USPS (United States Postal Service) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government. It is responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is also the most used shipping methods in the US because of its wide reach in the states. Integrating USPS Shipping services to your store enhances your WooCommerce shipping methods as you can display precise shipping rates to your customers.
ELEX has three options to integrate USPS services on your site. These are:
- ELEX WooCommerce USPS Shipping Plugin with Print Label
- ELEX Stamps.com Shipping Plugin with USPS Postage for WooCommerce
- ELEX EasyPost Shipping Method Plugin for WooCommerce
Ok. Now you are spoiled for choice! Let’s consider a few aspects to help you decide
WooCommerce Shipping Plugins – What does a store owner expect?
Generally, Online store owners look for the following features in a shipping plugin:
- It should show real-time rates for the services
- It should be able to create and print shipping labels.
- Pay postage charges (Stamps) online or through an account so that customer can have a record for that.
Apart from these if the service provider is providing Insurance, Refund of accidentally destroyed postage and discounted postage rates, it’s more than enough.
Available Functionalities and Choices
The preference for a specific functionality of a shipping plugin is totally dependent on a store owner’s need. We can try and differentiate features of three top WooCommerce USPS integrated plugins, and choose appropriately.
Variety in Shipping Rates
As you know EasyPost is a multi-carrier Shipping Service, it fetches shipping rates from carriers like USPS, FedEx, and UPS. This means your customers will see shipping rates from three service provider. In addition, if you are based in Canada, you get rates from CanadaPost too. So if you want to offer a wide range of shipping services, EasyPost is the plugin for you.
And if you want to confine yourself to USPS rates only, you should go with the USPS Shipping Plugin. When compared, the USPS Shipping Plugin provides more USPS services compared to the other two.
All three plugins fetch USPS postage rates for both domestic and international shipping services, based on the product weight, box dimensions, chosen service, shipping destination etc.
Postage Paid Labels
With the introduction of e-VS by USPS, the scene of printing postage paid labels will change a lot. e-VS allows store owners to pay for the postage online. You can test the label printing feature of e-VS in USPS Shipping Plugin in the Test Environment and try registering for e-VS. You can also register here. For greater insights on postage volume required for printing labels, you need to contact USPS.
Printing of postage-paid labels, within WooCommerce, has been available with Stamps.com Shipping Plugin and EasyPost Shipping Plugin. e-VS works on the same pattern. If you get a PostalOne Account you’ll be able to pay for postage through this account.
For each of the plugins, shipping Labels can be generated by clicking ‘Generate Package’ on the WooCommerce order details page. The plugin will automatically send shipment details to e-VS/Stamps.com/EasyPost online account, and then generate the shipping label (GIF/JPG/PDF), which you can print. As mentioned above, postage is automatically paid for these labels using your e-VS/Stamps.com/EasyPost accounts.
In addition, there is an option to change the shipping service and box/parcel dimensions manually before generating a label. EasyPost and Stamps.com Shipping plugins return automatic tracking codes with each label generated. USPS tracking services from the USPS shipping plugin also work automatically you are not required to pay any extra fee for tracking.
Cheapest Shipping Rates to your Customers
I’ll leave it you to decide the cheapest of the three in this regard. Discounted rates are rates that USPS offers to its Business Plan holders. They also offer commercial rates for Click-N-Ship customers which are slightly lesser than offline rates/ rates in post offices. So arranging the postage rates in ascending order it will be Business Plan<Commercial<Offline Rates
EasyPost and Stamps.com get even higher discounts as they buy postage in huge volume. EasyPost offers you the exact same rate at which it buys it from USPS. Stamps.com rates are 5%-40% lesser than USPS Business Plan rates. The amount of discount depends on the type of shipping service used. For instance, Priority Mail services rates with Stamps.com are usually 5% less than the USPS commercial rates.
Extra Charge
USPS doesn’t charge any extra charge other than the postage charges. As you grow in postage usage and reach beyond 50 pieces in one shipment or a combined weight of 50lbs or more, you may get postages for cheaper rates(Subject to USPS policies).
EasyPost will charge you 1 cent/ postage used other than the postage charges. The postage charges offered as again the lowest among all three. This is because can buy even one postage at the same rate EasyPost buys 50,000 First Class postage or 5000 Priority postages from USPS. So it is highly discounted. Discover more Features of EasyPost that makes this the most innovative plugins in the shipping industry.
Stamps.com don’t go with per postage charge, rather it charges a monthly fee of $15.99 in addition to the postage charges. If you are a bulk mailer you can go for the $24.99 plan.
The following table summarises most of the feature discussed and includes some additional features too.
| Plugin | ELEX WooCommerce USPS Shipping Plugin with Print Label |
ELEX EasyPost shipping Method For WooCommerce | ELEX Stamps.com Plugin with USPS Postage for WooCommerce |
| Version | 4.0.1 | 1.6.5 | 2.0.1 |
| Last Updated | 2018-03-29 | 2018-04-03 | 2018-03-15 |
| Active Installations | 6000+ | 200+ | 800+ |
| Ratings | 4.89 | 4.5 | 4.69 |
| Cost of Plugin | $69.00-$199.00 | $69.00-$199.00 | $69.00-$199.00 |
| Charges other than Postage | None | 1 cent/ package | $15.99/month |
| Price Plans | Click-N-Ship (less than 50 pieces/month)
Click-N-Ship Business Pro (Min 50pieces or 50lbs at a time) Contact USPS for eligibility |
Commercial Plus Pricing (Discounted Postage Rates)
Negotiated Service Agreement based on high volume usage |
Pro@ $15.99
Premier@ $24.99 |
| Carrier | USPS | USPS/FedEx/UPS | USPS |
| Free Demo | Available | Available | Available |
| Live USPS Rates | Yes | Yes, with additional Shipping Rates from FedEx and UPS | Yes |
| Location | Domestic, International | Domestic, International | Domestic, International |
| Label Printing | Needs a minimum quantity of shipment in the prior year to use e-VS |
Prints Labels with USPS Postage |
Prints Labels with USPS Postage |
| Tracking | Automatic and Manual | Automatic and Manual | Automatic and Manual |
| Taxes | Automatic and Manual | Automatic and Manual | Automatic and Manual |
| Edit Name of Services | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shipping Rate Adjustments | Available | Available | Available |
| Insurance | Available up to $500 @ various rates. Click to check. | Fully Insured @ 1% the total cost of postage | Covers up to $10,000 @up to 40% lesser than USPS rates |
Winding Up
USPS is a great choice when you are a small or a medium business. But it never means that you will suffer in case your business expands. USPS shipping services are equally good for large businesses too. And all thee plugins with USPS Integration API are in harmony with the actual USPS service. So if you don’t have a USPS Shipping Plugin for your store get one soon. You can check our product page for further information on various other shipping solutions. If you have any queries regarding USPS Shipping Integration API or any specific plugin you can contact our Online Support or leave a comment below.
