The “Click and Ship” program from the United States Postal Service began in the early 2000’s. Implemented to make it easy for USPS customers to plan, prepay, and print out shipping labels for all of their packages – right from the comfort of their own homes on their computers (later their mobile devices) – this service is used millions of times each week by people all over the country.
Obviously, the Click and Ship program has changed quite a bit over the last 20 years. It has been improved upon, expanded, and made even easier to use. And the odds are pretty good that it’s going to be improved upon in the years to come as well!
If you’ve been thinking about using the Click and Ship program, but aren’t quite sure of what it does, how it works, or why it’s beneficial, this is the only guide you’ll need! Let’s jump right in.
What is Click and Ship USPS?
As highlighted above, the Click and Ship services gives USPS customers the opportunity to both create and print legitimate USPS shipping labels online for a variety of mailing services from the United States Postal Service.
The Click and Ship service itself is 100% free of charge. Customers don’t have two pay any extra to create or print these labels on their own. Even cooler than that, though, is that these labels can be created anytime – day or night – on a 24/7 basis. It’s not at all uncommon for Click and Ship customers to save money on postage using this service, either.
As of early 2022, the postage that Click and Ship customers are charged is often lower than what they would pay even at their local post office. We dig a little deeper into the different benefits and reasons to consider using Click and Ship in just a moment.
How Does the Click and Ship Process Work?
The Click and Ship process is (generally) pretty easy to navigate, though you will want to keep this handy guide close by the first few times you use these tools.
- For starters, you’re going to need a package that you are actually prepared to ship – a package that is boxed, taped, and eligible to be sent via the USPS in the first place.
- You are going to need an accurate scale that you can weigh your package with. You’ll have to know – right down to the ounce – how much your package weighs to take full advantage of the Click and Ship tools (and to get accurate postage).If you don’t have an accurate scale (a digital kitchen scale works best in most cases), you can still use Click and Ship services. You’ll just need to use USPS flat rate boxes or envelopes.You can get just as many flat rate boxes or envelopes as you’d like free of charge from your local post office. You can even order them on USPS.com and have them delivered to your doorstep totally free of charge, too.
- Log into the Click and Ship services on the USPS website. Visit www.cns.usps.com, login using your free USPS account credentials, and you are rocking and rolling!
- Choose the Click and Ship services that you want to take advantage of.As of early 2022, the following shipping services from the USPS are eligible for Click and Ship label printing:
- USPS Retail Ground
- Priority Mail
- Priority Mail Express
- Priority Mail International
- Priority Mail Express International
- First Class Package International
- Global Express Guaranteed
- After selecting the eligible service you’d like to use you’ll want to hit the “Print a Label” option on the screen.This will immediately bring up a number of windows where you can input important pieces of information, including your Return Address and your Delivery Address.Once you confirm that information – it’s important to double check before you move on to the next section – the USPS will standardize the addresses to help smooth out any delivery issues that might have otherwise bubbled up.
You’ll be given an option to include a recipient email notification, basically letting your intended recipient know when their package has been accepted by the USPS and when it has been delivered.
Some people skip this step, especially since the same thing is covered by tracking information that you should be providing to your intended recipient anyway.
- The next window that you’ll navigate to, is determining when you want your package to be shipped. You’ll be able to pick a date up to three days away from the current date, and you can also decide whether or not you want to drop off your package at a local USPS office or have it picked up for you by a USPS mail carrier. All that’s really left from here is to tell the USPS Click and Ship services whether or not you’re using a flat rate box or not. If not, make sure that you include accurate weight information to avoid any delays in your package getting sent out because of incorrect postage.You also have to choose whether or not you want your package sent via Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express (for domestic shipments).Now you’ll be brought to the checkout page, giving you a chance to prepay for your postage with any major credit card.
- Take another second to confirm all of your details and then input your payment information.
Once this has been taken care of you’re going to have a label printed produced that you can print on your own (regular computer paper and then taped to your package or on label paper), or you can have a label printed for you at your local post office – using the Label Broker system (100% free) – that you pick up on your own. And that’s it!
Does Click and Ship Work with All USPS Services?
We mentioned a moment ago that Click and Ship through the USPS is not going to work with every shipping option provided by this organization.
The USPS may add more Click and Ship eligible services in the future, but right now you really are going to be limited to just:
- USPS Retail Ground
- Priority Mail
- Priority Mail Express
- Priority Mail International
- Priority Mail Express International
- First Class Package International
- Global Express Guaranteed
If you had intended to use any of those shipping services the odds are pretty good you’ll appreciate everything Click and Ship brings to the table.
If, on the other hand, you are hoping to use other shipping services you’re probably not going to find Click and Ship quite as useful. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the kind of package you are sending, how much you want to spend on postage, and whether or not Click and Ship services fit those needs.
Will You Save Money Using USPS Click and Ship?
Believe it or not, regular comparisons between postage paid for at any local post office and the postage-paid through the Click and Ship program show that you end up saving (at least a little) money when you go with Click and Ship – even when you are using the same services.
Don’t expect Click and Ship postage to be $0.50 or more less expensive than local postage at your post office, though. We are really only talking about a couple of pennies here on every transaction. At the same time, though, if you are sending a lot of packages through the mail – maybe you run an e-commerce business, for example – all of those pennies are going to add up over time. It’s well worth looking into just how much you could save shipping in large volumes by using the Click and Ship tools.
Do I Need Special Labels for USPS Click and Ship?
You certainly don’t need any special labels to take advantage of USPS Click and Ship services, though there are some specially formatted labels specifically for this service available from the USPS. Right now you can buy a pack of 25 labels specifically made for Click and Ship from the USPS.com website for only nine dollars. Spend eight dollars more and you’ll get a pack of 50 labels that work perfectly with this program.
Third-party providers also have “Click and Ship specific” labels that you can buy that even deeper discounts. Amazon has a whole bunch that are well worth looking into – though you’ll want to confirm (through reviews) that those labels are worth your money. If you don’t have specialty labels you can use computer paper and print out your shipping label, attaching it to your package with clear packing tape. The label needs to be clearly visible (obviously), but this works just fine.
You can also have your label printed for you at a local USPS post office using the Label Broker service that’s part of the Click and Ship program. This label printing program is 100% free of charge. Labels are usually ready the same day, too.
Big Benefits of USPS Click and Ship
From day one the USPS Click and Ship program has been a real timesaver (and helps save money, too). Small businesses have always loved the flexibility and consistency of the Click and Ship program from the USPS. You get to avoid making a lot of stops at the post office, you don’t have to worry about long lines bottling you up, and you don’t have to worry about lugging all of those packages to the post office, either.
Some of the other big advantages of the USPS Click and Ship program include:
- Tremendous time and effort savings
- You can use free boxes for all of your packaging
- You can use flat rate boxes for your shipments
- You don’t have to visit the post office but can have your packages picked up for you
- You can pre-fill out customs forms and print customs eligible labels, too
- You get to take advantage of more affordable shipping and postage rates
- You can effortlessly re-ship packages to addresses that you have shipped to before with your “shipping address book”
- You get to manage all of your destination addresses, all of your individual shipments, and all of your tracking information in a single “one-stop” location online
Drawbacks of USPS Click and Ship
While the USPS Click and Ship program is super popular and convenient, we want to make it clear that there are some drawbacks to the program as well. For one thing, not all USPS shipping options are going to be available or eligible for Click and Ship label printing. More could certainly (and may even likely) get added later down the line, but right now you are somewhat restricted.
Secondly, the entire Click and Ship program sometimes goes down – especially when the USPS.com infrastructure is getting updated, overhauled, or is otherwise down itself.
Thirdly, the payment processing part of Click and Ship is handled by independent (but 100% legitimate) payment gateways. If they go down you may not have the opportunity to pay for everything you scheduled in your Click and Ship account. All things considered, though, Click and Ship is steady, reliable and consistent, and a very convenient way to handle most of your shipping needs.
Modernize Your Mailbox with US Global Mail Today
Click and Ship has definitely helped to modernize USPS services, but the virtual mailbox from US Global Mail takes things to the next level.
Giving you a physical street address that you can use for all of your mailing needs, a physical street address that you never have to change no matter how often you move in the future, it’s easy to see why US Global Mail is as popular a service as it is today.
On top of that mailing address you also get:
- Digital scanning of every piece of mail and every package that hits your mailbox
- Instant real-time alerts with those scans so that you know exactly what has been delivered and when
- Receipts of all those transactions for your own personal records
- Check depositing capabilities that are safe, secure, and speedy
- Mail forwarding to almost any address on the planet at up to 80% off of traditional postage rates
… And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
To learn more about everything US Global Mail has to offer, or to create your account today, visit their website right now.
