How to Ship a Package From a gopost Unit
The United States Postal Service (USPS) created gopost units so that customers could have 24/7 access to a convenient way of shipping and receiving packages. They are pretty easy to use but those who have never received or shipped packages via gopost before might have some questions that we will try to answer today. Let’s figure out together how to ship a package from a gopost unit.
First things first; before using gopost, you should sign up for the service and authenticate your account in order to access gopost units. To register for gopost, you need a USPS.com account; if you don’t have one, you can create an account here. Once your USPS.com account is set up, go to gopost.usps.com/go, click Register, sign in to your USPS.com account, and fill out the registration form. If you’ve done everything right, you should receive a confirmation email with your account number. Congratulations, you’ve completed the first step!
The next step is authentication. You can choose one of the two ways to authenticate your gopost account during registration: via a gopost unit or at a Post Office. If you want to receive and ship packages immediately after registration, you need to log in to your account at a gopost unit using your account number and PIN, and then scan your state-issued ID or driver’s license. If it matches the information you provided during registration, you will receive an email with the confirmation that your gopost account is fully activated.
If you selected the option of authenticating at a Post Office, you will need to wait for your gopost card and authentication sheet that should arrive in the mail within 7–10 days after registration. Once you receive the packet, fill in the authentication sheet, take it and your gopost card to one of the Post Offices listed on the USPS website, and present your government-issued ID with a photo.
Now that your account is authenticated you can use gopost to ship packages. gopost units are automated and self-service; as such, they are designed to ship prepaid and prepackaged parcels. So you will need to securely pack your parcel, print a shipping label from your USPS.com account or using a third-party service that provides shipping discounts such as PostageMaker, and affix the label to the parcel. Unlike Self-Service Kiosks, gopost units do not have the option of printing a shipping label, so you need to do it elsewhere.
However, before you pack and print a label, you should check if your package can be shipped via gopost because some types of packages cannot. They are:
- all outbound international packages and APO/FPO packages;
- domestic letters and flat sized-envelopes that are less than ¾ inch thick, except for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express letters and envelopes;
- packages that exceed the maximum size (12 x 14 x 18½ inches) and therefore won’t fit into the locker;
- packages shipped with certain extra services (Adult Signature, Certified Mail, Collect On Delivery, Registered Mail, Restricted Delivery, Return Receipt, Special Handling).
Once your package is ready, you can ship it from any convenient gopost location; gopost users aren’t assigned a fixed unit or locker, so you can use whichever unit is the closest to you. To access the gopost unit, scan your card and enter your PIN to sign in to your account. Then select the Ship Packages option, use the unit’s barcode scanner to scan the shipping label on your package, and follow the further instructions on the screen. When your transaction is complete, you will receive an electronic receipt via text or email, but you also have the option of requesting a paper receipt from the unit.
That’s it! Shipping packages via gopost is easy as long as you a) have a gopost account set up, b) know how to pack parcels, and c) can print shipping labels yourself. PostageMaker can help you with the last part: we offer a convenient way to generate USPS shipping labels at discounted rates. You can print them right away or save the generated shipping label as PDF and print it later.