Shippo, ShipStation, Stamps.com alternatives

We’re evaluating all options like Shippo, ShipStation, Stamps.com. Any others to consider? Of course, needs to integrate with Magento.

We ship 1 oz to 3 lb packages, mostly within the US, currently using USPS through Stamps.com for everything, but if Shippo, etc can find us better rates that’d be great.

I found this post about Shippo and USPS Cubic:

I know there’s no hidden fees with Shippo. The price you pay for your postage, is what you will be billed, plua a nickle. Shippo simply charges a nickle for each label. I’ve been using them for 2 months now, and that’s eaactly what I’m seeing.

But, there may be something else you’re not realizing. All of these services that you can purchase shipping labels from: Shippo, Shipstation, Amazon, Stamps.com, Shopify….all charge different rates for their labels. But, Shippo is the only one I’ve seen that takes advantage of the USPS Cubic program, and passes that on, to us merchants. That alone, blows away the competition, in my book.

Look up “USPS Cubic” in google, and you’ll see what that program is. In a nutshell, Shippo qualifies for that program, and therefore they get huge discounts for USPS rates….and they pass that on, to us. Thru Shippo, I’m paying $8 for lables that were costing me $15 from Stamps, or Amazon.

If your shippng boxes are under 20 pounds, and under 1/2 cubic foot (12″ x 12″ x 6″ is 1/2 cubic foot), then Shippo will print out a “cubic” label for USPS postage. I was stunned how much cheaper it was.

I reached out to Shipstation, to see if they offer “cubic” pricing, and they wrote back, explaining that Shipstation basically sits on top of Stamps.com, Shipstation supplies postage that is purchased from Stamps. They wrote:

“Stamps.com does actually support cubic rates, just not the “Cubic” package type.

To use cubic rates with Stamps.com all you need to do is select the appropriate shipping service, “Package” as the package type, and enter the dimensions in ShipStation.”

So, I did just that. And from what I’m seeing, they aren’t anywhere close to the true “cubic” pricing that Shippo gives.:

I did check with one parcel and the rate from Shippo was about 10% less than Stamps.com. I want to check pricing more thoroughly before committing.