Glossary

At Shippo, our business is shipping. Most of the terms we use are common but sometimes we’ll use terms that you may not be familiar with. Other times we might use terms you are familiar with but we use them in a different context. This guide is a collection of terms and descriptions that we use when we talk about the Shippo API. A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | O | P | Q | R | S | T | W | Z

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A

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Address validation

One of the most common reasons why a parcel delivery fails is because an incorrect or poorly formed address is used. Address validation is a Shippo service that checks your address for errors before creating a shipping label. Where applicable, the service provides a corrected address you can use for your shipment.

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API Portal

The Shippo API Portal is a single control panel for API users to manage their API-based shipping operations. Users can access invoice downloads, detailed analytics, developer tools, admin functionality, team management, and more.

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Automations

Shippo has a feature that can be used within Shippo’s webApp called automations which will help automate your shipping flow.

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B

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Batch

A batch is a technique for creating multiple labels at once.

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BYOA

Bring Your Own “carrier” Account. Shippo offers the ability to connect your carrier (BYOA) or you can use one of Shippo’s carrier accounts.

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C

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Carrier

A carrier is a company or service who delivers purchased goods to customers. Examples of carriers include USPS, DHL, and FedEx

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Customs

Customs refers to the government agency responsible for regulating the import and export of goods into and out of a country.

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D

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DAP

Delivery at Place (DAP) is an incoterm. It means that the seller is responsible for delivering the goods to a specified place in the buyer’s country, and they cover all costs and risks associated with transporting the goods to that location. Once the goods arrive at the agreed-upon place, the buyer takes over responsibility for import duties, taxes, and further transportation.

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DDU

Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDP) is an incoterm. It means the seller is responsible for delivering the goods to a specified location in the buyer’s country, but they do not cover import duties, taxes, or customs clearance. Once the goods arrive at the agreed-upon destination, the buyer is responsible for paying any import duties, taxes, and handling customs clearance.

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DDP

Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) is an incoterm. It means the seller assumes maximum responsibility for the delivery of goods. The seller is responsible for all costs and risks associated with transporting the goods to the buyer’s location, including import duties, taxes, and customs clearance.

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Dimensional Weight

Dimensional weight (also known as dim weight) is a measuring method in which the total size of your parcel is measured against the total weight.

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E

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Elements

Elements or Shippo Shipping Elements is a suite of embeddable shipping components. It is a product that you can use to add shipping directly into your website without developing the user interface or the code behind it.

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F

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Filtering

Filtering is a feature of the Shippo API where you can define which results are returned from an API call.

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G

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Gray label

A gray label integration is how we describe a platform integration where users have their own Shippo accounts. The platform uses their user’s Shippo account to create and manage shipments. Gray label integrations are often described alongside white label integrations.

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H

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HS Code

Harmonized System Code (HS Code) is a standardized classification used to identify products in international trade. It is required by all carriers for international shipping. The term is often used interchangeably with tariff number.

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Hazmat

Hazmat is hazardous or dangerous materials. In shipping there are special requirements when shipping hazmat materials.

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I

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Instalabel

Insatlabel is a feature of the Shippo API where the API can be configured to purchase a label with a single API call instead of the more common two label call.

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Incoterm

Incoterms are a set of internationally recognized trade terms that define the responsibilities of buyers and sellers in international trade transactions. They define things like who is responsible for delivery and transport, export and import clearance, and any associated tariffs.

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Insurance

Shipping insurance is a service that provides coverage for goods while they are in transit, protecting against potential losses or damages that might occur during shipping. This type of insurance can be purchased by either the seller or the buyer, depending on the terms of the transaction, and is typically offered by shipping carriers, third-party insurers, or logistics companies.

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J

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JWT

JSON Web Token (JWT) is a URL-safe token used for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object. For your client-side applications, we recommend using a JWT to securely authenticate.

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L

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Label

A shipping label is a document, usually affixed to your parcel, that contains all the information needed to get a parcel from its source to its destination. Some of the information can include information such as, destination address, parcel contents, service level, tracking details, and special instructions. A new label must be created for each shipment.

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M

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Manifest

Manifests and USPS SCAN forms allow merchants to create a single piece of paper they can hand to the carrier at pickup time. The manifest has a list of all the parcels the carrier is going to be picking up that day and greatly speeds up the process of the carrier accepting each of the day’s parcels.

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Metadata

Metadata is freeform text that can be used with some Shippo API objects. Metadata can be used in numerous different ways to help interact with Shippo API data.

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Multi-piece

Shipments with multiple parcels sent to the same destination can be grouped together in a multi-piece shipment to save money.

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O

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OAuth

Open Authorization (OAuth) is a standard for access delegation. In the Shippo API, it’s commonly used for gray label integrations.

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Object ID

In the Shippo API, objects are used to store information. Objects can store information like addresses, shipments, and rates. Each object has an associated object ID. Each object ID is unique and you can use the object ID to reference and use the data in the object.

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Orders

An order is the act of a customer agreeing to purchase goods from a merchant. The Shippo API includes the order endpoints The orders endpoint allows you to load orders from your system to the Shippo dashboard and to create, retrieve, list, and manage orders programmatically.

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Outbound label

An outbound label is a label that is generated for sending a parcel from the sender (merchant) to the recipient (customer). This is not the same as a return label.

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P

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Parcel

A parcel is an item to be shipped.

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Platform account

Shippo Platform accounts a special kind of account that enables you to control other Shippo accounts, known as Managed Shippo Accounts. This is a popular solution for many applications including marketplaces that support merchants.

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Pickup

Pickup refers to a service where a carrier collects a parcel directly from the sender’s location for delivery to the recipient.

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Portal

See Shippo API Portal

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Q

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QR code

Quick Response (QR) code is a type of barcode that can be scanned using a smartphone or a QR code reader to quickly access information. QR codes are becoming more common in shipping. For example, some carriers provide a service where a user can use a QR to print a shipping label at parcel drop-off location.

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R

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Rate

Rates are the cost and service levels associated with a shipment. Each Rate returned will have an object ID to identify each unique rate.

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Return

A return is when a shipped item is sent back from the recipient to the original sender.

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Rate shopping

Rate shopping is the practice of comparing costs and services levels of different shipping options to find the option that works best for your shipment.

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S

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SDK

A Software Development Kit (SDK), is a collection of tools, libraries, documentation, and code samples that developers use to create applications for specific platforms. Shippo provides SDKs in a number of languages to support our developer community.

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Shipping

Shipping is the act of transporting goods from a sender to a recipient.

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Shipment

A shipment object in the Shippo API represents a package that you intend to ship. It includes details about the sender, recipient, package dimensions, weight, and other attributes necessary for shipping. The shipment is used to request rates from shipping carriers. Each Shipment is identified by an object ID.

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Shippo carrier account

Shippo carrier accounts are accounts that Shippo owns. You get access to these carrier accounts when you log into your shippo account. Using Shippo carrier accounts you can purchase labels immediately, without creating your own account with a carrier. The cost to purchase labels is billed through your Shippo account. Using Shippo carrier accounts you can benefit from discounts negotiated by Shippo.

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Service level

Shipping service levels refer to the various options provided by carriers that define the speed, cost, and delivery terms of shipping parcels.

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T

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Tracking number

A tracking number is a unique identifying number that you can use to show the location of your parcel.

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Test token

Shippo uses API tokens to authenticate your access to the Shippo API. Shippo has two types of tokens. A live token and a test token. Use your test token when you are developing and testing your integration. Using a test token means you will not incur charges. You can use live tokens and test tokens interchangeably. This means you can develop your integration using your test token. When you are ready for production, the only change needed is to replace your test token with your live token.

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Tariff number

Often used interchangeably with HS Code, is a standardized classification used to identify products in international trade.

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Transaction

A transaction is the purchase of a shipping label from a shipping provider for a specific service. You can print purchased labels and use them to ship a parcel with a carrier, such as USPS or FedEx. For each transaction, there is an object ID associated with it.

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W

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Webhook

A webhook is a way for one application to send real-time data or notifications to another application over the web. Webhooks allow systems to communicate with each other by delivering updates or events automatically, without the need for constant polling or manual intervention.

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White label

Similar to gray label, a white label integration is how we describe a platform integration where users do not have their Shippo accounts. A white label or unbranded integration means you provide shipping to your users, but they don’t see that it is enabled by another party. A white label integration can be supported through a single Shippo account or through a Platform account. Shippo will charge you for all the shipments processed through this account.

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Web app

The Shippo web app is the web interface for Shippo. You can use the web app to manage all your shipping needs directly from a browser. The web app includes a large number of features including order management and label creation.

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Z

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ZPL

Zebra Programming Language (ZPL) is a specialized language used for designing and generating labels on Zebra printers, which are commonly used for printing shipping labels.