ShipTrac sells US domestic shipping labels (USPS, for example) at its own negotiated rates. You pay from a prepaid ShipTrac balance, and every label you buy comes out of it.

With this integration, Packiyo can pull your available services, quote rates, buy labels, hand back tracking info, and void labels when plans change. Voided labels go back to your balance.

What you can do

Connect ShipTrac to Packiyo

You'll need your API Key and your ShipTrac Account ID handy.

1. Go to the Shipping Carriers page.
2. Click Add Carrier.
3. Select ShipTrac.
4. Enter your API Key and ShipTrac Account.
5. Testing with a sandbox key? Tick Use sandbox environment.
6. Save.

When you save, Packiyo runs a quick connection test. If it fails, you'll see ShipTrac's own reason on screen.

What each field means

⚠️ Heads up: Account and sandbox are locked after setup. Labels you've already bought belong to that account and environment, and changing either would make it impossible to void them. Need to move to a different account? Just create a new ShipTrac connection.

Running more than one ShipTrac connection? No problem. Your carrier list shows the ShipTrac Account name next to each one so you can tell them apart. Your API key is never displayed.

If the connection test fails

Your shipping methods

Packiyo pulls your carriers and services straight from ShipTrac, so you don't have to build them by hand. For example, you'd see USPS as a carrier with Ground Advantage as a shipping method.

⚠️ Heads up: If ShipTrac renames a service, Packiyo will show it as a new, duplicate shipping method. If you ever spot a double, that's likely why. Reach out and we'll help you clean it up.

Getting rates

Rate shopping works just like your other carriers. Packiyo asks ShipTrac for rates, and you see every service ShipTrac can sell for that shipment.

• Rates show in USD.
• Delivery estimates show up when ShipTrac provides them. Some rates won't have one.
• A service only appears if every package in the shipment can go on it.
• Rates stay valid for about 15 minutes. If one expires before you buy, Packiyo quotes it again for you.

⚠️ Heads up: ShipTrac buys the rate you picked, not whatever the package looks like now. If you change a package's weight or dimensions after choosing a rate, rate the shipment again before buying, or the label will carry the old values.

Buying labels

Buy a label like you normally would. Packiyo sends your pick to ShipTrac, charges the cost to your prepaid balance, and brings back:

• The label (PDF, PNG or ZPL, based on your label format setting. Anything else falls back to PDF)
• The tracking number
• The tracking URL
• The cost

Labels can take a few seconds to render, so Packiyo waits for the label to be ready before moving on. Retrying a purchase won't double-charge you.

Not enough balance?

Packiyo tells you exactly what's missing:

Your ShipTrac balance is too low to buy this label. Balance: $3.20, required: $7.45, shortfall: $4.25. Add funds with ShipTrac, then try again.

Top up your balance in ShipTrac and try again. Packiyo can't add funds for you.

💡 Tip: Every ShipTrac error in Packiyo ends with a request ID (req_...). If you contact ShipTrac support, give them that. It's the fastest way for them to find what happened.

Tracking

Packiyo saves the tracking number and URL when you buy the label. ShipTrac doesn't send live updates back, so delivery status in Packiyo comes from Packiyo's EasyPost tracker, if it's turned on for your account.

Multi-package shipments

Shipping more than one box? Each package is quoted and bought on its own, so every package gets its own label, tracking number and cost. Packiyo adds the rates up so you see one total.

If one package fails during purchase, Packiyo automatically voids the others so you're not charged for a half-booked shipment. The error tells you which package was the problem, like this:

Package 2 of 3: ShipTrac no longer offers usps ground_advantage for this package.

In the rare case a cleanup void doesn't go through, you'll see a message with the shipment IDs so you can void them in ShipTrac.

Voiding a label

Changed your mind? Void the label in Packiyo and the cost goes back to your ShipTrac balance.

• Voiding the same label twice is fine. Packiyo recognizes it's already voided and reports success.
• Labels can only be voided on the account that bought them. If a void fails with a "not found" type error, double check you're on the right ShipTrac connection before assuming the label is lost.

Returns

Return labels: supported. Packiyo swaps sender and receiver for you, so the customer is the sender and your warehouse is the receiver. Rates and labels work the same as any other shipment.

Return entities: not supported. You can't create a return entity through ShipTrac.

International shipping

Not yet. If you try to ship across a border, Packiyo stops it before anything is charged and tells you to use another carrier:

1. ShipTrac does not ship internationally yet. Use another carrier for shipments from US to CA.

We'll update this article when it's available.

Quick troubleshooting

Still stuck? Reach out to the Packiyo support team and include the ShipTrac request ID from the error message if you have one.

What's still coming

We're waiting on ShipTrac for a few things and will update this article when we hear back:

• International shipping
• Signature and insurance options
• How long after purchase a label can still be voided