Can You Ship Multiple Packages with the Same Shipping Label?
by Chelsea Camper | Last Updated July 19, 2019Printing multiple copies of the same shipping label for a multi-package order can cause you to run into some problems with the shipment. If you have an order that requires multiple packages, you can usually print a series of shipping labels for the order that will mark them as different packages, but the same shipping order.
Why is it Bad to Use the Same Shipping Label for Multiple Packages?
Tracking.
If you have five packages all with the same shipping label, you’re only going to be able to track one package because all five have the same tracking number. If one of those packages gets lost in transit, there’s virtually no way to trace how it got lost or where it could be now.
When your customer only receives four out of the five boxes containing their order and you have no idea where the fifth box went, you’ll have to resend whatever was in that fifth box. …But how do you know what was in the fifth box? Was the fifth box actually the third box of the series? Or the first? Because all the shipping labels are the same, you can’t confirm through your shipping carrier which boxes actually arrived; you’ll have to ask your customer to root through all the boxes to see what’s missing.
Also, deliberately making copies of the same label can be considered fraud, which is never a good thing.
So how do you go about printing labels fora multi-package order?
Print Shipping Labels for Multi-Package Order
Each shipper and eCommerce management platform has its own way of creating labels for a Multiple Package Shipment (MPS). Here are some links to get you started printing labels for Multiple Package Shipment for a few of the more popular shipping carriers and eCommerce platforms.
- FedEx Multiple Package Shipment
- UPS Multiple Package Shipping
- USPS Batch Order
- eBay Shipping an Order in Multiple Packages
- PayPal Ship Multiple Boxes
If you’re ever in doubt about how to ship multiple packages for the same order, send your shipping carrier or eCommerce platform an email or even drop them a call.
Besides limited tracking and fraud, what other reasons do you know of for not duplicating a shipping label?
Find out how to Streamline Your Order Fulfillment with Shipping Label Sheets!
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