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blog.geteasypost.com

79 pointsjstreebin45 comments

You can also use `$ npm install -g easypostjs && easypost --help` -- this will let you print postage via CLI with inputs, see https://github.com/EasyPost/easypost-node#easypostjs-

Indeed, much easier than cURLing

Thanks for the awesome work, Nick!

This is absolutely awesome. I'd love to see EasyPost integrate/replicate Microsoft Office's mail merge functionality for commonly used label templates. For instance, you could `GET api/labels/ids=id1,id2,id3&template_provider=avery&template=15664&format=pdf` and you would get a pre-filled PDF with 3 labels that would print directly to an Avery 15664 label sheet out of an inkjet printer. If EasyPost doesn't do this, we'd probably end up replicating this in-house, but since every self-fulfilling online retailer (a) needs to do this, and (b) would probably just buy these label sheets from the local Staples, it just makes sense for you guys to offer it as well.

Thanks, we've looked at rotating images and combining them in pdf but haven't pushed any of this yet. If you drop me a note to j at easypost dot co I'd love to find out more and let you know what we're working on

Absolutely. This is the missing link in any shopping cart that I've tried out. We don't do huge volume (maybe $100,000/year for 2013), but this is a continual source of annoyance for me - that there is simply no good, automated way to deal with this. Paying a 5% surcharge is absolutely reasonable if someone can just use the USPS APIs and wrap it into an automated postage plugin where my orders get posted to their API and I simply just print out the PDFs that come out. Or something like that. We're not even close to that right now and it's silly!

This is neat! Can you also support negotiated rates by using our account's credentials?

Also - shameless plug - I myself am working on an actually-usable python UPS library (with a real quickstart and example code and everything!) It is surprising how weak open-source library support is for this kind of thing, which is tedious, but not alltogether insurmountable. https://github.com/classicspecs/ClassicUPS

You can! Nice work!

I like the simplicity, but from my experience with warehouses no one is willing to take a 5 cent increase in postage costs, let alone a 5% (or less) increase.

Is the rate you're basing the ~5% on commercial base, commercial plus, GEPS? There are other consolidators that will offer those prices (Express1 for example). And while they are more work to integrate, the long term savings can be enormous.

You're right. We started with % of spend because it was easiest. We've had plans for a while now and will push them soon. These have competitive rates for volume shippers. In need of something like this?

We use the Endicia and Express1 API's in our software currently (Mainly because Express1 will share a bit of our client's revenue with us). We are definitely still in the marketplace for UPS, FedEx, etc solutions though. Haven't gotten around to their API's yet, and I don't know if there are good consolidator rates for them.

Great, we'd love to talk. Feel free to drop me an email at j at easypost dot co (I can't find your email)

As a side-effect can your service be used for address normalization?

verification? yes

check it out here https://geteasypost.com/docs

Great.

Your service is doing more than simple verification. Verification by its nature would result in a boolean. Your service is suggesting a better address (which is what I'd call normalization). e.g.

    curl https://www.geteasypost.com/api/address/verify \
      -u cueqNZUb3ldeWTNX7MU3Mel8UXtaAMUi: \
      -d 'address[street1]=388 Townshende Ave' \
      -d 'address[street2]=Unit 20' \
      -d 'address[city]=San Francisco' \
      -d 'address[state]=CA' \
      -d 'address[zip]=94107'

yields:

    {"address":{"street1":"388 TOWNSEND ST APT 20","city":"SAN FRANCISCO","state":"CA","zip":"94107"}}

Anyhow, semantics aside, are you going to make it fuzzier or this is based entirely on USPS' api?

What do you mean by fuzzier? We're doing it carrier-based, so that the corresponding postage works. What are you needing this for?

    "388 Townsend San Fran"

Would yield the same as above. Addresses are inherently dirty data and there aren't any decent/affordable/legal services that offer this. You can use Google Maps Geocoder or Yahoo Placefinder but both have fairly strict quotas and are only intended (legally speaking) for use with their mapping products. USPS/FedEx/UPS are also restricted unless you're shipping with them.

Edit - Yahoo is actually letting people pay very respectable rates for their PlaceFinder service now. This is great: http://developer.yahoo.com/boss/geo/

There's SmartyStreets. You tried them?

Yeah, SmartyStreets sucks for a few reasons:

1) They are abusing the USPS api and charging access for it.

2) The USPS resolver sucks anyhow. "388 Townsend San Fran" yields an error. Google & Yahoo both correctly match it.

3) Their pricing is pretty expensive, imo.

How did you arrive at #1? We used USPS's api for a year before switching to SmartyStreets, and there's no way their api is powered by USPS's buggy api.

Ah, got it. How are they abusing it? You can buy that data as well from USPS.

Jarrett,

Just got the email from your blog post. What's the preferred method of printing first class labels/postage generated via your API?

I haven't looked much at label printers for that size -- I usually just print on paper and tape on. You doing a lot of these?

Not yet, just took a look again at your site because of the email campaign. I do have some prospective users though; I plan on exploring more tonight.

Cool, if you reply to the email I'll let you know what I find wrt label printers (can't find your email)

DYMO printers are pretty standard and come in different sizes. The 4XL would certainly fit this use case:

http://www.amazon.com/DYMO-LabelWriter-4XL-Label-Printer/dp/...

Oh nice, I didn't realize those work for these size labels as well.

Thank you sir!

An aside that may be useful, DYMO has a somewhat supported JS library to print labels from a browser. I implemented it with an inventory system to print shelf labels, but I don't see why it couldn't be used here.

ULine also has a decent selection: http://www.uline.com/Cls_26/Barcode-Labels-and-Printers

For more details on this - usually labels are created in a file format called EPL [1] (or EPL2, or ZPL). This is a format specifically for label printers, and the specification makes it easy ("easy") to command a printer to print, say, barcodes in almost any style without having to create some sort of graphic. 4x6" is pretty common.

UPS and Fedex's APIs allow you to specify a label size as input, and they return a base64-encoded EPL file as output. You can then take that file and send it to your printer.

This works fairly well with CUPS, which is how I've automated our shipping (just make sure you use `lpr -o raw` so that it treats that EPL file as raw input. Otherwise, the printer sometimes prints the label as an ASCII file.)

I'm unsure about the USPS api - but I would argue that most high-volume shippers do not use the USPS, due to lower-quality detailed tracking info.

When you print out the shipping label on paper and tape it to the box, you are using the courier's api's "GIF" or "PDF" feature, where it returns the label in one of those formats. This is great, but in my experience, it is pretty hard getting them to print properly on your label printer.

Finally - and not a lot of people know this - UPS and Fedex will give you a label printer, and labels, for free! If you have high volume (unsure of the threshold) then you should call to negotiate your rate and have them bring you hardware (and set up your computer) for shipping.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eltron_Programming_Language

We're currently spending about $2000 on shipping a month and evaluating moving to either easypost or https://www.postmaster.io/ (away from Endicia). Both are small, agile, responsive companies and have a bunch of awesome features. Feel free to email me at hang@getjuniper.com if you want to hear about our experiences.

I would like for the API documentation to have more examples of shipping with flat rate boxes or different shipping options. Right now I find myself having to guess or look into the source code before printing certain labels.

Agreed, we need to better lay out the shipping options. What types of labels are you printing? Feel free to email me and I can give you the correct calls

So, where's the Bank or Credit Union that has an interface like this?

Simple is almost ready to launch it's API: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/simple-ap...

And Dwolla already has one: https://www.dwolla.com/developers

By "almost ready to launch" you mean "they abandoned that idea 2 years ago"? At least, your link suggests that (last post in the group dated by 2011)

I'll have to get more info. I interface with their support team frequently, have a Simple account, and use it on a daily basis. "Abandoned" wouldn't be the info I've heard.

Do you support Media Mail - https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm ?

We do! You can see it in the rates calls, and then select it with MediaMail for service

https://geteasypost.com/docs

Wait till my grandma gets word of this...

Oh wow, this is awesome. Integration with WooCommerce and/or other shopping carts would be amazing.

Do you support international rates? I looked into Postmaster.io but they don't seem to yet.

We do! We're live with USPS International. Shoot us an email to international at easypost dot co for access

Very nice website.

Thanks!

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