Returns
Setup your reverse-logistics and returns easily through the API.
- Scan-based return labels: These labels are free to print. You won’t get charged unless it gets used. It’s a great option if you want to add return labels to all your outbound packages. All Shippo return labels are scan-based, available for USPS, FedEx, and UPS shipments only. At the moment, you can only generate return labels for the same carrier that your outbound shipment was sent with
- Return address: For failed deliveries or return shipments, you can specify a different return address than the initial outbound location
Generate a Return Label
To generate a pay-on-use return label, create a new Shipment object and set an is_return
field as true
inside the extra attribute.
After creating the Shipment, follow the normal process of retrieving rates to select the service level that you’d like to use for the return, and proceed to create your return label.
Returns for Other Carriers
If you need to generate a label for return shipments for carriers other than USPS, FedEx, and UPS, you can create a normal shipping label just with the addresses swapped.
However, normal shipping labels have a limited shipping window and the label may be rejected after that, so we do not recommend inserting them into your outbound package. Instead, you can provide a method for customers to contact your support services, and you can provide them with the link to the label.
Return Address
When creating an outbound Shipment for USPS, FedEx and UPS, you can specify a address_return
that’s different from your original shipping address (address_from
). This can be useful if you want returned shipments to go back to a different place. For instance:
- Failed deliveries: the Shipment will be returned to a different facility than the original outbound destination.
- Scan-based labels: the Shippo API automatically swaps the
address_from
andaddress_to
during the return label creation process. You can pass any addressobject_id
or nested object in the corresponding fields – they don’t need to match the outbound addresses.