What is a batch purchase?
A batch (or bulk) purchase allows you to buy postage for multiple labels at one time. All of the postage purchased in the batch must have ALL of the same shipping parameters, e.g. shipping method, ship date, weight (or weight range if First Class), etc.
Before you create a batch of labels, please do the following on your Orders Dashboard:
- Consider what orders will ship via the same shipping method and are approximately the same weight. (You can print multiple batches)
- Verify the orders are in the status of Ready to Ship (i.e. have been paid).
- Ensure these orders have complete, valid addresses.
- Purchase any labels that should not be included in your batch(es), but that still need to be shipped.
- You are ready to batch purchase!
How do I make a batch purchase?
Start by selecting Batch Purchase on the top of your Orders page
You will be directed to the Batch Purchase page within ZenSales. Here is a breakdown of how to fully utilize this page when batch purchasing labels.
1) Confirm details.
Select if you'd like a signature and/or the delivery guarantee for these packages. Note that these settings will be applied to all of the orders in the batch. You'll also want to verify you have the correct printer selected and that your ship date is accurate.
2) Narrow down your orders.
Here you can filter which orders are automatically included in the batch. You can set the max number of items that should be in each order. So if in your batch you'd like to find all of your orders with three or less items, then you'd want to set this to 3 items. Our system will only pull orders that have a total quantity of items in the order that are equal or less than that number. You can also change how far back we'll look for orders to add to the batch.
3) Select your postage.
Here you can select what type of postage you'd like to apply for each label in the batch. Note that some of the shipping options require you to make two choices. If you're shipping First Class you have to select First Class and the correct weight range. Flat Rate boxes and envelopes do not require multiple selections.
4) Verify Postage.
The checkout section informs you both of the total number of labels and the total price of postage. If you are using a Flat Rate option then all of the prices will be the same. If you are using a Variable option then each package may have a slightly different price depending on it's destination. The individual price of each order will be reflected on the order list.
5) Double Check your orders.
Look through each of the orders our system generated in the batch. Confirm the order information and that the order should be included in the batch. You can click "Exclude" to remove any orders from the batch. ONCE YOU PURCHASE YOUR BATCH YOU CANNOT EXCLUDE ANY INDIVIDUAL ORDERS. This is your last step before purchasing the labels.
6) Purchase the batch.
Now that you have confirmed that the orders in the batch are only the orders that should be purchased, go ahead and purchase your batch! It can take several minutes for the labels to purchase and generate properly within the system. Do not make any changes to your selection while your batch is generating! If you notice an error in your batch, you can cancel the batch after it's generated and then purchase the batch again.
*Do not navigate away from the Batch Purchase page while the labels are being purchased* It can take up to five minutes to fully generate all of the labels depending on how many labels are in your order.
7) Batch History
If you need to edit a batch after your purchase then just go to your batch purchase history. From here you have multiple possible actions you can choose from. You can cancel the batch, reprint the labels, pack list, or packing sheets, and open a new tab to view the orders that were included with the batch.
And that is all you need to know about Batch Purchasing! Please contact our Customer Service at help@ship.com if you have any additional questions or feedback on this feature.