Details about ShipStation's integration with FedEx. Includes integration requirements, connection process, features, notes, and troubleshooting.
ShipStation's integration with FedEx provides international services for our Australia and New Zealand-based merchants. Our FedEx integration allows you to create labels with your FedEx account contract rates.
Schedule next-day pickups directly in ShipStation for your FedEx shipments. For international shipments, you can take advantage of the Delivered Duties Paid (DDP) and Electronic Trade Documentation (ETD) features! Review the Available Features section to learn about the variety of options the ShipStation integration with FedEx provides.
If you do not yet have an account, go to the FedEx open an account page to create one!
Connection Requirements:
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An active account with FedEx.
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Your FedEx account number.
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Your FedEx account shipping address (located in your FedEx account admin details).
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The email address and phone number associated with your FedEx account.
International Requirements:
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To ship internationally, you must upload a signature and letterhead image file to ShipStation. See the Upload Letterhead and Signature section below for details.
To connect your FedEx account to ShipStation:
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Select the FedEx tile and click Connect.
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Read through the FedEx End-User licence Agreement and click I Accept.
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Fill out your FedEx Account No and default Shipping Address.
If you do not know your FedEx Shipping Address:
Log in to your FedEx account. Click Account and choose My Profile.
The FedEx Shipping Address is under Contact Information.
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Enter an Account Nickname to help you identify the account in ShipStation.
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Click Connect.
ShipStation integration with FedEx supports these standard features:
The ShipStation integration with FedEx allows for these additional features when you use standard FedEx services:
|
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Invoiced carrier |
FedEx bills you for only the labels you use, which are invoiced monthly to your FedEx account. FedEx does not charge your account upon label creation in ShipStation. Any FedEx labels you create in ShipStation that are NOT used will not be billed on your invoice. However, you may still wish to void labels you don't use for improved accuracy in your shipment reports. |
|
Electronic Trade Documents (ETD) |
ShipStation will automatically attempt to submit customs information electronically through the FedEx ETD program. Labels created using ETD will have ETD printed on the label. If ShipStation is not able to submit customs information through ETD (either because it's not enabled for your FedEx account, or because the destination country does not support ETD), you will need to print any necessary customs forms and include them with the shipment. |
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Bill to a third-party account |
You may bill label charges to an account other than the FedEx account connected to your ShipStation account. This is called third-party billing. To bill label fees to a third-party account:
You must have your FedEx account connected to ShipStation to choose a FedEx service for a shipment. |
|
Delivered Duties Paid (DDP) is supported |
Enable the option Bill duties and taxes to payor of shipping charges to have the costs of duties and taxes billed back to your FedEx account, instead of to your customer. If used in conjunction with third-party or recipient billing, the billed account will be responsible for the duties and taxes. |
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EORI and VAT numbers sent to FedEx |
ShipStation will send your EORI and VAT numbers to FedEx when creating your labels (if present on the order). |
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Collect on Delivery |
When you create FedEx shipping labels, enable Collect on Delivery so that FedEx will collect funds from the recipient when they deliver the package. |
In addition to the features listed above, the following can be enabled by ShipStation Support.
|
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
|
FedEx Retail Rates |
If this setting is enabled, the estimated rates you see when you Get Rates (in the rate calculator or the shipping sidebar) will display the FedEx retail rates. However, FedEx will still charge you based on your FedEx account negotiated rate and the Carrier Fee displayed in the Shipments grid will display the actual estimation from FedEx based on your account's negotiated rate. |
|
Bypass ETD |
If this setting is enabled, ShipStation will not attempt to submit customs information through ETD. You will be responsible for providing any necessary customs documents to FedEx. |
You can schedule a pickup of your FedEx Ground or FedEx Express shipments directly in ShipStation. These instructions outline the requirements and how to schedule to ensure a timely pickup.
To ensure that FedEx can accept the pickup request, the shipment must meet these requirements:
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Total package weight cannot exceed 150lbs.
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Maximum number of packages for a single pickup request is 99.
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Include the latest time your package can be picked up or your company’s close time.
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FedEx Ground Pickup can be scheduled for the next business day or any business day up to 2 weeks in advance.
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FedEx Express pickup can be scheduled for the current or next business day.
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If you need to schedule a pickup for both FedEx Express and FedEx Ground packages, you need to schedule a pickup for each of the services individually.
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You cannot edit a pickup request. To change a request, you must delete the original request and enter a new request.
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For FedEx Ground and FedEx Express pickups, you may request an alternate pickup address other than the shipping location attached to the FedEx account number. An additional surcharge will apply.
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If you already have a regularly scheduled pickup, it is not necessary to schedule a one-time pickup or to add another regularly scheduled pickup.
To schedule a FedEx pickup in ShipStation:
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Select FedEx from the Schedule a Pickup drop-down menu.
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Fill out the required information on the Schedule a Pickup form.
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Click Schedule a Pickup to complete the request.
Surcharges do not display in ShipStation!
ShipStation will not display any additional fees that the FedEx pickup request may incur.
For services that support label messages, Label Message 1 will print in the REF (Reference) field, Label Message 2 will print in the INV (Invoice) field, and Label Message 3 will print in the PO (Purchase Order) field.
Example:
Label Messages will also print on the commercial invoice for international shipments. Label Message 1 will print in the Special Instructions field, and Label Message 3 will print in the Purchase Order No field.
Label Message 2 is not used for commercial invoices. Instead, ShipStation submits the Order Number as Invoice No.
Example:
To simplify the process of international shipping, FedEx uses Electronic Trade Documents (ETD). ETD submits international documentation (like customs forms) electronically so you don't have to print and attach documents to the shipment. To use the FedEx ETD option in ShipStation, you must add your letterhead and signature images to your account.
Image Requirements
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Both Letterhead and Signature images must be in either GIF or PNG format.
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Dimensions for the Signature image are a maximum of 240 x 25 pixels (3.5 x 0.5 in).
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Dimensions for the Letterhead are a maximum of 700 x 50 pixels (7.5 x 1.6 in).
Visit the FedEx Electronic Trade Documents page for more information.
To upload letterhead or signature images:
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Go to the Your Carrier Accounts tab.
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Click the Action menu for your FedEx account and choose Carrier Settings.
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Use the Select a File and Upload buttons to upload your signature and letterhead images.
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Save your changes.
You can now ship international parcels with FedEx and your international documentation will be sent electronically!
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ShipStation does not support "Cash Only" FedEx account types. You must be on a billed account to connect FedEx to ShipStation.
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The Ship Date for created labels must be within 10 days of the current date.
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The international setting Sign Customs As does not apply to FedEx shipments. Instead, customs forms will be signed using the Return Name from the Ship From Location.
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The ShipStation address validation tool does not distinguish between Residential or Commercial addresses, so all addresses process as Commercial addresses. This may cause the estimated rates to be incorrect for some Residential FedEx shipments.
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When you get rates for FedEx on a Saturday, a Saturday-Pickup fee will be included in the estimated rate. This fee will only apply when the package is actually picked up on a Saturday.
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Label Message 3: To use Label Message 3, you must also use Label message 1 and 2.
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Dangerous Goods shipping is not available for FedEx in ShipStation. For shipping Dangerous Goods with FedEx, you must log into your FedEx account directly.
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The Drop Off Type you select in the FedEx Carrier Settings can affect estimated rates. We recommend you choose the same Drop Off Type you and your FedEx representative set up to use with your account. The available options are:
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Regular Pickup: The shipper already has an every-day pickup scheduled with a courier.
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Request Courier: The shipper will call FedEx to ask for a courier.
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Drop Box: The shipper will drop the package in a FedEx dropbox.
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Business Service Centre: The shipper will drop off the package at an authorized FedEx business service centre.
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Station: The shipper will drop off the package at a FedEx Station.
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Here are some common issues, potential causes, and troubleshooting tips.
|
Issue |
How to Troubleshoot or Resolve |
|---|---|
|
Error: Meter registration is disabled for this seller. |
What it means: The first time you get FedEx rates or create a FedEx label in ShipStation, FedEx registers a meter for that Ship From Location. However, something blocked the meter registration (most likely a setting meant to prevent excessive calls to FedEx’s API). What to do: Contact our ShipStation support team. Let them know you received this error and we will correct the issue so meter registration will be successful and you can proceed with creating labels. |
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Error: Unable to register meter: Shipping address provided does not match our records |
What it means: To create FedEx labels or get rates from FedEx, ShipStation must register each Ship From Location in your account with FedEx. This registry creates a meter number that we store on our backend. If a Ship From Location does not have a meter number yet, ShipStation will attempt to register it when you get rates or create a shipment. This error message occurs when the address we're attempting to register does not match the FedEx account's Shipping Address. What to do:
To ensure it worked, go back to the Orders tab and try to get a rate for the same order that returned the error. The error message should disappear and display a rate from FedEx. If you updated your Ship From Location, you can edit it again and set it back to your actual Ship From Address. We only need the address to match FedEx's Shipping Address when we register the Ship From Location for the meter number. |
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Error: Unable to create FedEx shipment. Drop off type is not allowed |
What it means: This error occurs when creating return labels if your FedEx account is set to use a Drop Off Type that FedEx does not support for returns. To resolve this issue, you'll need to change the Drop Off Type selected for your FedEx account. What to do: Go to You can then create return labels as needed. After you create your return labels, we recommend you set the Drop Off Type back to whatever you normally use. |
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Error: FedEx: Commodity # - Commodity is required |
What it means: This error message occurs because customs information is absent from the international shipment, or the customs declaration contains characters that FedEx cannot process. The # in the error will indicate which customs line is causing the error. What to do: Open the order details and ensure customs information exists for the shipment. If no customs declarations exist, add them to resolve the error. If customs declarations are present, check for any special characters (like # $ or ’) and remove them. |
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Error: Unable to create FedEx shipment. Incomplete commodity description #. |
What it means: The customs description for an item did not meet FedEx's keyword criteria and must be more descriptive. What to do: Update the customs declaration to clarify what the international shipment includes. The # will point to which customs line is causing the error. See FedEx's page on Commodity Descriptions for more details. |
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Some labels are blank for multi-package labels with some FedEx services when using the Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers. |
What to do: To resolve the blank label issue, preview and print the labels with a different browser. |
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The tracking number, barcode, and other information are absent from the label. |
This issue can happen if the address or label messages contain special or Unicode characters not supported by FedEx. In these cases, we submit the information to FedEx and FedEx creates a shipment as expected, but the label image itself is corrupted and multiple details are absent. What to do: You'll need to void the shipment, then correct the information as needed.
The most common cause of this issue is a line-break Unicode character in Address Line 1. This character is not visible in the ShipStation interface, but it's still sent to FedEx when you create the label. To fix the character, completely erase Address Line 1 and retype it manually. Once corrected, create a new shipping label. |
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Negotiated rates do not appear in ShipStation |
What to do: If your FedEx account has negotiated rates enabled, you must first create a FedEx label through the ShipStation Rate Calculator. Once you have done so, ShipStation will then display your account's negotiated rates. If you do not need to use the label created via the Rate Calculator, simply void the label afterward. If your negotiated rates still do not appear in ShipStation, remove and re-add your FedEx account in |