How to Create a Shipping Label on PayPal

To create a shipping label on PayPal, open the payment in your Activity list and select Print shipping label. That opens the PayPal Shipping Center with the buyer's address already filled in from the order. Enter the package weight and size, calculate rates, choose a USPS, UPS, or DHL Express service, pay with a funding source from your PayPal wallet, and print. If there is no PayPal payment to work from, use the Buy Quick Label button on the Shipping Center home page and type the address yourself.

Create a label from a PayPal order

PayPal lists three ways to reach the Buy a Label page: Buy a shipping label in an order's actions menu inside the Shipping Center, the same button at the top right of the Order detail page, or Print shipping label in your Activities transaction list. The first time, PayPal asks you to accept the shipping terms and set a default shipping location, which it saves for later orders.

From the Buy a Label page:

1. Pick your shipping location if you have saved more than one.
2. Check the Ship To address. PayPal fills it in from the order.
3. Enter the package weight and dimensions, plus any confirmation, insurance, or handling options. USPS and UPS include insurance up to $100 on specific services by default, and you can add more for a fee.
4. Click Calculate rates and choose a service.
5. Click Buy Label, review the order summary and cost, pick a funding source from your wallet, and pay.
6. Print from the browser, or download the PDF.

Extra labels for a multi-box order come from the Order Summary page. Shipped orders sit on the Shipped screen, where you can view, reprint, or void a label. Set the label layout under shipping preferences in Account Settings before you buy, 8.5 x 11 for a desktop printer or 4 x 6 for thermal. A label bought in the wrong layout has to be voided and repurchased.

Create a label without an order with Buy Quick Label

For a sale you took somewhere else, or any package with no PayPal payment behind it, use Buy Quick Label. PayPal's steps:

1. Click Buy Quick Label on the Shipping Center home page.
2. Enter the recipient's shipping address.
3. Fill in the package details.
4. Click Calculate rates.
5. Choose a shipping service and click Buy label.
6. Select a payment method and complete the purchase. The label opens in a new tab.

Past quick labels are kept under the Labels tab on the Shipping Center home page, where you can view, reprint, or void them. If you only ship USPS and would rather skip PayPal for these, USPS Click-N-Ship is the carrier's own way to buy and print a label online.

Which carriers you can use, and why FedEx is missing

PayPal states that USPS, UPS, and DHL Express are the only carriers supported in the PayPal Shipping Center, and that you cannot create FedEx labels there. If a buyer or a negotiated rate needs FedEx, buy that label outside the Shipping Center. The services you see at checkout depend on the destination, package size, and weight, and the rate screen compares the three carriers side by side. DHL Express is not the same service as DHL eCommerce; the difference between DHL Express and DHL eCommerce explains which is which.

Shipping to a P.O. Box

If the Ship To address is a P.O. Box, you must choose a USPS service. UPS and DHL Express do not support shipping to P.O. Boxes. Check the address before you calculate rates so you are not comparing options you cannot use. For a buyer who wants a package held at a post office instead, see does DHL deliver to the post office.

What it costs

Using the PayPal Shipping Center to buy labels is free. The only charges are the carrier's label prices, which process through your PayPal account, and PayPal says you will never see a separate fee for using the Shipping Center. PayPal describes the rates as discounted off retail; the actual price for your package appears when you click Calculate rates.

Tracking

Tracking is added to the original order transaction automatically after you buy the label, not when the carrier first scans the package. The number shows on the order, on the Filled Order tab of the Shipping Center home page, and on the Order Detail page, with links to the carrier's tracking site. If an order falls through after you bought the label, void it rather than holding it; do USPS labels expire covers how long a purchased USPS label stays usable.

International orders and customs

The international flow starts on the Orders page: click the order number, select your Ship From address, calculate rates and pick a service, add a Customs Declaration form, then buy the label. You declare each unique item; multiple units of the same item go on one declaration. Each line carries a description, quantity, value, harmonization code for EU destinations, and country of origin.

PayPal submits the declaration digitally to the carrier for every carrier. UPS shipments also come with three copies of the UPS Commercial Invoice, and PayPal recommends printing and attaching them to the package to avoid problems at handoff. Write the description in detail, at least what the item is and what it is made of, such as "cotton t-shirt" or "gold bracelet". A vague description can get the shipment returned by the carrier or the destination country, with no postage refund. PayPal also notes that first-class mail international labels cannot be refunded and are not trackable.

When label printing becomes the bottleneck

Buying labels one at a time works while volume is low. Once you are shipping dozens of orders a day, each label still needs its own address check, rate pick, and print run, and the Shipping Center does not pick or pack anything. A 3PL takes over the whole loop: it connects to your store, batches the orders, buys the postage, prints the labels, and hands the packages to the carrier. Simpl Fulfillment picks, packs, and ships orders received before 12pm CT the same day, with postage and packaging included. Pricing starts at $7 per order, with a $750 per month account minimum billed pay-the-difference: if a month's order billing comes in under $750, you pay only the gap.