I’m busy. You’re busy. Nobody likes going to the post office and waiting in line to ship something. Good news! You can print a shipping label for any package from home with PayPal.
If you sell things online and your customers use PayPal to pay, it’s always been easy to print a shipping label for their package (and Etsy makes it super easy!). But what if you have your own online shop and your customers don’t pay with PayPal? In my online shop, for example, my customers have the option to pay directly with their credit card and the payment is processed with Stripe.
Or what if you knit a hat for your niece for Christmas and need to send it to her? No PayPal transaction was involved in this case, either.
Don’t worry! You can still print postage for both of these packages from home with PayPal, and the best part is you can send your packages First Class. If you’ve ever gone on the United States Postal Service website and attempted to print a shipping label there you know that First Class postage is not an option. I ship almost everything First Class and PayPal allows you to print First Class postage from home!
Ready? Click this link. It will take you to the PayPal login page. Log into PayPal and…voila! You’re ready to input the shipping information. Select any class of shipping you’d like and you can even ship internationally. Go ahead and bookmark that link so that you can find it when you need it. It’s a lifesaver.
For a long time I thought I had to drive my labeled packages to the post office and drop them off in order to mail them, but no! If you live somewhere where you feel confident leaving your packages outside on your front porch or front steps for pick-up, you can just leave your packages outside and your letter carrier will pick them up right from your house. I leave a hefty stack of pre-labeled boxes outside nearly every morning! I have a bin that I labeled “packages to pick up” and put them all in there just so it’s clear. Perfect.
Printing postage from home and having my packages picked up right from my doorstep has been a life changer for me. Time is my most precious commodity and these two tricks combined save me so much of it! I hope they help you, too.
What great information! Thank you Abby!
Wow, this is good to know. I do shop mostly through Etsy and that works well, but having recently dealt with the USPS site and priority shipping rates I needed this information. Thanks! I knew PayPal offered this service but I hadn’t checked into it. I appreciate how real life helpful you are.
Well, that is really neat! We don’t have a letter carrier (no mail delivery in my town, just free P.O. Boxes) so I can’t get any packages picked up, but being able to print a label from home is huge! Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful if you live in the US…
Totally. Unfortunately it doesn’t work if you live outside of the United States 🙁
I wonder if it could work at Puerto Rico my letter carrier is USPS and does it work in. Usps blue boxes too?
Thanks for this link. I usually use the ‘multiorder shipping’ link on the right on the main page. Especially if sending swap items. Savesn a lot off of priority shipping and other services vs USPS site or in the PO. Except for international which is always so hard to figure.
This is terrific for First Class postage! I didn’t know that was possible without a paid service! Unfortunately, most everything I ship goes out in Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate envelopes and they don’t have an option for them. It’s a huge oversight on their part and I’ve asked them to look into it multiple times, but I never get any response. 🙁
That is a huge oversight. I wonder why they left that option off? Seems so weird.
You can buy postage/labels for Flat Rate items online at the postal services website. Once you set up an account. The Flat Rate prices are even a bit cheaper if you buy online!
You can’t print First Class Postage, only First Class Parcel/Large Envelope which is at least $1.75 more than regular first class with regular envelopes under 13OZ
How do I get to that part without clicking through the link is it possible? Also is there a specific box I’m supposed to use like the free ones they have at the post office or can I use any package or box I have at home?
Hi Leslie,
I recommend bookmarking the link. That’s likely the best way to find it again. You can use any box you’d like.