Can I Print USPS Shipping Labels From 3dCart?

A Brief Overview About Shipping Functions in 3dCart

By Shana Whitmarsh, LucidStream

If you’ve been looking for a way to get your 3dCart e-commerce store to print shipping labels for orders that you want to ship via USPS, the U.S. Postal Service has some regulations that prevent it, so you may want to consider UPS or FedEx instead.

When looking into this issue for one our clients, we found that shipping labels can’t be printed from the store admin panel due to USPS regulations.  You can get postage and a confirmation number in your online store if you have an online account that you set up at http://www.usps.com.  Click here for 3dCart’s PDF Tutorial for printing shipping labels.

IF YOU WANT THE STORE TO CALCULATE SHIPPING, You have to set up your account first at USPS at http://www.usps.com.

• You need to get credentials to enter into the online store so the store recognizes your USPS account. You do this by going to the USPS website and requesting access to their shipping APIs:
  https://secure.shippingapis.com/registration/

•  After USPS emails you the information you need, you go to Settings>Shipping>Shipping Settings and click Enter Credentials next to the USPS logo and enter the UserID and Password that you get from the USPS once you register for the USPS Web Tools.

Enter Your USPS Credentials in 3dCart’s Shipping Settings

• Then go to Settings>Shipping>Shipping Methods and set up custom shipping methods (there’s a good article on 3dcart’s support site here showing how set shipping methods: https://support.3dcart.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=52) so the store would calculate for each flat rate box.  Remember, if you ever want to disable free shipping, you need to click the box in each product where it says “This Product Ships Free” (Products>View/Edit, select each individual product)

NOTE: You don’t have to integrate USPS in your online store if you DON’T want the store to calculate shipping or give confirmation numbers. USPS can do this from its website and its software; and it can email shipping confirmations directly to customers.  Your online store will send an automatic email to customers when an order has shipped. This behavior is triggered when you change the order status under Orders in the admin panel for your online store.

Once you create an account with USPS, you can print individual or batch shipping labels from their website at https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/signInLanding.do. You can also download their Click ‘N’ Ship software. You still need a USPS account and you can sign up and download Click’N’Ship here: https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do.

UPS and FedEx have better integration with the online store, so it’s worth considering them for express shipping. You would need to set up accounts with UPS and FedEx.

Sign up for a UPS account online: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/account/open_online.html

Sign up for a FedEx account online:

http://www.fedex.com/us/oadr/ (be sure to click “Use My Account Online” at left)

Need some help with your 3dCart e-commerce store? We can help!

If you’d like some help with your current 3dCart e-commerce store or you want to get set up quickly with a new online store, please  complete the form below to contact us or call LucidStream at 888-508-0575.  Visit our website, where you can view our work with custom e-commerce design and development on 3dCart’s platform. LucidStream is a Platinum Certified 3dCart Partner . Our e-commerce services include:

• Video e-commerce: live and on-demand streaming video for e-commerce
• Custom e-commerce design and development on 3dCart’s platform
• Complete setup including helping new merchants with shipping and merchant account providers
• API and custom programming services
• Online marketing and promotions planning and execution for e-commerce store owners
• Email marketing campaign management
• Social network profile setup and visual branding (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google +1)
• Free training and ongoing support

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This article was written by Shana Whitmarsh at LucidStream.