Ship With The USPS? Schedule Pickups to Save Time.

If we know anything about Shippo customers—and e-commerce businesses in general—we know that time is their most precious resource. And we’re continually amazed at the measures they take to maximize their time, from process automation to website apps and add-ons to good old-fashioned hustle.

In fact, one of the key refrains we hear from our customers is that the reason they use Shippo is because it makes shipping fast and easy. But even so, they’re always in search of additional ways to maximize efficiency. One key time-saving activity for e-commerce businesses is scheduling USPS pickups so that a local mail carrier comes to their office or warehouse to pick up their packages and insert them into the mailstream.

In a recent conversation with Shippo customer Jenny Houser at Bryr Studio, she revealed that her team values their relationship with their regular USPS mail carrier, Mimi, tremendously. “When Mimi isn’t there? Oh no! Everything falls apart,” says Jenny. “She does us a huge favor by making sure she stops by late in the day. She knows that we’re normally shipping late.” Having a reliable USPS pickup means more time for the Bryr fulfillment team to ship as many orders as possible—a huge advantage when every minute counts.

Speaking of USPS pickups, did you know that now you can schedule them using Shippo’s shipping software? That’s right.You don’t even need to leave your dashboard to send your packages on their way.

Why You Should Schedule USPS Pickups With Shippo

While there are multiple reasons to schedule pickups in Shippo, let’s start with the most obvious one: it’s a huge time saver. No more waiting in line at the Post Office, lugging around dozens of packages, or carefully timing your visits to coincide with the least crowded times of day: when you schedule in advance, the carrier comes to you.

The even better news is that in order to make scheduling pickups extra fast and easy, our USPS shipping software will pre-fill all customer information on the USPS pickup form for you. We’ll also pass along all necessary information such as the number of packages to be picked up and their total weight.

So with just a few clicks to create your shipping label and schedule a pickup, you’re able to save travel time to the Post Office, spare yourself the effort of loading your packages in and out of your vehicle, and buy yourself the peace of mind that your packages will get out in a timely fashion.

And did we mention it’s free? That is correct. There’s no cost involved. So even if you’re not shipping a high volume, you can still take advantage of this tool.  

Ready to Save Some Time?

Great. Here’s how to schedule a USPS pickup directly with Shippo.

To get started, you will need:

• At least one USPS transaction with a shipment date of today or tomorrow
• A valid sender/company address on file in your Addresses tab
• A valid phone number on file

1. Select USPS from the Schedule Pickup drop-down on the Shipments page.

2. Review the package information on the pickup page. Then click Schedule Pickup.

3. You’ll then be taken back to the Shipments page, where you will see a notification at the top of the page with your confirmation number and the date of your pickup.

And…that’s it! We recommend you save the confirmation number in case any issues arise, or you need to edit or cancel your pickup. The confirmation number will not be made available again once you close out of this window, so be sure to make a note.

What if I Need to Make Changes?

Good question. To make changes to an already-scheduled pickup, you will need to visit the USPS Scheduling Website, click on “Make changes to a scheduled pickup” on the top right of the page, enter your confirmation number and phone number, and click the blue “Edit pickup” button. 

How Can I Schedule a UPS or FedEx Pickup?

If you are scheduling a pickup for FedEx or UPS, you will need to do that directly through the carrier’s website. Please follow the instructions as detailed by the specific carrier.

• Schedule a UPS Pickup
• Schedule a FedEx Pickup

If you ship a high volume, or ship frequently, with most carriers you can schedule a pickup once (e.g. every Tuesday at noon) and it will repeat itself.
Of course, you can also drop your package at the Post Office, or one of the carrier’s locations. Just make sure the ZIP code on your package is the same as, or close to, the ZIP code of the carrier location where you drop your package.  

Want More Time-saving Tips?

So there you have it. One extra step can translate into a whole lot of time saved. If you’re looking for more ways to maximize efficiency and save your precious time, check out this post on speeding up label creation. And, to get a sense of some of the all-important cost-saving aspects of using Shippo, give our USPS postage calculator a try—to calculate the savings in real-time.