I run a Shopify store and sell on various other channels outside of our online store as well as annual Kickstarter campaigns. I switched to EasyShip because Kickstarter was promoting a deal they had with EasyShip which would allow subscription fees to be waived for any active Kickstarter campaign. Since the last quarter of 2023, I've been using EasyShip to buy postage, calculate shipping rates and duties at checkout, and EasyShip Collect to confirm shipping options for international Kickstarter backers (which is a separate nightmare I won't go into since it's not Shopify related). My experience has been pretty frustrating and I am looking for an alternative.
Current pros and cons of Easyship
Pros:
Integrates with my checkout by showing live calculated rates that can be customized from the back end using filters and rules as well as shipping discounts based on the total order value.
Offers insurance for all couriers that is fairly affordable. This makes filing a claim super easy which saves time and money as I don't have to leave Easyship to do so.
Calculates duties and taxes for international customers so they can preview what will be owed at the time of delivery or pay for them in advance.
Prepares commercial invoices and checks for required tax ID numbers when necessary.
Integrates with our DHL account allowing our rates to show alongside theirs at checkout. We can also purchase DHL labels with our rates without having to leave the Easyship platform.
Purchasing labels in bulk using filters and generating manifests is generally pretty easy to do though there have been a lot of bugs. Which brings me to the cons...
[TLDR; SKIP TO THE BOTTOM]
Cons:
Ineffective Customer Support & Lots of Bugs (A match made in...Hell?)
Time and time again, I will explain a bug I am experiencing to their support, then am told I'm not following the right steps so they instruct me to do the same exact steps I just did. I then need to reiterate that those are the same steps I've taken. The added step of gaslighting me takes time, so by the time my issue is confirmed, I've already wasted 2 hours of the day if not more. Then they need to look into it and I don't get a solution for another day or so. In the instances when there is a solution, it is usually to delete the shipment and create it again from scratch or something else so basic and maddening considering the amount of time it took to receive the response. Below are a few recent instances that come to mind where no solution was provided.
Easyship's system doesn't recognize long-form US postal codes (for example, 90032-2480 instead of 90032). Anytime I need to make an edit to a shipment in Easyship with one of these long zipcodes, it forces me to "fix" the zipcode before I can save it. There is no reason for Easyship to not recognize these long-form zipcodes as they are legitimate and recognized by the Post Office. Similarly, each time a customer from Japan places an order, EasyShip flags their zipcode as being in the wrong format. The format for a Japanese postal code is 〒123-4567 and it always asks me to change it to 1234567. It's unsettling as the latter is incorrect yet that is what ends up being printed on the label.
The majority of our products use the HS code 4901.10.00 this code. This code will show in the product details in Easyship. For domestic shipments, it causes the Ground Advantage rate to not show. For international shipments, it causes DHL Express and other options to not show. When I asked about this I was told that HS codes are not needed for domestic shipments....so of course I then had to explain why the domestic shipments were relevant to my issue and the amount of time it would take to individually delete this information from each US shipment. Then they told me that the code applies to a "single sheet of paper" and that many couriers have restrictions on this.
The description for this code is
4901 - Printed books, brochures, leaflets, and similar printed matter, whether or not in single sheets
4901.10.00 - In single sheets, whether or not foldedWe've been using it for years with multiple couriers. Our items are art cards and small prints- in other words, unbound sheets of printed matter.
The code applies to our products. I reached out to our DHL rep and they confirmed that all DHL options should show as there is no restriction on this.
The integration frequently loses connection causing orders in Shopify to appear unfulfilled even though a label has been printed via Easyship. As you can imagine this causes a lot of confusion when there are so many orders shipping out daily. We must then reach out to support, wait for a response, then wait for the error to be fixed. Every time a bug is pointed out to support it is never acknowledged by them as a failure on Easyship's part. We don't get a follow-up on what caused the bug or whether or not it's been fixed for good/will happen again in the future.
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Do you have any suggestions for other platforms that provide the items listed in my Pros list (especially those in bold) as well as the customer support I'm severely lacking with Easyship?