Partner Case Study: How Shippo Helps SidelineSwap Ship More Reliably

No matter the sport, coaches everywhere will say that when looking to add to their roster they want players to be fast, knowledgeable, and reliable. The same could be said for SidelineSwap when looking for multi-carrier shipping software to integrate with its current tech stack.

Luckily, Shippo was there to take the starting role for SidelineSwap and the combination has been a winning team ever since.

What Is SidelineSwap?

SidelineSwap is a peer-to-peer marketplace selling new and used sporting gear at the fraction of the cost of retail.

Since its founding, the company has been on a mission to reduce the barrier to entry for sports that require gear to get started or perform.

It has since become a popular site for buyers and sellers of new and used sports gear of all types to come together and give their gear a second life while also reducing waste.

How Does SidelineSwap Handle Shipping?

When it comes to shipping those products between buyers and sellers, SidelineSwap sends a prepaid shipping label to the seller’s inbox after the initial transaction. With that shipping label, they can easily attach it to the package and either drop off or schedule a pick up for that carrier.

SidelineSwap defaults to the cheapest shipping rate available depending on the weight, size, and distance the package is traveling. In order to find the best rates for each shipment, they need to have multi-carrier shipping software.

Shipping Challenges SidelineSwap Faced Before Shippo

Consumer demand for fast shipping on their online purchases is at an all-time high. But, before the shipping process can even begin for sellers on SidelineSwap, they need to have their shipping labels in hand.

During promotional periods or during the holidays, the demand for shipping labels can rise and possibly complicate the process of getting them. This could cause a bottleneck right out the gate.

“One of the biggest challenges is obviously buyer satisfaction; they want their item as quickly as possible. If our seller can’t get a shipping label because the service is offline then there’s now an additional 24-48 hour delay to get the product into the mail stream and then we have an unhappy buyer,” said SidelineSwap co-founder Kevin Guiltinan.

It was during 2020 that SidelineSwap knew they needed a shipping solution with the least amount of downtime possible, they needed faster response times when issues arose, and they needed a dedicated account manager to communicate with.

How SidelineSwap Is Shipping With Shippo

From the start, since making the switch to Shippo SidelineSwap has been able to clear those shipping pain points.

“One thing I appreciated the most during the onboarding, was the transparency and like communication lines. We had a weekly check in, we had a support engineer available, and we had an account manager available,” said Guiltinan. “The integration was honestly really smooth and the communications lines and trust built were integral to our transition going smoothly”

After having made the switch to Shippo’s API with 99.99% uptime, there have been other ways in which Shippo has been able to assist SidelineSwap.

“Service level selection, kind of like regional carriers and overall reliability win, allowed us to get a lot more creative with our shipping solutions and our like selection logic.”

With Shippo, users can compare rates among 85+ carriers, including regional carriers like OnTrac, national carriers such as the USPS, and international carriers such as DHL.

But it’s the way in which Shippo handles billing along with discounted shipping rates that was a slam dunk for SidelineSwap.

“Per label fee rather than an upfront, annual commitment…increased our shipping margin by like 50%.”

With Shippo, we win when our partners win. Sign up to become a partner today and start saving on shipping while also having a reliable support staff every step of the way.

To read the full case study between Shippo and SidelineSwap, click here.