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James Messer
James Messer is a copywriter specializing in shipping, logistics, and ecommerce.
What is a Residential Surcharge?
Shipping to a residential address may result in a residential surcharge. Start shipping with ShipStation and get the best rates!
UPS Shipping Rates & Cost Estimates
UPS shipping rates are important for businesses of all sizes. United Parcel Service America, Inc. (or UPS for short) is a parcel delivery service based in the US that delivers…
Try Before You Buy: The Next Ecommerce Trend
Try Before You Buy provides online shoppers a try-on experience that was once exclusive to physical retail store locations. Now, it's taking over ecommerce.
How to Calculate Shipping Costs for Your Business (2025 Guide)
Discover how to calculate shipping costs for USPS, FedEx, and UPS. Learn to charge customers correctly, reduce fees, and improve profit margins with ShipStation.
How the IOSS and Recent Changes to VAT Costs Impact Shipments to the EU
Effective July 1st, 2021, value-added taxes (VAT) will apply to orders valued at under €22. Because this additional fee can become a make-or-break deciding factor for customers placing orders with…
The Cheapest Ways to Ship to the US from Canada
The US is Canada’s largest trade partner by a wide margin. Canada exchanges over $500 billion in goods with the US each year. Because of this close relationship, shipping from…
USPS Shipping Labels: USPS Shipping Services Explained
The USPS shipping services offer economical ways to ship lightweight parcels and envelopes domestically and internationally. Here, we go over which USPS shipping services are available and what their restrictions…
ShipStation University is Your New Online Shipping Resource
ShipStation is all about efficiency. We know that bringing every part of your ecommerce business together—from software to printers to choosing shipping services—eases workflow. Creating a singular, simplified shipping process…
How to Sell Food Online
The recent social distancing measures in response to COVID-19 has led to the closing of restaurants and bars—quickly changing how many of us shop. It has also dramatically impacted those…
DropShipping Pricing Strategy
Dropshipping can be competitive, so figuring out how to price your products can be the difference between winning a buyer or even making a profit. Finding the sweet spot of…
How Do I Ship Dry Ice?
How to Effectively Ship Dry Ice: Dry ice keeps items frozen during transport, converting directly from solid to gas without liquid. Purchase dry ice on the day of shipping for…
ShipStation’s Holiday Prep Guide
The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for many retailers. And this increased order volume can create some chaos. But we’re here to help. With input from…
Which shipping option wins? Standard Delivery vs Express Delivery
As trends in ecommerce rapidly shift towards instant gratification, and Amazon and its rivals see who can offer the quickest shipping options, how can a SMB etailer compete? A company…
How to ship international, return, and express parcels with Australia Post, ShipStation, and StarTrack
How to ship express parcels domestically with Australia Post Australia Post’s StarTrack services offer expedited shipping services to many of Australia’s major metropolitan areas. They offer a range of services…
Can I Offer Same-Day, Next-Day, and 2-Day Delivery Like Amazon?
Ecommerce has, as we all know, changed how we think about shopping. And the way we’ve changed shopping has changed the world. In some ways, our online buying habits changed…
How to Choose a Shipping API
What is a Shipping API? Carriers Scalability Support Technology Key Insights on Choosing a Shipping API: Understanding the key features of a Shipping API, including label generation and rate comparison,…
How to Implement an Ecommerce Shipping Strategy
Regardless of where you sell, be it Amazon, eBay, Magento, Jet, or Shopify, you’re going to need to ship your merchandise. You may start off just bringing orders to the…
What Does USPS’s New Dimensional Weight Pricing Mean for Me?
As of Sunday, June 23rd, 2019, the USPS increased rates for large, lightweight parcels. This new Dimensional Weight Rate increase is in conjunction with the 2019 USPS rate increases that…
Brother QL-1100 Label Printer for Ecommerce
First Impression The Brother QL-1100 is a thermal label printer with a sleek black-and-white design. More than most printers, particularly Zebra or Rollo printers, you have everything you need to…