We are pleased to announce the launch of Stamps.com Version 8.7 – a free upgrade for Stamps.com customers!  Here are some of the major new features included as part of PC Postage Version 8.7:

International Shipping Insurance

Available at the same discounted rates as domestic insurance, Stamps.com now offers insurance for international shipments up to $2500 in value.  International shipping insurance from Stamps.com is an inexpensive, easy way to ship any international USPS mail class worry free.   With Stamps.com, you can insure packages to any country that the USPS delivers to with insurance prices starting at just $2.03 for insurance of up to $100.  Stamps.com will even keep a record of all of your insured shipments, to help make filing a claim as easy as possible.  To get started using international insurance, just enter an amount in the “Insure For” field when preparing any domestic or international mailpiece.

Support for international SCAN forms

Now when you drop off international packages off at the Post Office, you can quickly obtain proof of mailing by checking your items in with Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice (SCAN) forms for international packages.  SCAN forms are a great way to show to your customers their package has been dropped into the USPS mailstream, which is particularly important for international mail because of its longer delivery times.  To get started, simply print out all of your packages and then follow these SCAN form instructions.  SCAN forms are also available for domestic shipments.

Batch Shipping Improvements – Including Item Description Import

We’ve worked to make batch order fulfillment from eBay, Amazon and other marketplaces easier than ever by adding some great new features.  Now you can import item descriptions as part of the Stamps.com batch interface.  Additionally, we’ve added the ability to print on more media types using batch and we allow for address cleansing during import.  Another great feature is that you now have the ability to ship multiple orders to the same recipient as a single batch shipment order.

Important! You must download Version 8.7 in order to use these great new features.   Download Version 8.7 today at www.stamps.com/download – it’s free for existing customers!

If you are an eBay seller, shipping internationally is one way to gain millions of potential new customers without costing you a dime in advertising or marketing. 49% of the buyers on eBay live outside of the USA, which means that opening up your auctions to the rest of the world is a great way to increase demand for your products. Although eBay has many international sites, consumers worldwide understand that the USA eBay site offers a much larger selection of products. Plus, many international customers have an affinity for products sold in the USA.

First Class Mail International:  Cheapest Option to Ship Overseas
Shipping internationally is not complicated; it just involves a few extra steps. If you are shipping small inexpensive items such as health and beauty products, clothing items, or accessories, consider shipping those items First Class Mail International. If the item weighs less than 4 pounds, it can be shipped First Class Mail International which is a much more economical rate than Priority Mail International. For example, let’s say you sold a sweater for $19.95 to a customer in the United Kingdom. The sweater weighs 8 ounces when packaged in a poly mailer. If you ship the item First Class Mail International, the cost to the customer is only $7.32 compared to a Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box which costs $13.45 or a Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope which costs $12.95. By using First Class Mail International, you are able to charge your customer less and make the purchase more attractive. As an eBay Top Rated Seller, I have used Stamps.com to ship thousands of packages via First Class Mail International over the last 7 years.

Stamps.com Offers Free Program for eBay Sellers
There are two major advantages of using Stamps.com for your eBay business. First, Stamps.com has the option to print and ship First Class Mail International without a trip to the Post Office whereas PayPal Shipping and and other shipping labels services do not. Second, Stamps.com offers discounts on your postage when you print labels online from home; you can save up to 13% on domestic Priority Mail and 5% on Priority Mail International.  Best of all, Stamps.com offers a free service for eBay sellers.  You can print shipping labels for free (including First Class Mail International) by connecting Stamps.com to your eBay account.  Learn more at: http://www.stamps.com/ebayfree4

About the Author
Selling on eBay since 2003, Suzanne Wells aka The eBay Selling Coach has sold over 17,000 items as a one person operation and has achieved the status of Silver Level Power Seller on eBay.   Suzanne’s book, The Stay-at-Home Mom’s Guide to Successful eBay Selling helps eBay sellers learn what products to sell, where to find them and how to successfully market on eBay.

Stamps.com has just released a new shopping cart software integration with Volusion, an ecommerce company that has helped over 100,000 sellers since 1999.  Volusion is a turn-key solution that is perfect for beginners and experienced webmasters alike.  Their software allows you to build a successful online storefront with features that include automated inventory controls featuring low-stock alerts, a marketing toolbox that allows you to create loyalty programs, and convenient order processing to get your sales delivered to the buyer.  And now with the new integration with Stamps.com, printing pre-paid USPS shipping labels is easier than ever.

Import Order Data via XML File
The Volusion integration is based on Stamps.com’s ability to import data via XML files.  Once the Volusion customer has provided an XML format that is recognized by the Stamps.com shipping software, you will be able to print pre-paid USPS shipping labels for any mail class.

Some of the great features Stamps.com offers Volusion customers are:

• Print all USPS Mail Classes: Stamps.com allows Volusion customers to print labels for all USPS mail classes including Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Post, Media Mail, First Class Mail and all International mail classes.

• Customs Forms and Country Restrictions: The XML integration has the unique ability to import Customs Forms data including delivery address, item description, weight, country of origin and value.  Customers will also be able to see shipping restrictions by country so they know what types of product cannot be shipped prior to shipping.

• Hidden Postage: With hidden postage, you are able to hide the postage amount on the shipping label.  This feature helps eliminate customer support issues and allows you to charge shipping and handling fees that more accurately reflect your postage, packaging, and handling costs.

• Batch Shipping Label Printing: Stamps.com allows sellers to batch print up to 1000 labels at a time. Thermal printers are supported for even faster printing.

Get Started Now
To integrate your Volusion store with Stamps.com, simply follow these Volusion connection instructions.  This integration is free for new and existing Stamps.com customers.

We want to make our shipping software better!   If you have any questions or feedback, please be sure to let us know so that we can help make this integration as useful as possible.

Stamps.com has exciting news for our ecommerce customers: we’ve just introduced a new integration with Zen Cart, a popular (and free!) ecommerce shopping cart.  Zen Cart is an open-source platform designed to make ecommerce as simple as possible for merchants and customers.  With Zen Cart, nearly anyone can start and maintain an ecommerce site.

Available at no additional charge to new and existing Stamps.com customers, this new USPS ecommerce shipping integration allows Zen Cart users to import customer order data and print shipping labels for all USPS mail classes, domestic or international.  After printing your shipping labels, Stamps.com automatically posts order status details such as tracking number, ship date, and mail class back to the Zen Cart database.

Batch printing
Easily retrieve order data directly from the Zen Cart database to quickly batch print up to 1,000 labels at a time.  No more copying and pasting addresses one at a time.  Thermal printers are supported for even faster printing.

Print any Mail Class – Including First Class Postage
With Stamps.com, you’re not limited to Priority or Express shipments.  Stamps.com prints all USPS mail classes, including First Class Domestic or International.  For international shipments, Stamps.com will even print out tricky customs forms – all without a trip to the Post Office.

Hidden Postage
This feature allows online sellers to maximize profits by charging shipping and handling fees that more accurately reflect your postage, packaging and handling costs. Many of our customers report that by using Hidden Postage Labels, they have reduced the number of customer complaints they receive regarding shipping and handling fees.

Get Started Now
To integrate your Zen Cart store with Stamps.com, simply follow these Zen Cart connection instructions.  This integration is free for new and existing Stamps.com customers.

We are excited to bring this integration to the Zen Cart community!  If you have any questions or feedback, please be sure to let us know so that we can help make this integration as useful as possible.

Following these three tips can drastically reduce the time you spend fulfilling orders and can help you ship your product out to your customers faster and easier.

Tip #1  Get Organized

If you’re shipping multiple products on a regular basis, it is critical that you know exactly where your inventory is.  This will allow you to quickly package and ship your products.  A great way to accomplish this at home is to put each product you have in its own cardboard box or plastic storage bin and then clearly label each box on the outside.  By putting everything in its own box, your products will not get mixed up and you will not waste time hunting down products for each order.

Another good tip is to write the number of units on the outside of the box; as you ship units from the box, you can cross out the inventory number and re-write the new number.  This is a great first-step to help you manage your inventory.

Tip #2  Work when you want, not when you need to

One way to streamline your fulfillment process is to prepare your products for shipment when it is most convenient for you, and not wait until your item has sold/been paid for.

For example, let’s say that you sell teddy bears that you buy unpackaged.  Maybe you get them at garage sales, maybe you make them, or maybe you buy them in bulk.  Either way, they will need to be individually packaged in their own box before you ship them to your customers.  While you could wait to package them until they’ve actually sold, there may be a more efficient solution:

At a time that is convenient to you, package all of the bears in their own ready-to-ship box.  There are a number of advantages to pre-packaging your product:

A) Once your buyer pays you, you are ready to ship.  The faster you can ship, the happier your customers will be.

You may still need to print out a shipping label and drop a packing slip in with the bear, but you are as ready as you can be to ship each bear as fast as possible.

B) By batching up your packaging, you will spend less total time preparing each order.  Huge operational efficiencies can be gained by performing processes in batch and packaging your products is no exception.  This means less time spent on fulfillment and more time spent elsewhere.

C) Pre-packaging allows you to work when you have time to work by allowing you to get some of the work done when it is convenient for you.  Obviously you can’t ship a product until it sells, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get started.

Tip #3  Preparing your daily fulfillment

Similar to packaging your products in batch, there are operational efficiencies to be gained when shipping your products, particularly with Stamps.com which allows you to batch print all of your shipping labels in a single step.  Instead of shipping orders one at a time throughout the day, take advantage of the efficiencies of batch shipping all of your orders at a single time every day.

The first step to batch shipping is to choose a time that works for you.  Ideally, the time you choose will allow you to finish fulfillment as close as possible to when your mail carrier usually shows up.  This will allow you to squeeze as many orders as possible into today’s batch label printing compared to making your customers wait an extra day to receive their product.

Once you determine when you want to batch your shipments, the next step is to print out both packing slips and shipping labels so you can fulfill your orders.  With Stamps.com, you can retrieve order data directly from eBay, Amazon.com and other sources to quickly batch print all of your shipping labels.  Combine these with packing slips that can be printed directly from eBay, Amazon, or an alternate source and you will be ready to fulfill your orders.

After you pack, label, and seal your shipments, you’re done.  Stamps.com allows you to schedule a free USPS carrier pickup for all of your packages as long as you are shipping at least one Priority Mail or Express Mail package.  The software also automatically posts-back all of your tracking numbers to eBay or  Amazon so your buyer knows the product is on its way.