We’re excited to announce our new Shipping Labels subscription Pay Per Label. Just as the title says, you can now drop your monthly shipping label subscriptions and just pay for the labels that you use. Don’t worry, just like other shipping label companies, we’ve also built in volume discounts, so the more labels that you print, the less you pay to ship your products to your customers. Best of all, if you have a big month and then your sales slow down, you won’t be stuck with that monthly subscription. You only pay for the labels that you use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep my current shipping label subscription and still use Pay Per Label?
Absolutely! With ShopTheRoe Pay Per Label, you print as many or as few labels as you’d like. No long term commitments. Just print the labels that you need. You can start or stop using Shipping Labels whenever you want or whenever it makes sense for your business.
Are your shipping rates the same as my current provider?
We offer USPS Commercial Plus shipping rates on all first class shipments the same as ShippingEasy.com. Other providers (like Stamps.com and PayPal) might have cheap monthly fees, but they don’t offer Commercial Plus shipping rates. You need to look at the whole picture when figuring out how much you’re paying for shipping.
Will I save money by using Pay Per Label or should I keep my current subscription?
Almost all ShopTheRoe.com users will save money using Pay Per Label shipping labels, and all of our users will save time. With most shipping label companies, they charge a flat subscription fee that is tiered by usage. Regardless of whether you send zero shipments or hundreds, you will pay the same subscription fee. With ShopTheRoe Pay Per Label, you’ll only pay for the shipments that you send, so in the rare event that your sales in one month exceed what you might have paid in subscription fees that month, the next month, when you send less packages, you’ll save as much or more than you over spent the month before. We’ve designed Pay Per Label to ensure that most ShopTheRoe.com users will save money with Pay Per Label and those that don’t in that month will only pay a few dollars more before they save the next month they send a few less packages. All ShopTheRoe users will save the time and hassle of downloading addresses, remembering another username and password, and reuploading them into another piece of software to then download and print.
How much does it cost to get started with Pay Per Label?
You can add ShopTheRoe bucks to your account in increments as small as $50.
Is it hard to use ShopTheRoe Shipping Labels?
Not at all. It’s as easy as selecting the items that you want to ship, confirming the shipping addresses entered by your customers look correct, and clicking “Print Labels”. If you have any questions along the way, you can always chat or submit a ticket to our our amazing support team (Consultants and ShopTheRoe users just like you). We’ve always got people available to help you.
Do you offer Volume Discounts?
Yes. We reward your business for its success by giving you volume discounts the more shipments that you send.
What are your Pay Per Label Fees?
We have four simple tiers that give you discounts for the number of shipments that you send each month. Check out our fee schedule below.
No. of Monthly Shipments | Price Per Label |
1- 50 | $0.30 each |
51-100 | $0.20 each |
101- 150 | $0.10 each |
150+ | $0.05 each |
So, for example, if you shipped 250 packages during one month you would have paid $0.30 per label for the first 50 labels, $0.20 per label for the next 50 labels, $0.10 for the next 50 labels, and $0.05 per label for the next 100 labels. The per-label fee is deducted from your STR Bucks balance at label purchase time. See the detailed examples below showing how this approach actually saves you money compared to Stamps.com and ShippingEasy.com.
Does the Per Label Fee include the Shipping Postage?
Just like shipping label subscription fees, the price per label fee does not include postage. For example, the USPS postage for sending a first class package that is less than 8 ounces is $2.77. The fee for printing the label with the ShopTheRoe will be between $0.05 and $0.30 in addition to the postage, for total fees being $2.82 – $3.07, depending on the number of packages that you’ve sent during the month.
I already use ShopTheRoe Shipping Labels, can I keep my old subscription?
For those that already use ShopTheRoe.com shipping labels, you can choose to switch to Pay Per Label or keep your current subscription plan.
I am a high volume shipper, is ShopTheRoe Pay Per Label the right plan for me?
Maybe. If you consistently print more than 530 labels per month, you may pay a few more dollars using our Pay Per Label subscription. For every label above 530 that you send each month, you’ll pay just 5 cents more than a subscription with our competitors. That means even if you’re sending 700 shipments or more, you’ll pay just over a Hamilton ($10) for the convenience of printing your labels right from ShopTheRoe and avoiding the hassle of using another piece of software for your business. Remember, for most of our users that have up and down months, pay per label will always save you money because you won’t be stuck with the subscription fee.
Can I use Paypal as my payment type for my Pay Per Label plan?
No. At this time we only accept credit cards for shipping label subscriptions because Paypal charges higher merchant processing fees that prevent us from offering low, per label pricing to Paypal users.
Why have shipping prices gone up?
The USPS periodically raises their postage prices. The latest price increase was approved late last year in 2016 and went into effect as of January 22, 2017. You can read more about the price increase by reading this announcement on the USPS website.
How do the shipping label fees work?
Shipping label fees work in the same was the IRS tax brackets work, except we charge you less as you make more money. Every month you pay the label fees for each pricing tier. As soon as you hit the next pricing tier, you pay less per label. Here’s an example of how this would work for one of our users that sends 150 flat rate envelopes in a month.
Pay Per Label from ShopTheRoe.com
Label Fees | Flat rate envelopes | Label Fees (ea) | Label Fees (Total) |
50 | $0.30 | $15.00 | |
50 | $0.20 | $10.00 | |
50 | $0.10 | $5.00 | |
150 | $30.00 | ||
Postage | Packages Sent | Postage Fees (ea) | Total Postage |
150 | $6.30 | $945.00 | |
Total Shipping Costs | $975.00 |
Compared to a subscription shipping labels plan from Stamps.com and ShippingEasy.com, you can see how pay per label fees would compare for one month, where you’d pay $15.99 less than Stamps.com and just $1.00 more than ShippingEasy.com.
Stamps.com
Total Subscription Fees | $15.99 | ||
Postage | Packages Sent | Postage Fees (ea) | Total Postage |
150 | $6.50 | $975.00 | |
Total Shipping Costs | $990.99 |
ShippingEasy.com
Total Subscription Fees | $29.00 | ||
Postage | Packages Sent | Postage Fees (ea) | Total Postage |
150 | $6.30 | $945.00 | |
Total Shipping Costs | $974.00 |
You can then see how Price Per Label can save you money as your number of shipments varies month to month.
Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Month 4 | Total | |
No. Flat Rates shipped | 150 | 100 | 160 | 95 | 505 |
STR Pay Per Label | $975.00 | $655.00 | $1038.50 | $622.50 | $3,291.00 |
Stamps.com | $990.99 | $665.99 | $1055.99 | $633.49 | $3,346.46 |
ShippingEasy.com | $974.00 | $659.00 | $1037.00 | $627.50 | $3,297.50 |
Overall, we’ve designed Pay Per Label to charge you only for the labels that you print so that as your sales fluctuate month to month, you aren’t stuck with a flat, fixed monthly subscription fee.
Will the printing program work with the Dymo 450 Turbo? With the 3 part address labels? On a Mac?
Great question. Have you talked with our customer support staff? They can help with this specific question. https://shoptheroe.freshdesk.com/support/home
How would this work with scheduling USPS pick up for both FC and Priority packages? Thank you!
Great question. I would suggest submitting a ticket or chatting with our awesome customer support staff. https://shoptheroe.freshdesk.com/support/home
What about setting STR with out bank accounts? So that my monthly subscriptions can come right out of my business account rather than paypal or credit cards?
Great suggestion. Have you added it to our roadmap? https://shoptheroe.com/roadmap/
can we use a regular printer to print the labels or do we need a special printer?
You need a Dynamo Thermal Printer to print shipping labels.
would the 450 work or does it have to be the one that prints the bigger lables, the xl i believe it is
I have actually figured out how to use an 8.5×11 sheet with two labels on it. It’s really simple actually, and has worked great for me! I download the labels, save them to a folder on my computer, open Adobe Acrobat Reader, and print from there! It works great, and I have loved using STR shipping services.
With your 8.5×11 sheet labels, do you have 2 per page or just 1? I currently have the 2 per ae and don’t want to spend the extra money to get a Dymo.
I figured this out also. When printing using a regular printer and 2 per sheet labels using a PDF program you have to change it to 2 per page and make sure your orientation is correct. I had to print one to get it right, then just reprinted. Not everyone uses thermal printers especially if you do not have large volumes. It would be nice if the ability to use a regular printer was built into this instead of having to take extra steps to use it but you can make it work this way.
You can use a regular printer. When you purchase labels, you download a PDF. So, all you need to do is change the print settings to 2 pages per sheet and you can print on 1/2 sheet printing labels. Piece of cake!
Thanks for laying this out, however for us high volume shippers, you’re calculations are incorrect. I do pay a fee for using Stamps.com, but that fee is refunded monthly when I ship more than $500/month, making your cost and their cost equal. 🙂
Thanks for filling us in on the way that Stamps.com handles high volume shippers. Very helpful. One thing that I tried to illustrate with the examples is that if you send more shipments than that particular example, our cost would be a little more expensive than Stamps.com in that month and if you send a few packages less then we’ll be a little less expensive. We’ve put a lot of effort into making shipping labels more affordable as well as more convenient.
I’d like to know if this would be better to use than just standard Stamps.com? From what I’ve looked at, I pay the $15.99 to Stamps.com and then just pay for postage, not anything else per label. So if I use STR per label, if I send more than 55 packages, I end up spending more. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Thanks for the question Lularoecaitlin. It depends on what types of packages that you send during the month and how much your shipping volumes fluctuate month-month. In the example that you give, are all 55 shipments first class? If so, then your math is correct. Stamps.com does have a much higher flat rate shipment rate. IN addition, if your shipping volumes fluctuate from month to month, say some months you just don’t get the time to do as many parties as you usually do, then you’ll probably be better off with a pay per label plan than a fixed, flat monthly fee.
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Can I use my Zebra LP2844-Z label printer? That’s a standard thermal printer for 4×6 labels that USPS, PayPal, FedEx and UPS use. If I am able to use this printer for shipping on here, I would most likely switch to printing labels from here instead of using PayPal. The shipping prices are the same as they have commercial pricing (with no monthly fee) but it’s more of an inconvenience to have to type in each address using their ShipNow label setup. Thanks!
Yes, you can use the Zebra printer with STR pay per label. There are a few settings that you will need to change, and we’re in the process of writing a blog article so we can give easy to follow instructions for setting it up.
So there is NO monthly fee with STR pay per label? Obviously we pay the cost of the shipping, and then that little extra for each label? Just making sure I am reading it right. Thanks!
Yes, that is right. There is no monthly fee. You only pay the postage and the small per label fee.
By using PPL, does STR supply the label? Or the Printer?
STR provides the label that you can then print and stick to your envelopes. You’ll need to buy your own printer, printing supplies, and shipping envelopes.
To begin using the pay per label do we just need to add STR bucks to our account?
Yes, just navigate to profile > add ons and select pay per label shipping plan. Then add STR bucks, and you’re all set.
Can I send an item using your shipping labels, if the sale was not done through STR, or as an item give away? As in shipping easy, I can just type and address in and make a label. If this possible through your service?
Yes, you can use our sold outside ShopTheRoe functionality to get the item into the system and print a shipping label for it. If you have more questions about this functionality, touch base with our awesome customer support team. https://shoptheroe.freshdesk.com/support/home
Is there a tracking email for the customers?
Yes, the system automates tracking emails for your customers. You can even customize the emails to include things like size and style information, so your customers know exactly what’s getting shipped.
Can I see what your Commercial Plus rates would be without actually purchasing labels? Is the $2.77 quotes for <8 oz the Commercial Plus rate? I am currently using Paypal, and it's $2.77 there as well. Just trying to see how much the different rates would save me and whether it would be worthwhile to pay a per-label fee to get them.
The $2.77 is the commercial plus rate for first class shipments that are less than 8oz. As you probably already know, it used to be $2.61 before the USPS increased postage rates this year. Here’s a complete table of the current USPS Commercial Plus Shipping Rates available through STR:
First Class Commercial Plus Shipping Rates
Not Over (Oz) Postage
2 $2.61
3 $2.61
4 $2.61
5 $2.77
6 $2.77
7 $2.77
8 $2.77
9 $3.32
10 $3.46
11 $3.60
12 $3.74
13 $3.88
14 $4.02
15 $4.16
15.99 $4.30
Flat Rate Padded Envelope $6.30
What does the shipping notification look like? Are we able to customize it?
Yes, you are able to customize the shipping notification with the sizes and styles of the items that are getting shipped. If you have any questions setting up the notifications, reach out to our awesome customer support staff.
You say almost all users will save money with PPL instead of the monthly flat fee, but I don’t see how anyone using STR Flat Fee wouldn’t save money.
Unless I’m missing something (always possible), it’s:
$15 for first 50 labels.
$10 for 2nd 50 labels = $25 for up to 100 lables in flat fee (same price if you shipped exactly 100 times).
$5 for 3rd 50 labels
$2.50 for 4th 50 labels = $32.50 vs $50 for flat fee up to 200 labels.
$5 for next 100 labels = $37.50 vs $75 for 300
$5 for next 100 labels = $42.50 vs $99 for 400.
Am I missing something on how a STR user wouldn’t want to switch to PPL? (It doesn’t matter if other services could be cheaper here, just comparing for current STR shippers.)
Assuming we want to switch from flat fee to PPL, does our current subscription get pro-rated or do we need to time the change accordingly? If we need to time it, how do we know when to change it? Is our subscription for a calendar month or 28-31 days based on when we signed up/our first shipment?
Thanks for your comment Scott. Your analysis is right on. When comparing our Pay Per Label plan to our previous plan, it is less expensive than our legacy plans. Assuming that you want to switch (and save money), Then I’d just time it for 28 – 29 days, so you don’t get rebilled on the old plan.
What printer do you recommend buying to work easiest with this? DYMO 450 turbo? Thanks.
Yes the DYMO 450 turbo works just fine. We have users that use a few other printers as well, we’ll be publishing some how to instructions for using other printers in the near future. Stay tuned!
The flat rate shipping … is that for all flat rate boxes or just the small padded envelopes?
The flat rate option is just the small padded envelopes. We will be adding flat rate boxes soon. Stay tuned!
I have been using Stamps.com for my Flat Rate Padded Envelopes, because it wasn’t clear that STR’s Flat Rate Envelope was the padded…I assumed it was the regular one.
It would be awesome if that little word was added onto the ship per label option for clarity. 😉
Then I could cancel my Stamps.com account. 🙂
Great suggestion Leslie… And yes, ShopTheRoe does provide labels for the Flat Rate Padded Envelopes.
So if the majority of our shipping is FC is there a price difference between stamps 15.99 per month and str ppl?
Great question. There are two parts to most shipping label providers pricing: USPS postage and Label / Software fees. First part, and the most substantial is the USPS postage rate that you pay. ShopTheRoe gets you the least expensive postage rate available, reserved for high volume shippers, called Commercial Plus Pricing. Depending on your relationship with Stamps.com, or ShippingEasy.com, you’ll likely be getting the same postage rate (though not always), you’ll want to double check that you are getting the commercial plus postage rates. Second part, the label fees or software subscription is typically where ShopTheRoe will save you money. Unlike other places that you can download and print shipping labels, we don’t charge you a recurring monthly fee, you just pay for the labels that you use. Plus, you won’t have to export and reupload all the addresses into another piece of software.
So if you have the Dymo label printer, do you guys actually provide the paper labels to print out to put in the printer or do we have to buy them separate ?
Hey Kimberly, the paper labels, envelopes and any other packing and shipping supplies you will need to purchase. We provide the USPS label that saves you the time of having to go to the Post Office to pay for the postage.
Do you offer free, automated tracking e-mails each time a shipment is sent? My customers love that feature.
Hi Ashley, yes, we do offer tracking emails for your customers 🙂 You can check out how the tracking emails work on Sonnie’s video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbpbtRKuJB4
Hello, for the flat rate shipping envelopes, do we need to use a USPS priority envelope? If so, how do we obtain them? Does STR provide them for free?
Hi Amanda, you can order flat rate padded envelopes from the USPS for free at https://store.usps.com/store/product/shipping-supplies/priority-mail-padded-flat-rate-envelope-P_EP14PE
IS THERE A WAY TO CANCEL A LABLE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN PURCHASED?
Great question Sandi. Please just send a ticket into our customer support team at support@shoptheroe.com with the label number that needs to be cancelled.
How do I get refunded for used labels? Also how do I see where I added money to my STR bucks?
Hi Rachel, you can send a ticket to our awesome customer support team to get a refund at https://suport.shoptheroe.com/. You can see your unused STR Bucks balance on your profile page at https://shoptheroe.com/profile/.
When going to the tab “buy shipping label” the price entered for the weight is that including you ” pay by label” fee? for example a 4oz package with stamps.com is 2.61 and when entering it into your system it is $2.91. is this due to the .30 charge?
Thank you. I am really liking this system, however i do not want to end up paying more.
Hi Brittany. Great question. Yes, the $0.30 difference is the per label fee. You will not pay more the USPS postage. We have the best rate that the USPS provides to any company available.
I made a mistake in printing my shipping label. I chose flat rate envelope rate instead of cheapest rate. My box will not send with that label. How can I get a refund on that to start over?
Hi Judy, great question. Just send in a ticket to our awesome customer support team from https://support.shoptheroe.com/ and include shipping label ID and they’ll be able to get you a refund on the shipping label.
I am a visual person. Is there any videos on how to get this set up and how it works?
Hi Kathy, I’m a visual learner too. Here’s a great video from Sonnie about how to use the Shipping Labels feature
https://youtu.be/JbpbtRKuJB4
Is there a way to batch labels so I don’t have to print one at a time?
Hi Kellie, yes, you can do that from the Shipping Page. Just select all the labels you want to download and then click “Download Shipping Labels” at the top.
It would be great if the “shipping” window closed automatically after you clicked the pdf button (saves a click and allows us to move quicker when we have hundreds or items to ship).
Thanks for the comment Kellie. We’ll check out the suggestion and see what we can do.