Are there alternatives to Stamps.com and ShipStation?

This is for our busy 1.5.1 cart on a Linux server. We ship around 450 packages a month via U.S.P.S.

~We are wondering what the latest experiences are with zencart users for shipping software.

~We stopped using Stamps.com because they confirmed that they do not support carts on a Linux server.

~We have been struggling with the new ShipStation interface. Since they were bought by Stamps.com and came up with a new interface that offers way over the top services for a zencart that already does inventory control, email notifications and receives tracking numbers for the shipments, we have had a lot of issues getting it to play nice. If they had a trimmed down version for less cost that would be ideal.

~We are wondering who may have used ShipWorks or Ordoro or any other compatible software out there.

Thank you for any insights.

We really need some help here. ShipStation no longer works with our Linux based zencart and stamps.com does not work with zencart on a Linux server. Odd that they promote zencart when it is designed for Linux. ShipWorks, works, but is so much more costly.

So we are currently without a shipping service that provides stealth postage and discounts with thermal label printing. Certainly there are other zenners out there successfully shipping in some manner. Would someone please point us in the direction of a shipping program that will post back tracking numbers? Thanks. PM me if you believe that to be more appropriate.

athena:

We really need some help here. ShipStation no longer works with our Linux based zencart and stamps.com does not work with zencart on a Linux server. Odd that they promote zencart when it is designed for Linux. ShipWorks, works, but is so much more costly.

So we are currently without a shipping service that provides stealth postage and discounts with thermal label printing. Certainly there are other zenners out there successfully shipping in some manner. Would someone please point us in the direction of a shipping program that will post back tracking numbers? Thanks. PM me if you believe that to be more appropriate.

I use shiprush with the free FedEx module. They do have a new USPS module you may want take a look at their products.

We only ship USPS, but Endicia works well for us. We use the Numinix module here: https://www.numinix.com/downloads/zen-cart-plugins/shipping/endicia-xml-exporter-dl-798
to export to their software, and the basic USPS module for shipping quotes.

I know this thread is old, but we are also looking for an alternative to shipstation. Did you find one? If so, please post it.

Ever looked at shipworks? I don't use them but a few clients do.

We settled for ShipWorks and with some tweaking of presets have been able to get it to talk to ZenCart, hear ZenCart and work with our existing Stamps.com account. We are only paying one fee to ShipWorks which varies in accordance with our usage. It is a little more clumsy than ShipStation, but is proving more dependable. ShipStation, I believe, is better suited to folks who sell through Amazon or Ebay and don't have a customer and inventory tracking machine in their corner like the all powerful ZEN.

athena:

We settled for ShipWorks and with some tweaking of presets have been able to get it to talk to ZenCart, hear ZenCart and work with our existing Stamps.com account. We are only paying one fee to ShipWorks which varies in accordance with our usage. It is a little more clumsy than ShipStation, but is proving more dependable. ShipStation, I believe, is better suited to folks who sell through Amazon or Ebay and don't have a customer and inventory tracking machine in their corner like the all powerful ZEN.

Thanks for the update. After much looking, I’ve found that Shipstation works best for zencart. It works fine, even if I don’t need everything it has to offer in terms of various reports, etc. I tried to find another shipping option when Shipstation dropped Endicia for Stamps.com. I looked at several alternatives, and the two shipping programs that seemed like a perfect fit, do not support zencart (shippingeasy, add ordoro), and would require me to hire a code programmer to make it work. And, of course there is no support for coding/performance issues, on custom coded scripts.

I also tried Teapplix. There were too many issues. Their php script did not work with zencart as advertised, it had to be rewritten. Then, when they finally did get it to work, and I was able to test it, it lacks functionality (in several important areas) and ease of use that Shipstation had. So, for me it’s back to Shipstation, even if I lose Endicia. It’s a shame that so many third party shipping programs do not support zencart. The shippers are focusing on paid carts such as Big Commerce and Shopify, or newer/more popular open source carts such as Magento and Presta Cart. We are really running out of options in the area of third party shippers.

I have been using Stamp.com with out site for several years now (and we are hosted on a Linux Server). It's been working pretty well. However, on July 16th 2015, they issued an update that required "re-authorizing" our site. This involved downloading a new plugin. I looked over the code of the main file "stamps.php". It apparently came from shipstation which makes sense since Stamps.com acquired ShipStation. I followed the instructions and the plug-in worked fine. The only challenge I had was the custom coding I had done in the previous plug-in. It had to be migrated over to this new file. I had added a tracking number column to my order table and updated the Stamps.com file to automatically populate the tracking number and insert a row in a "mail queue" table when it posts back to Zencart. Then at the end of the day, my system automatically sends out an email to my customers with a tracking number link. The new plug-in didn't have the tracking number referenced in the update function. I did a little debugging and found that you can get the tracking number with this code:
$TrackingNumber = trim($_REQUEST["tracking"]);

Good luck. I hope you can use Stamps.com. They've been working out pretty well for us.

• Michael Stein

Give ShipRush a try. Discounted postage rates and two months free, run on desktop or web.

Ship200.com is a way to go for all Zencart owners.

there are 2 ways to integrate:
OneByOne
http://blog.ship200.com/onebyone-integration/

and Bulk Processing
http://blog.ship200.com/bulk-processing-integration/

It integrates with Fedex, UPS, Stamps, Endicia from scratch.

and it's FREE!!

http://www.ship200.com/pricing.html

Here is the installation guides, very easy

Bulk Version
http://blog.ship200.com/zencart-installation-howto-bulk-version/

OneByOne
http://blog.ship200.com/zencart-installation-howto-onebyone-version/

I was very enthusiastic about the possibility of using this, as we've already outgrown stamps.com. And it's free? Even better. I went to their website, saw the free offer, filled in all the information, and then, at the very bottom of the registration form found the words "Registration not available at this time." But of course I could choose one of their paid programs.

Sorry, nobody who uses that kind of bait and switch tactics gets my business. I'll continue to work with the very helpful tech support people at stamps.com, in spite of my frustration with how they process order information.

Hm, just read on another thread that Ship200 is going out of business? I guess that explains why registration isn't available. Too bad, they looked like a viable option.