Details about ShipStation's integration with UPS. Includes requirements, connection process, features, notes, and troubleshooting tips.
ShipStation is a certified UPS Ready® application that allows you to get rates and create domestic and international shipping labels via your negotiated UPS shipping rates. UPS helps both large and small businesses with their logistical needs. And UPS offers sustainability options like paperless invoices and their Carbon Neutral program.
Connection Requirements:
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An active account with UPS.
Need to open a UPS account? Sign up with UPS to get started!
Your UPS account billing address, phone number, and email address.
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The following details from your most recent UPS invoice (not required for new accounts):
Control ID
Invoice Date
Invoice Number
Invoice Amount
See Step 9 of the Connect a UPS Account section below for an image of a sample invoice.
International Requirements:
Include three copies of a commercial invoice with your shipment if you do not have electronic submission enabled.
To connect your UPS account to ShipStation:
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Select the UPS tile and click Connect.
Click Next.
Read through the UPS Technology Agreement, select Yes, I Agree, then click Next.
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Fill out the left-hand side of the form with your UPS account's Primary Contact Information.
If you are unsure about where to find this information, see the Locate Your UPS Contact Information section of this article.
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Fill out the right-hand side of the form with your UPS account information, then click Next.
Note
If this is a new UPS account, be sure to uncheck the box next to I have received an invoice in the last 90 days, then skip the next step.
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Enter the requested information from your most recent UPS invoice, then click Next.
Click Connect.
Log in to your UPS account.
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Click your username and select Addresses from the drop-down in the top, right-hand corner of the screen.
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Click Edit beside your billing address (under the Addresses section).
Enter this address information into the UPS Account Information window in ShipStation.
To locate the information for the Title field:
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Go to the Profile menu again and click View & Pay Bill.
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Click UPS Billing Center on the page that appears.
Hover over Administration and click Manage Users.
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Enter the value from the Role column into the Title field in ShipStation.
UPS Invoice
To locate your UPS invoice (this information is necessary for the Invoice Verification stage of the connection process):
Go back to your UPS Billing Center, hover over the Invoice tab, and click on the hyperlink to your most recent invoice:
ShipStation's integration with UPS supports these standard features:
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Common ShipStation Features
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ShipStation's integration with UPS allows for these additional features:
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
Invoiced carrier |
UPS bills you for only the labels you use, which are invoiced monthly to you on your account. UPS does not charge your account when you create the label in ShipStation. Any UPS labels you create in ShipStation that are NOT used to ship a package will not be billed on your invoice. However, you may still wish to void labels you don't use for improved accuracy in your shipment records. |
Enable Negotiated Rates |
To see your negotiated rates you must first enable this in your UPS account in ShipStation. Go to Settings > Shipping > Carriers & Fulfillment. Then click Settings for your UPS account. Check the Enable Negotiated Rates and click Confirm.  |
UPS Carbon Neutral Program |
By default, all UPS accounts connected to ShipStation are automatically enrolled in the Carbon Neutral program. If you do not want to participate in the Carbon Neutral program, disable this option in your UPS Settings in ShipStation. |
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) |
Contact UPS to have EDI enabled for your UPS account. Once enabled, ShipStation will automatically submit customs information electronically through the UPS EDI service. If ShipStation is not able to submit customs information through EDI (either because it's not enabled for your UPS account or because the destination country does not support EDI), you will instead need to print any necessary customs forms and include them with the shipment. |
Third Party and Recipient billing |
This option allows you to assign the billing to a third party or recipient UPS account. Use the Other Shipping Options in ShipStation to change billing for a shipment. You must enter the account number and account zip code of the third-party account. The third-party account must also allow third-party billing. |
Bill duties and taxes to payor of shipping charges |
Enable this option to be charged duties and taxes on behalf of your international customers. If you use this option in conjunction with third-party or recipient billing, the billed account will be responsible for the duties and taxes. |
Saturday Delivery |
Enable this option to allow for package delivery on Saturdays. See the UPS page on Saturday Delivery for more information and restrictions. |
Collect on Delivery |
Enable Collect on Delivery so that UPS will collect funds from the recipient when UPS delivers the package. See the UPS page on Collect on Delivery for more information and restrictions. |
Dry Ice shipping |
Enable this option to let UPS know the package contains dry ice. See the UPS page on Coolants and Refrigerants for more information and restrictions. |
Additional Handling |
Enable this option to inform UPS that the package will require special handling. See the UPS page on Additional Charges for more information and restrictions. |
For services that support branded labels, the store logo you uploaded to your store's Branding settings will appear in the bottom-right corner of the UPS shipping label.
For services that support label messages, Label Message 1 will print in the first Trx Ref No field.
Label Messages 2 and 3 will be combined and print in the second Trx Ref No field.
When entering your shipments weight and dimensions into ShipStation, they should accurately reflect the size of the package so the rate returned to ShipStation will be the rate you are actually charged for the shipment. Should the dimensions entered into ShipStation not reflect the actual dimension of the shipped package, you may be subject to additional fees from UPS.
It is the shipper's responsibility to enter an accurate dimension into ShipStation before creating the label for the shipment!
Packages with an actual weight of more than 150 pounds, or that exceed 108 inches in length, or exceed a total of 165 inches in length plus girth [(2 x width) + (2 x height)] combined, as measured to determine their billable weight, are not accepted for transportation.
If UPS finds packages that exceed these limits in the UPS system, the shipments are subject to additional charges. UPS reserves the right in its sole and unlimited discretion to return such packages to the shipper at the shipper’s expense.
Refer to the UPS Tariff/Terms and Conditions of Service – United States for more information.
The over maximum limit surcharge is $920.00 per package. Refer to the UPS Daily Rate and Service Guide for the most up to date information.
Labels created through ShipStation will not appear in your Shipment History on UPS.com.
UPS End of Day forms (also known as PLD forms) are not available in ShipStation. As a Certified UPS Partner, ShipStation submits all shipment information electronically to UPS when labels are created, so no End of Day process or PLD form is necessary. If you require a manifest for record-keeping purposes, you can create a generic shipment manifest by going to
Insights > Reports > Shipping Manifestand running the report for your UPS shipments.ShipStation's address validation tool is not able to determine if an address is considered Residential or Commercial, so all addresses are treated as Commercial addresses. This may cause the estimated rates to be incorrect for some Residential UPS shipments.
UPS Smart Pickup is not available for UPS shipments created through ShipStation.
Recipient Address Line 1 has a 30-character limit. When the Recipient Address 1 field exceeds this limit ShipStation will automatically wrap to Address Line 2.
Here are some common issues, potential causes, and troubleshooting tips.
Error |
Cause |
Solution |
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Request cannot be processed, please contact UPS customer service at 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX |
Billing or other UPS account issue. |
Contact UPS at the number provided, and leave a voicemail with your contact information if nobody answers. Other UPS departments cannot typically assist with this error. |
PostalCode and/or CountryCode input does not match those associated with the AccountNumber |
The address entered does not match the Primary Contact Information for the account. |
Log in to UPS.com to gather address information required. |
Unable to verify negotiated rates. Please review invoice information and resubmit |
Invalid invoice or account does not have access to negotiated rates. |
If you do not already have access to negotiated rates, do not select the option to Enable Negotiated Rates. If you do not have a recent invoice, you must check with the UPS accounts payable department. You can also get billing help online or call the UPS Billing Department to request a duplicate invoice. |
Request cannot be authorized due to invoice not found in UPS billing system |
Invalid invoice information or outdated invoice. |
If you do not have a recent invoice, you must check with the UPS accounts payable department. You can also get billing help online or call the UPS Billing Department to request a duplicate invoice. |
Request cannot be authorized due to account is locked out, please try again after 24 hours |
Attempted registration with invalid invoice information too many times. |
Contact UPS directly to unlock the account. Ensure you have the correct invoice information for future attempts. |
Missing or Invalid Shipper Number |
Error in UPS account number entered. |
Check the account number entered to ensure there are no spaces and the account number is correct. |
Register Web service is temporarily unavailable |
ShipStation unable to register the account with UPS. |
Temporary issue typically related to server maintenance. Check the ShipStation status page or contact support for updates. |
Licensing system not available |
ShipStation unable to register the account with UPS. |
Temporary issue typically related to server maintenance. Check the ShipStation status page or contact support for updates. |
There are a number of potential errors you may see when getting UPS rates and creating UPS shipments in ShipStation. This next chart describes the most commonly experienced errors and their potential solutions:
Error |
Cause |
Solution |
|---|---|---|
The Userid is currently locked out please try again in 5 minutes |
ShipStation's access credentials are out of date and need to be updated. |
Go to Settings > Shipping > Carriers & Fulfillment and click the Setting link for UPS. Click the Remove Account action. Once removed, add the account back to ShipStation. |
Request cannot be authorized due to account is locked out, please try again after 24 hours |
ShipStation's access credentials are out of date and need to be updated. |
Go to Settings > Shipping > Carriers & Fulfillment and click the Setting link for UPS. Click the Remove Account action. Once removed, add the account back to ShipStation. |
The accessory is not valid with the selected option |
Service, package, or shipping option not compatible |
The service and package are not compatible, or an "Other Option" that is not allowed(like Saturday Delivery) is selected for the shipment. Remove any options that are not permitted for the shipment type. |
The requested accessory option is unavailable between the selected locations |
You are attempting to ship something by UPS and have selected the Carbon Neutral option in your UPS account settings in ShipStation. The UPS Carbon Neutral Shipping Program is not available between all locations. |
Go to Settings > Shipping > Carriers & Fulfillment to edit your UPS settings. Disable the Carbon Neutral option and save your changes. |
Missing or invalid shipper number |
Error in UPS account number being used for shipment. |
If seen after successful connection of a UPS account, this error is typically related to Third-Party Billing. Check to ensure Third-Party Billing information is using a valid UPS account. |
Missing or invalid ship from company name |
No Company Name in Ship From Address. |
Ship From Company Name is required for some UPS shipments. Either add a Company Name to the Ship From Address or add a Company Name in the Branding tab of the store's settings. |
The Shippers shipper number cannot be used for the shipment |
Billing or other UPS account issue. |
Contact UPS directly to discuss the cause of the error and how to resolve it. |
Missing or invalid ship from StateProvinceCode |
UPS wants the 2-digit state code instead the name of the City or Province. |
If shipping to or from an address in the UK, try substituting the state or province for a two-letter code as found on this United Kingdom (GB) State/Province Table. For example, use JJ instead of Edinburgh. |
If you've been using UPS Worldship® to ship your orders, you may have already built a customer address book that you'd like to use in ShipStation. Although ShipStation cannot pull the address book from UPS directly, you can export the data from UPS Worldship® and use the data to create a CSV file to import customer records into ShipStation.
This multi-step process requires you to:
Create an export map in UPS Worldship®.
Export a file using the export map created in UPS Worldship®.
Use the information in the file to build a CSV file formatted to import into ShipStation.
Import the ShipStation-formatted CSV into ShipStation.
See below for step-by-step instructions:
First, you need to create an export map in UPS Worldship® that generates a CSV file.
Open the UPS Worldship® application.
Under Import/Export Data, select Create / Edit Map... to open the Create or edit an import or export map window.
In the New Map section, select Export to ODBC Database.
Select the Export CSV checkbox.
Choose a Map Type of Address Book.
Name the map, then click Create. The Edit Export to CSV Map window will appear.
Click Add All Columns.
Click Define CSV File Name. A Save As window will appear.
Enter a file name, then click Save to save the export map file.
Click OK. You'll be taken back to the Create or edit an import or export map window.
The map you created should be listed under Existing Maps. Click Close to go back to the main view of UPS Worldship®.
Now that you have an export map created to generate a CSV file, you can export the data.
Under Import/Export Data, select Batch Export... to open the Batch export data window.
Select the export map you created in the previous steps.
Choose a date range for the export.
Click Next. An Import/Export Preview window will appear.
Verify the export details and click Next to begin the export.
Once the export is complete, click Save to save the file to your computer.
Note
If you're unable to perform the above steps in UPS Worldship®, you can contact UPS Worldship® support for additional assistance with their application.
Next, you'll modify the exported file in a spreadsheet application since ShipStation requires a specific format for the Customer Import process.
Download the CustomerImportSample.csv file.
Open both the CustomerImportSample.csv and the UPS Worldship® export files using the spreadsheet application of your choosing.
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Use Copy/Paste to move the information from the UPS Worldship® export file into the relevant columns on CustomerImportSample.csv.
Do not change the column headers in CustomerImportSample.csv!
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When the address information has been transferred into the CustomerImportSample.csv file, Save the file. (Or use Save As... to save the file with a new name.)
Be sure to retain the CSV format.
The final step is to import the new CSV file into ShipStation.
Log in to ShipStation.
Go to the Customers tab.
Click Import. An Import Customers window will appear.
Click Select a File.
Select the modified version of the CustomerImportSample.csv file and click Open.
Choose one of the options under Select Options.
Click Start Import to import the file.
Click Close.
Tip
See our page on Importing Customers for a more detailed walk-through of the above process.
ShipStation will begin to import the file and will alert you once the import completes. Then, you'll be able to see the addresses in the Customers tab in ShipStation.
Once the customer records have been created, you'll be able to use the saved customer information to quickly create manual orders and labels.