ShipEngine is a certified UPS Ready® application that allows you to get rates and create shipping labels via your negotiated UPS shipping rates. UPS helps both large and small businesses with their logistical needs and offers sustainability options like paperless invoices and their Carbon Neutral program. Visit the UPS website to sign up for an account today!
You can connect UPS accounts based in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia to your ShipEngine accounts. Features and services between accounts in these countries differ somewhat. View the Available Features section below for details on which features and services are supported for each country.
Connection Requirements:
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An active account with UPS.
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Your UPS account billing address, phone number, and email address.
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The following details from your most recent UPS invoice (not required for new accounts). If you have questions regarding your UPS invoice, please contact UPS Customer Support.
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Control ID (not needed for UPS AU/NZ 🇦🇺 🇳🇿)
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Invoice Date
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Invoice Number
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Invoice Amount
See Step 8 of the Connect a UPS Account section below for an image of a sample invoice.
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Note
For instructions on programmatically connecting UPS to your account via ShipEngine's API, go to our UPS Guide in the ShipEngine developer documents
To connect your UPS account to ShipEngine:
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Select the UPS tile.
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Click Continue setup.
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Read through the UPS Technology Agreement and check the box next to "I have read and agree to the following terms of service above", then click Next.
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Enter your UPS account information.
If you are unsure about where to find this information, see the Locate Your UPS Contact Information section below.
Note
If this is a new UPS account, be sure to uncheck the box next to “I have received an invoice in the last 90 Days”, then skip to step 8.
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Enter the requested information from your most recent UPS invoice on the right side of the Register your UPS Account screen.
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Click Continue setup.
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Review the Confirmation screen details, then click Connect.
Note
The rate you see in ShipEngine for UPS shipments is provided directly from UPS based on your account information and the parameters of your shipment. However it is still an estimate, and you will always be charged according to the terms of your contract. In addition, UPS reserves the right to charge additional fees.
To see your UPS negotiated rates in ShipEngine, you must add the following details from your most recent UPS invoice:
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Invoice Number
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Invoice Date
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Invoice Amount
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Control ID
The invoice must be within the last 30 days. If you have not received an invoice yet, you must wait until you receive one.
To enable negotiated rates to an already-connected UPS account:
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Click the vertical ellipsis next to your connected UPS account and select Edit.
This will open the Edit Carrier window.
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Check the box next to Enable Negotiated Rates.
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Fill in the details from your most recent invoice.
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Click the Save button to confirm your changes.
Troubleshooting Tip
Issue: If you have connected your UPS account and enabled negotiated rates, but do not pull rates, the negotiated rates connection can fail over time. Rates may appear incorrectly or may be unavailable.
Solution: Double-check your most recent invoice for any changes to your account and contact ShipEngine support if the problem persists.
US, Canada, and UK UPS accounts can create both domestic and international labels in ShipEngine. Australia UPS accounts can create international shipping labels only.
Domestic Services:
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UPS 2nd Day Air AM®
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UPS 2nd Day Air®
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UPS 3 Day Select®
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UPS Ground®
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UPS Next Day Air Saver®
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UPS Next Day Air®
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UPS Next Day Air® Early
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UPS Saver®
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UPS SurePost®
International Services:
Domestic Services:
International Services:
Domestic Services:
International Services:
The ShipEngine integration with UPS allows for the following additional features:
|
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
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Paperless label support for UPS Mail Innovations Returns service. |
For UPS Mail Innovations returns service: You can request a paperless label download link instead of a label PDF when creating a label. Add the |
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Invoiced carrier |
UPS bills you for only the labels you use, which are invoiced monthly to you on your account. UPS does not charge your account at the time you create the label in ShipEngine. Any UPS labels you create in ShipEngine that are NOT used to ship a package will not be billed on your invoice. However, you may still wish to void labels you don't use for improved accuracy in your shipment records. |
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Enable Negotiated Rates |
Your UPS-negotiated rates can be enabled in ShipEngine for cheaper shipping costs. |
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UPS Consolidation Services |
US-based UPS accounts only. You can enable UPS Consolidation services for use in ShipEngine. For more information, see our articles on UPS SurePost and UPS Mail Innovations. |
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UPS Ground Freight Pricing |
US-based UPS accounts only. You can use UPS Ground with Freight Pricing when you get rates for UPS Ground shipments in ShipEngine. When you use this option, you'll need to assign a Freight Classification Code. UPS Ground with Freight Pricing is only available for multi-package UPS shipments that use the shipping service UPS® Ground. |
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UPS Carbon Neutral Program |
By default, all UPS accounts connected to ShipEngine are automatically enrolled in the Carbon Neutral program. If you do not want to participate in the Carbon Neutral program, disable this option in your UPS Settings in ShipEngine. |
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Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) |
Contact UPS to have EDI enabled for your UPS account. Once enabled, ShipEngine will automatically submit customs information electronically through the UPS EDI service. If ShipEngine is not able to submit customs information through EDI (either because it's not enabled for your UPS account or because the destination country does not support EDI), you will instead need to print any necessary customs forms and include them with the shipment. |
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Third-Party and Recipient billing |
This option allows you to assign the billing to a third party or recipient UPS account. You must enter the account number and account zip code of the third-party account. The third-party account must also allow third-party billing. |
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Bill duties and taxes to payor of shipping charges |
Use this option to be charged duties and taxes on behalf of your international customers. If you use this option in conjunction with third-party or recipient billing, the billed account will be responsible for the duties and taxes. |
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Saturday Delivery |
Enable this option to allow for package delivery on Saturdays. See the UPS page on Saturday Delivery for more information and restrictions. |
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Collect on Delivery |
US, Canada, and UK-based UPS accounts only. Enable Collect on Delivery so that UPS will collect funds from the recipient when UPS delivers the package. See the UPS page on Collect on Delivery for more information and restrictions. |
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Dry Ice shipping |
Enable this option to let UPS know the package contains dry ice. See the UPS page on Coolants and Refrigerants for more information and restrictions. |
When entering your shipment weight and dimensions into ShipEngine, they should accurately reflect the size of the package so the rate returned to ShipEngine will be the rate you are actually charged for the shipment. Should the dimensions entered into ShipEngine not reflect the actual dimension of the shipped package, you may be subject to additional fees from UPS.
It is the shipper's responsibility to enter an accurate dimension into ShipEngine before creating the label for the shipment!
Packages with an actual weight of more than 150 pounds, or that exceed 108 inches in length, or exceed a total of 165 inches in length plus girth [(2 x width) + (2 x height)] combined, as measured to determine their billable weight, are not accepted for transportation.
If UPS finds packages that exceed these limits in the UPS system, the shipments are subject to additional charges. UPS reserves the right in its sole and unlimited discretion to return such packages to the shipper at the shipper’s expense.
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UPS can only use Label Message
reference1andreference2. Each Label Message reference field is limited to 35 characters. -
Labels created through ShipEngine will not appear in your Shipment History on UPS.com.
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UPS End of Day forms (also known as PLD forms) are not available in ShipEngine. As a Certified UPS Partner, ShipEngine submits all shipment information electronically to UPS when labels are created, so no End of Day process or PLD form is necessary.
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ShipEngine's address validation tool cannot determine if an address is considered Residential or Commercial, so all addresses are treated as Commercial addresses. This may cause the estimated rates to be incorrect for some Residential UPS shipments.
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UPS Smart Pickup is not available for UPS shipments created through ShipEngine.
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Recipient Address Line 1 has a 30-character limit. When the Recipient Address 1 field exceeds this limit ShipEngine will automatically wrap to Address Line 2.
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Rates for Australia-based UPS accounts are not yet available in the Rate Calculator.
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UPS international shipments that use paperless invoicing must be shipped within 14 days of the label creation date to reduce the chances of the shipment being held at customs.
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Some services support the Saturday Delivery shipping option. You must select this option to guarantee Saturday delivery. If this option is not selected, the package will not be eligible for a UPS Guaranteed Service refund when delivered after Saturday, even if the estimated delivery date shows an estimated delivery on a Saturday.
Here are some common issues, potential causes, and troubleshooting tips.
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Error |
Solution |
|---|---|
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Error: Invalid Account Status |
What this means: The account was not active over an extended period of time. What to do: Contact UPS directly to re-activate the account. |
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Error: Request cannot be processed, please contact UPS customer service at 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX |
What this means: This is a billing-related or other UPS account issue. What to do: Contact UPS at the number provided, and leave a voicemail with your contact information if nobody answers. Other UPS departments cannot typically assist with this error. |
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Error: PostalCode and/or CountryCode input does not match those associated with the AccountNumber |
What this means: The address entered does not match the Primary Contact Information for the account. What to do: Log in to UPS.com to gather the address information required. |
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Error: Unable to verify negotiated rates. Please review invoice information and resubmit |
What this means: Either an invalid invoice or the account does not have access to negotiated rates. What to do: If you do not already have access to negotiated rates, do not select the option to Enable Negotiated Rates. If you do not have a recent invoice, you must check with the UPS accounts payable department. You can also get billing help online or call the UPS Billing Department to request a duplicate invoice. |
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Error: Request cannot be authorized due to invoice not found in UPS billing system |
What this means: Either an invalid invoice information or an outdated invoice. What to do: If you do not have a recent invoice, you must check with the UPS accounts payable department. You can also get billing help online or call the UPS Billing Department to request a duplicate invoice. |
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Error: Request cannot be authorized due to account is locked out, please try again after 24 hours |
What this means: Attempted registration with invalid invoice information too many times. What to do: Contact UPS directly to unlock the account. Ensure you have the correct invoice information for future attempts. |
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Error: Missing or Invalid Shipper Number |
What this means: Error in UPS account number entered. What to do: Check the account number entered to ensure there are no spaces and the account number is correct. |
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Error: Register Web service is temporarily unavailable |
What this means: ShipEngine unable to register the account with UPS. What to do: This is a temporary issue typically related to server maintenance. Check the ShipEngine status page or contact support for updates. |
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Error: Licensing system not available |
What this means: ShipEngine unable to register the account with UPS. What to do: This is a temporary issue typically related to server maintenance. Check the ShipEngine status page or contact support for updates. |
This table describes the most commonly experienced errors you might experience when getting rates or creating labels with UPS, and their potential solutions:
|
Error |
Cause & Solution |
|---|---|
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Error: Missing or Invalid Vendor Collection ID Number. |
What it means: The VOEC (VAT On E-Commerce) Tax ID number is either missing or is in the wrong format. What to do: Ensure the VOEC Tax ID number is present and follows this VOEC (VAT On E-Commerce) Number Format: VOEC2345678
Apply this in the International settings within ShipStation and make sure it's added to the order you need to process. |
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Error: “Invalid number of products.” |
What it means: UPS can accept up to 100 customs declarations. Attempts to send 101 declarations or more will result in an error. What to do: If you have more than 100 customs declarations, you must separate them into groups of 100 or fewer to process. To do so, you’ll need to split the order until each shipment in the order has 100 customs declarations or fewer. Once each shipment has only 100 customs declarations, you can create a label for each shipment. For example, if the order had to be split into three shipments, you would generate three labels. |
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Error: The requested billing option is unavailable between the selected locations |
What this means: This error occurs for international labels on packages valued under 100 Euros when you select the option to Bill taxes and duties to the payor of shipping in the Other Shipping Options section. UPS does not bill duties and taxes if the shipment value, including product cost and shipping cost, is under 100 Euros per day. UPS will block the label from being created due to DDP being not applicable for the shipment since none will be charged to the receiver or shipper. What to do: Deselect the option to Bill taxes and duties to the payor of shipping in the Other Shipping Options section, then create the label. |
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Error: The Userid is currently locked out please try again in 5 minutes |
What this means: ShipEngine's access credentials are out of date and need to be updated. What to do: Go to |
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Error: Request cannot be authorized due to account is locked out, please try again after 24 hours |
What this means: ShipEngine's access credentials are out of date and need to be updated. What to do: Go to |
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Error: The accessory is not valid with the selected option |
What this means: Your Service, package, or shipping selections not compatible with each other. What to do: The service and package are not compatible, or an "Other Option" that is not allowed (like Saturday Delivery) is selected for the shipment. Remove any options that are not permitted for the shipment type. |
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Error: The requested accessory option is unavailable between the selected locations |
What this means: You are attempting to ship something by UPS and have selected the Carbon Neutral option in your UPS account settings in ShipEngine. The UPS Carbon Neutral Shipping Program is not available between all locations. What to do: Go to your ShipEngine Connection Settings and edit your UPS settings. Disable the Carbon Neutral option and save your changes. |
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Error: Missing or invalid shipper number |
What this means: Error in UPS account number being used for shipment. What to do: If seen after successful connection of a UPS account, this error is typically related to Third-Party Billing. Check to ensure Third-Party Billing information is using a valid UPS account. |
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Error: Missing or invalid ship from company name |
What this means: No Company Name in Ship From Address. What to do: Ship From Company Name is required for some UPS shipments. Either add a Company Name to the Ship From Address or add a Company Name in the Branding tab of the store's settings. |
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Error: Missing or invalid ship from StateProvinceCode |
What this means: UPS wants the 2-digit state code instead the name of the City or Province. What to do: If shipping to or from an address in the UK, try substituting the state or province for a two-letter code as found on this United Kingdom (GB) State/Province Table. For example, use JJ instead of Edinburgh. |
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Error: The Shippers shipper number cannot be used for the shipment |
What this means: Billing or other UPS account issue. What to do: Contact UPS directly to discuss the cause of the error and how to resolve it. |
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Error: The selected number of packages has exceeded the current limit |
What this means: You are attempting to void the master label for a multi-package shipment containing more than 20 shipments. What to do: Contact UPS directly if you wish to void the labels. UPS does not charge for postage until they scan the shipments, so you are not charged for unscanned labels even if you haven't voided them. |
