How do I create a shipping label?

This article has information related to purchasing shipping labels from the PayPal Shipping Center. If you purchased your shipping label through Shipstation, visit our Seller Tools for more information.

You can purchase and print a label on the PayPal Shipping Center Buy a Label page when your order is ready to ship.

How to access the Buy a Label Page
You can access the Buy a Label page in one of three ways:

1. In the PayPal Shipping Center, click Buy a shipping label in the actions menu for the order you want to ship.
2. From the Order detail page, click the Buy a shipping label button on the top right.
3. From the Activities transaction list in your PayPal account, click Print shipping label.

How to Create a Domestic Label
To create a label on the ‘Buy a Label’ page:

1. Select your shipping location if you have added multiple shipping locations in PayPal Shipping.
   • Your customer’s Ship To address will automatically populate from the order details.
2. Fill in the requested information (confirmations, insurance, or additional handling requests) about your shipment in the ‘Package and Weight’ section.
   • By default, USPS and UPS include insurance coverage up to $100 for specific services. You can add more insurance coverage to your shipments for an additional fee.
3. Click the Calculate rates button.
4. Select your desired shipping service. The ‘Shipping Services’ section displays your available service choices.
5. Click the Buy Label button to purchase the label.
   • You will be directed to the ‘Order Summary page,’ where you can review your shipment details, and shipping costs and select your funding instrument from your Wallet to purchase the label.
6. Select the Print Icon to print the label from your browser.
7. Click the Download icon on your browser's print screen to download your shipping label and save the PDF file to your computer.

Note:

• You can go back to the ‘Ready to Ship screen’ to create labels for more orders, go to the ‘Shipped screen’ to review the order information, view or reprint your label, or void the label if needed.
• If you need to ship an order in multiple boxes, you can create additional labels for the order from the ‘Order Summary page.’

How to Create an International Label
Here's how to create an international shipment:

1. Go to your ‘Orders’ page.
2. Click the order number and select your Ship From address.
3. Calculate shipping rates and select a shipping service.
4. Add a Customs Declaration form.
5. Purchase a label.

Note: First-class mail international labels cannot be refunded and are not trackable.

A Customs Form declares all items in a shipment when it crosses international borders. Customs agencies require Customs Forms to help them regulate the flow of goods in and out of each country. You must create customs declarations for each unique item in your shipment. Multiple quantities of the same item can be declared on a single customs declaration.

For all carriers, these forms are submitted digitally to the carrier on the user’s behalf. However, for UPS, the user will be provided with 3 copies of the UPS Commercial Invoice. Even though this was submitted digitally to UPS on a user’s behalf, we recommend that the user prints these forms and affixes them to their shipment to prevent any issues when handing off the shipment to UPS.

Customs declarations include the following information about each line item of a shipment:

• Description (Required when shipping to Mexico)
• Quantity
• Item Value
• Total Value (if quantity is more than one)
• Harmonization Code (Required for shipping to EU Countries)
• Country of Origin

Note: Make sure the description of your item is as detailed as possible. If the contents are not described in enough detail, the shipment may be returned to you (the sender) by the carrier or the receiving country. The carrier will not issue a refund for the postage cost when a shipment is returned. Your description should include at least what the item is and what it's made of (for example, "cotton t-shirt" or "gold bracelet"). If it's a specialized item, you may also want to include what it is used for (for example, "stainless steel cookware skillet").

How do I create a shipping label without an order?

You can create a shipping label independent of a PayPal order in the PayPal Shipping Center.

1. Click the Buy Quick Label button on the Shipping Center home page.
2. Enter your recipient's shipping address and information.
3. Fill in the requested information for the package.
4. Click Calculate rates.
5. Select your desired Shipping Service and click Buy label.
6. Select your payment method and complete the purchase. Your label will open in a new tab.

Note: You can find your past purchased quick labels under the "Labels" tab on the Shipping Center home page. From this tab, you can view, reprint your label or void it if needed.

Change the Label Layout
Your label layout settings tell the PayPal Shipping Center what type of printer you are using, allowing it to create the label in the correct format.

There are two available layouts for shipping labels in PayPal:

• 8.5 x 11 inch: Select this option if you use a desktop printer with letter-size paper. If you buy multiple labels at once, this option will print two 4 x 6-inch labels per page.
• 4 x 6 inch: Select this option if you use a thermal label printer.

To set or change your label layout:

1. Log in to PayPal.
2. Navigate to your Account Settings.
3. Go to your shipping preferences.
4. Click Change under ‘Shipping Label layout.’

If you have already created labels in an undesired label layout size, you must void and repurchase those labels to apply any label layout changes.