How to Purchase Shipping Labels with Shippo

This document explains how to fulfill an order and purchase a shipping label through the Shippo integration, including partial fulfillments and voiding a label.

Requirements

• A connected Shippo account (see: How to Set Up the Shippo Integration)
• At least one warehouse and one parcel template configured
• A paid order containing a physical product
• Carrier terms accepted in the Shippo portal for any carrier used to purchase labels

Step 1: Open the Order

• Go to WordPress Dashboard → SureCart → Orders.
• Select the order to fulfill.

Orders awaiting fulfillment display an Awaiting Fulfillment section listing the items to be shipped.

Step 2: Start the Fulfillment

• Select the items to include in this shipment. To ship the full order, leave all items selected.

• Select Fulfill Item.

The fulfillment panel opens with two tabs:

• Shippo — Quote carrier rates and purchase a label through the integration.
• Custom — Enter a tracking number and tracking link manually, without carrier integration.

Step 3: Set the Shipping Date

Under Shipping date, select the date the package will be handed to the carrier. Preset options are available, along with Custom to choose a specific date.

Step 4: Choose a Package

Under Package, select Select a package. Three options are available:

• Carrier package — Predefined packaging offered by the carriers, such as flat rate boxes, envelopes and satchels, pulled from the connected Shippo account.
• Saved template — Parcel templates configured under Settings → Shipping → Parcel Templates.
• Custom package — Dimensions entered manually for this shipment only.

Use the search field to filter the list, or select a carrier to browse its packages.

Once a package is selected, it is displayed with its dimensions and can be changed or removed.

Use item weight calculates the package weight from the products in the shipment. Disable it to enter a weight manually.

Carrier packages and rate comparison

Selecting a package from the Carrier package tab limits the rates returned to that carrier only, since the package belongs to that carrier’s own packaging range. A notice on the panel indicates this.

Selecting a Saved template does not restrict the carrier, even if that template was originally created from a carrier package. Saved templates are treated as dimensions and weight only, so rates are returned from all carriers configured for the order.

This means a carrier’s packaging can be used while still comparing rates across carriers: save it as a parcel template first (Settings → Shipping → Parcel Templates → Add New → Carrier package), then select it from the Saved template tab when fulfilling.

Step 5: Get Rates

Select Fulfill & get rates.

The shipment is created and rates are requested from the carriers. The Shipping rates section displays the shipping method the customer selected and paid for at checkout, followed by the rates currently available.

Select Re-quote to request rates again, for example after changing the package or an address.

If any carrier was unable to return rates, a shipping issues section lists the reported messages. Informational notes from carriers that did return rates are listed separately.

Step 6: Purchase the Label

• Select a rate.
• Choose the Label file type.
• Select Purchase label.

Once the label is purchased, a tracking number is generated and the label becomes available from the shipment on the order page.

Expected Outcome

The order is marked as fulfilled, the shipment displays the carrier, service and tracking number, and the customer can view the shipment status and tracking number from their account.

The Fulfillment Progress section on the order page displays the total spent on labels for the order, compared to the amount the customer paid for shipping, with each shipment’s own label cost shown alongside it.

Editing a Shipment

Select Edit Shipment on the shipment to reopen the panel. The package, addresses, weight setting and label file type can be changed, and rates re-quoted, before a label is purchased.

Addresses can be edited using the edit icon next to From address or To address. Select Save to keep the changes; closing the panel discards them.

Fulfilling an Order in Multiple Shipments

An order does not have to be shipped in a single package.

• In the Awaiting Fulfillment section, select only the items to include in the first shipment, or reduce the quantity in the fulfillment panel.
• Complete the fulfillment as described above.
• Repeat for the remaining items.

Each shipment is created independently, with its own tracking number and label.

Rates quoted for a partial shipment are not proportional to the rate paid for the full order. Shipping part of an order in its own package can cost more than the customer paid for shipping the entire order. The label spend total in Fulfillment Progress makes the accumulated cost visible across shipments.

Voiding a Label

Voiding a label requests a refund of the label cost from the carrier through Shippo.

• On the order page, select Void Label on the shipment.

• Confirm the action.

The shipment is marked as Label Voided and the tracking number is no longer active.

To ship the items again, the fulfillment must be cancelled and recreated:

• Select Cancel Fulfillment on the shipment.

• Confirm the action. The items return to Awaiting Fulfillment.

• Create a new fulfillment and purchase a new label.

Notes and Limitations

Voided labels cannot be replaced within the same fulfillment

A new label cannot be added to an existing fulfillment. The fulfillment must be cancelled and recreated. Cancelling a fulfillment removes it from the order, including the record of the voided label and its tracking number. The label record remains visible in the Shippo portal.

Carrier packages restrict quoting to that carrier

Selecting a package from the Carrier package tab limits the rates returned to that carrier. To use the same packaging while comparing rates across carriers, save it as a parcel template first and select it from the Saved template tab instead.

Carrier terms must be accepted before purchasing labels

If a carrier account has pending terms in the Shippo portal, rates are still returned at checkout and in the fulfillment panel, but label purchase will fail with an error from Shippo. Accepting the terms in the Shippo portal resolves this.

Subscriptions with physical products require fulfillment on each renewal

Each subscription renewal creates a separate order that must be fulfilled individually. Shipping is quoted again for each renewal.

Custom fulfillment does not purchase a label

The Custom tab records a tracking number provided by the merchant. No rate is quoted and no label is purchased.

Related Documentation

• How to Set Up the Shippo Integration

Frequently Asked Questions