Save Money on Shipping with ShipStation Carrier Services 

Published on March 27, 2024
Written by
Filed under Carrier Rates
Read time 8 Minutes

Shipping can be expensive. It can be time-consuming. Managing your carrier accounts alongside your selling channels can also be a headache. Simplifying how you select a carrier service for your different orders doesn’t have to be difficult. Because our major goal is to let you manage the shipment of all your orders, ShipStation Carrier Services gives you instant access to many great carrier services. Best of all, it comes with discounts! 

ShipStation Carrier Services is a feature that allows ShipStation users to access multiple carriers, postage providers, and LTL freight options through a single postage balance that’s linked to a single credit card. 

What is ShipStation Carrier Services? 

ShipStation Carrier Services is a feature that lets you buy discounted shipping rates across a variety of carriers using a single postage balance. Whether you need to ship orders domestically, internationally, or using freight, ShipStation offers a wide range of shipping services. With USPS, UPS, DHL Express, and SEKO LTL, you can always be sure your shipments are shipped affordably and simply. 

Drawing from a single postage balance, your shipments are prepaid. There are no invoices or surprises at the end of the month with compounded delivery surcharges. In other words, what you pay before you ship is usually what you end up paying. This is helped by the fact that a lot of the surcharges and fees associated with standalone carrier accounts are discounted or waived with ShipStation Carrier Services—saving you even more money. 

Which Carriers are Available through ShipStation Carrier Services? 

UPS from ShipStation

UPS is a great option for both standard and express shipments domestically and internationally. With UPS by ShipStation, you can save up to up to 82% off Daily Rates, including up to 73% off 2nd Day Air and 77% off UPS Ground. Additionally, many of the surcharges and fees associated with most standalone UPS accounts are discounted and/or waived with ShipStation’s UPS account. It is not invoiced at the end of the month. Instead, you pay your shipping fees at the time of label creation.

USPS from ShipStation

USPS is the most commonly used carrier in the United States. With ShipStation, you automatically receive discounted shipping rates for both domestic and international USPS shipments. Our close relationship with Stamps.com lets us offer Commercial Base Pricing as soon as you sign up for ShipStation. There’s no commitment, no volume-based stipulations. As long as you have a ShipStation account, you receive shipping discounts. In fact, you can save as much as 89% on USPS Priority Mail! 

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DHL Express from ShipStation

International shipping can be an obstacle merchants have to overcome to take their business to the next level. Luckily, ShipStation offers DHL Express with savings of up to 81% off for international services. 

SEKO LTL from ShipStation

ShipStation offers LTL (less than truckload) shipping with our partner SEKO LTL. With SEKO you can ship any big bulky parcels that are too big for standard carrier services. They offer many services that make shipping large parcels or pallets simpler.  

Why should I use ShipStation Carrier Services? 

Discounted Shipping Rates

With ShipStation Carrier Services, you have access to affordable shipping options regardless of where your customer lives or what they ordered. These are rates that you don’t have to worry about negotiating or shipping a certain volume. The discounts are the same whether you ship one parcel or thousands a day. 

“We reduced shipping costs 36.78% by being able to add UPS this year.”

-Allen Bark, Inker Supples

Carrier Pickups Available 

With ShipStation, you can skip the post office altogether. In fact, you can schedule to have the carrier come to you to pick up your orders. Regardless of the number of shipments, you can plan to have a carrier vehicle come by to pick up your UPS, USPS, DHL, and FedEx shipments from your warehouse. 

Single Postage Balance

Purchasing postage across multiple carriers from the same payment source makes reporting and purchasing simpler. The advantage of ShipStation is that you can manage all your orders within a single platform. 

Prepaid Shipping Postage and Fewer Fees

Surprises with shipping aren’t usually welcome. Since ShipStation Carrier Services is a pay-on-creation platform, you are charged at the onset instead of billed later. With ShipStation Carrier Services, the rate that you see at the time of label creation is usually what you end up paying. 

International Shipping Simplified

Not only is international shipping more affordable with ShipStation Carrier Services, but ShipStation simplifies international shipping by allowing you to fill out customs declarations, configure international shipping settings, and authenticate international addresses. This helps make international shipping almost as simple as domestic shipping.

Using Multiple Carriers Can Save You Money  

When you have multiple carrier accounts to choose from, it not only saves money through our shipping discounts, it also gives you leverage for negotiating further discounts with carriers in the future. As your shipping volume increases, you may find that different package sizes and destinations make different services more affordable. To keep you using their carrier more, it can become possible to get volume-based discounts through a carrier. 

Can I Use ShipStation Carrier Services Alongside Existing Carrier Accounts? 

Yes! ShipStation Carrier Services is available to all ShipStation users but you can use it in conjunction with your existing carrier accounts. You can also use only your own existing shipping accounts if you prefer.

To see how much money you can save with ShipStation Carrier Services, sign up for a free 30-day ShipStation trial account now! 

Written by

James Messer

James Messer is a copywriter specializing in shipping, logistics, and ecommerce.

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