How to Print a Return Label for US Return

[sylviebee]

I just printed a return label for an item being returned to me from the US and thought I'd post the process here because it's been a concern for so many sellers.

I use Shippo.  I contacted them asking how to print a return label for an item being shipped via USPS. 

'''' Unfortunately, international (cross-border) return labels are not supported in Shippo - sorry about that!

To workaround this, I would suggest creating a manual-like return label. To do this, you would create a manual label and swap the sender/recipient address yourself. You would have your information in the recipient fields and your customers in the sender field. Once you create the label, you can download and email it to your customer to ship the package back to you."""

[sylviebee]

While I'm at it........ I recall others asking about how to create Shippo generated labels for nonBay etc. items and below are the instructions for how to do that.

(I'm not sure but you may have to activate this before you can create a return label but I don't think so since USPS is being used and not CPO, but in any case here are the instructions if anyone needs them.)

""You'll just need to first connect your own carrier account and then create an "order". 

It’s not currently possible to use your eBay-linked Canada Post account to create labels for non-eBay orders (other eCommerce orders, or manually created orders). If you take a look at your carriers tab in your Shippo account and click on the “Edit” button next to the Canada Post account, you’ll see a banner that says it can only be used for eBay orders.

To resolve this, you’ll want to connect your own Canada Post carrier account to your Shippo dashboard so that you can use it for any orders that come through your Shippo account or any manually created orders you create.

To link your own account go to the 'Carriers' tab by selecting 'Settings' on the left toolbar of your Shippo dashboard, then select 'Carriers' Once you’re on the Carriers tab select the 'Add Carrier Account' button and choose Canada Post from the drop-down menu. Then select 'Connect your Canada Post account' and walk through the registration process. When you add your account you’ll need your Canada Post API username and password - this article from our Help Center will walk you through locating that information: How to find your Canada Post API username and password

To create an Order, visit the Orders page and click on the Create Order button. Enter the address and package information, then select your rate.

[flyhooks4less]

Do you need a USPS account to do this or are you able to use Canada Post?

[sylviebee]

You don't need a US account.

You may have go to "carriers" and tick USPS but that only takes a second. 

The first time I tried this the label wasn't usable because the USPS "test" option was ticked.

Be sure that  you remove the check beside the test option for USPS.

[teenytrinkets]

Thanks so much for posting this. I often exclude US buyers from my more expensive listings now, because return shipping is such a nightmare.

What's the cheapest tracked return shipping? The one and only time I did a return with a US buyer, we agreed to split the cost he paid at the counter and had to pay $40US. It was a fairly large box, but still... My half still ended up costing me $25! My understanding it costs a LOT to get a tracking number to ship from the US to Canada...

[sylviebee]

The cost of shipping depends on item weight and size, but USPS shipping (before discounts) tends to be higher than CPO shipping cost for the items I sell.

One nice thing about buying the label instead of sending cash is that it prevents buyers from demanding unreal costs for unnecessary upgraded shipping methods.

This is the first time  I sent a return label.   In the past I just sent $US20 via PP as this amount is more than enough to cover the cost of shipping my items.

However, I also know that sellers only pay $US14 after discounts so I was expecting the discount when buying via shippo but I didn't receive the reduced rate.

It costs me about  $C17 to ship the same item.

It's actually much easier to just send the money, but for those who aren't comfortable with that shippo has a method for purchasing USPS labels, so that's nice.