recipient, a tracking number, sometimes the description of parcel contents (for international shipments), and other relevant information.

A shipping label performs several functions. First and foremost, it guarantees that a package will be delivered successfully to the addressee. Second, it confirms that the postage has been paid already, just like a stamp on an envelope. Third, international shipping labels also serve as a customs declaration.

When you send your package from a local postal office, a postal employee generates your label at the counter and attaches it to the package. If you want to save time, you can fill out a shipping label online on the USPS website or use one of its many partner services (USPS vendors). Once your label is generated, you can print it out, attach the label to your package, and drop it at the nearest post office, give it to your mailman, or put into a USPS collection bin.

If you’re a US resident, the benefits of generating and printing your own shipping labels are pretty evident: it saves you time, effort, and even money (more on this later). As it turns out, people from other countries can benefit from creating their own USPS labels as well. Consumers from all over the world buy from US based online stores, and not all of these stores offer free shipping. When customers generate their shipping labels themselves, they can ensure that:

• There are no errors or typos in their name, address or phone number.
• The names and quantity of goods match their order.
• They’ve paid for shipping exactly as much as it costs (some vendors overcharge for shipping to make more money).

Besides, some vendors refuse to ship their goods to certain countries. If you promise to generate your own shipping label, you may persuade such vendor to ship to your country.

You may ask, “How does the vendor get my label?” The answer is actually quite simple. Once you’ve generated a USPS label using the service of your choice, you need to save it as PDF and email it to the vendor, who will then print it and attach to the package.

Shipping label services are also often used by people who sell various products online, for example, on Amazon or eBay. Printing out a stack of shipping labels beforehand definitely saves time. Besides, you don’t have to physically be near your goods to get them shipped; simply generate labels yourself if you prefer to have more control over order processing and then email them to the person responsible for shipments.

As we’ve already mentioned above, you can create USPS labels using tools available on the official USPS website, or you can use third-party services. Such services actually have a number of perks. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits using the PostageMaker shipping label generation system as an example.

It’s Quick and Easy

All you need to start printing your own shipping labels is a computer with Internet access and a printer (you don’t even need a special printer, just a regular one will do). If you have no printer, you can save your label as PDF and print it out as soon as you get access to one, or you can email it to a friend who will print it for you. And in case you’re the recipient of the package, you can email the label to the sender.

Registration Is as Easy as Pie

To create a USPS account, you need to submit quite a lot of information, including your contact information (name, email address, phone), your home address, etc. When you sign up for PostageMaker, the only information you are required to enter is your email so it takes about 30 seconds to register, and this includes confirming your account. You can add your name and address later when you’re creating your first USPS label.

Convenient Payment Methods

To generate shipping labels on the USPS website, you need a credit or debit card. Third-party services usually support several payment methods and payment gateway providers such as PayPal. Some even accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. PostageMaker allows you to deposit money to your account, and then the shipping cost is automatically charged from your account every time you generate the shipping label.

Discounts

You may ask, “How can a shipping label generated by a third-party service cost less than one generated on the USPS website?” The answer is actually pretty simple and logical. The United States Postal Service offers its vendors considerable discounts because of the amount of labels they generate. Some vendors choose to share these discounts with their customers. For example, PostageMaker allows to save up to 25% on both domestic and international shipments, offering lower rates than USPS retail. The discount depends on the destination and type of delivery.

You Can Choose from Several Postal Companies

On the USPS website, you can only create USPS shipping labels, which makes sense. Third party services often cooperate with several delivery companies such as UPS (United Parcel Service), FedEx, etc. This gives their customers an opportunity to choose from several delivery option based on various criteria (shipping rates, speed of delivery, additional features etc.).

Extra Features and Services

Most shipping label generators offer extra features and services to improve user experience. They may include a postage calculator, an address book, a tracking service, etc. These additional features make working with such services even more convenient and enjoyable.

As you can see, printing your own shipping labels can really help you save time and money, and services that allow to create shipping labels online can come in handy regardless of where you live or whether you buy or sell products online.