4 Reasons Why You Should Print Your Shipping Labels Yourself
Each shipment, regardless of whether it is domestic or international, needs a shipping label in order to get to its destination. As a rule, shipping labels are created by post office employees, but some people choose to print them themselves. Here are 4 reasons why you should print shipping labels at home.
A shipping label contains the names and addresses of the sender and recipient, a description of the package contents, a barcode that is scanned to add a package into the system, etc. In addition, a shipping label serves as proof of postage payment. When you bring a package to a local post office, one of its employees would print a shipping label and affix it to your package. But there is also an option to print a shipping label yourself beforehand.
Most state postal services and private shipping companies allow their customers to create and print shipping labels from their personal account. In addition, there are third-party online tools that you can use to print shipping labels for several popular carriers. For example, PostageMaker works with the USPS (United States Postal Service) and UPS (United Parcel Service).
The process of generating a shipping online is quite simple. All you need to do is enter all relevant information about your shipment, pay for postage via a credit or debit card, PayPal, etc., and print the shipping label or save it as PDF to print later. Printing your shipping labels at home has at least four benefits compared to having them printed at a post office. Here they are.
Printing Shipping Labels Online Helps You Save Time
When you don’t have a shipping label printed out beforehand, you need to walk or drive to the nearest post office and maybe even stand in line there if the post office is busy, which is a common occurrence during the holiday season. However, you don’t have to waste your time like that. Just print a shipping label from your home or office and drop the package off at a post office without waiting in line. Moreover, you can save yourself a visit to the post office by leaving the package in a special collection box or scheduling a package pickup with a courier.
Printing Shipping Labels Online Helps You Save Money
Firstly, if you schedule a package pickup, you save money that you would spend on gas or public transit in order to get to the post office. Secondly, printing shipping labels online is often cheaper than having them printed at a post office. Many shipping carriers offer discounted shipping labels to customers who print them online for two main reasons: it helps reduce post office workload and build customer loyalty.
Interestingly enough, third-party shipping label services also offer shipping discounts. In many cases, their shipping rates are lower than the official rates of shipping carriers. How does it work? These services get a big discount from shipping carriers as a thank you for generating a large volume of shipping labels. More often than not, they choose to share part of this discount with their customers.
Printing Shipping Labels Online Is Easy
Many people think that you need special equipment and supplies, such as a special printer or adhesive printer, to print shipping labels at home. However, it is just a common misconception. All you need to create a printable shipping label is a computer, tablet or smartphone with a browser and Internet connection. Once the label is ready, you can print it out right away using a regular printer and regular office paper or save the label as PDF to print it later. Before taking your shipment to a post office, glue the label to the package or attach it with packing tape.
Printing Shipping Labels Online Is Beneficial for Small Online Shops
People who run small e-commerce businesses use any opportunity to cut their expenses and maximize profits. Since online tools that allow to print shipping labels at home save both time and money, they can be a valuable asset to small online retailers. Printing shipping labels in batches and scheduling a package pickup helps business owners spend less time processing and shipping orders and frees time for other tasks such as developing and promoting their business.