Shipping for sellers in the US

Overview

US sellers can ship with USPS for every weight.  UPS Ground Saver is available to some sellers in a limited pilot for shipments over 5lbs and will roll out to all US sellers soon. 

Whatnot generates a prepaid, tracked label for every order using the carrier and service you choose in Shipping Settings, and buyers pay the shipping rates shown below at checkout.

How it works

1. Set your defaults in Shipping Settings: one option for shipments 1–5 lbs (we recommend USPS Ground Advantage at $7.75) and one for shipments over 5 lbs (USPS Ground Advantage, USPS Flat Rate, or UPS Ground Saver).
2. Give each listing an accurate shipping profile. Carriers price on the packed weight, including the box and packing materials, so weigh items before you list.
3. After a sale, Whatnot quotes, bundles, and generates the label automatically. You can edit weight, dimensions, signature, and insurance on a shipment before generating the label (how to make a shipping adjustment).
4. Drop the package off or schedule a pickup with the carrier (details in each carrier section).

Your options at a glance

Whatever you choose, your packaging must match your label. Shipping a USPS Priority Mail or Flat Rate box with a Ground Advantage or UPS label leads to a carrier adjustment of about $20 per package, charged to your ledger, and the package may be returned to you.

USPS

USPS Ground Advantage is the default service for US shipments and the lowest-cost option for packages up to 5 lbs. Priority Mail and Flat Rate options are also available in Shipping Settings.

Service levels and rates

The rates below are what buyers pay at checkout and include Whatnot's handling fee. Rates effective July 31, 2026.

A few things to know:

• USPS prices on "weight not over." A 5 lb package ships at the 5 lb rate; a 5 lb 1 oz package ships at the 6 lb rate, so keeping shipments at or under 5 lbs is the biggest lever on cost.
• Priority Mail generally costs at least $5 more than Ground Advantage with similar delivery times. We only recommend it for perishable goods.
• Flat Rate pricing: The $12.99 temporary subsidized rate will stay in place until December. 
• Flat Rate labels require official USPS Flat Rate packaging, and Flat Rate or Priority Mail boxes can't be used with a Ground Advantage label (sellers will be charged a USPS fee of about $20 adjustment per package for shipments using Flat Rate or Priority Mail packaging with an incorrect label).

Packaging

USPS provides free Priority Mail and Flat Rate boxes at usps.com. For Ground Advantage, use your own plain packaging. Keep boxes at 12" × 12" × 12" (1 cubic foot) or smaller where possible: above 1,728 cubic inches USPS charges on dimensional weight (L × W × H ÷ 166), and packages over 2 cubic feet carry a nonstandard volume fee.

Ship times

Ship orders within 2 business days of the sale. Scan each package with the in-app scanner when you hand it to USPS.

Scheduling a pickup

• Self-serve: USPS Package Pickup is free for Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, and Flat Rate shipments. Schedule it at tools.usps.com/schedule-pickup by 2:00 a.m. CT for same-day pickup with your regular mail, or pick a future date.
• High volume: if you regularly hand USPS more packages than a carrier pickup can take, contact Whatnot Carrier Operations Support with photos of your staged volume and your preferred days. We'll work with our USPS account team to arrange recurring pickups for your location.
• You can also drop packages at any Post Office or USPS collection box (packages over 13 oz must be handed to a clerk or picked up).

Insurance and claims

• Every Ground Advantage and Priority Mail label bought on Whatnot includes coverage for up to $100 of shipment value. First-Class Mail Letter, Media Mail, and your own labels (BYOL) are not covered.
• Need more coverage? Add Shipping Protection (via Shippo or XCover) on the shipment before you generate the label. It is charged to your ledger immediately. XCover excludes bullion, cash, plants, and a few other categories; see XCover's site for the full list.
• Filing a claim: Whatnot files USPS claims for you. When a buyer reports a damaged, lost, or delayed order through your Customer Support inbox, go through the Offer a Refund flow and switch on the shipping claim opt-in at the bottom of the page. USPS accepts claims only after 15 days from the mailing date, so submission can be delayed. If approved, you'll get an email and the covered amount appears in your Payouts (Ledger on web) within 5–7 business days. Damage claims cover the item value but not the original shipping cost; delayed or lost claims cover both, as long as the package received a transit scan. See Automated Claims Filing for USPS.
• Shipments over $500: keep a continuous video of packing, sealing, and labeling for at least 75 days. It is required under the High Value Loss Reimbursement Policy.

Signature confirmation

• US shipments with an order subtotal of $500 or more in eligible categories automatically get USPS Signature Confirmation. The seller pays $4.36 per shipment, shown as an adjustment on the shipment.
• You can add Signature Confirmation to any other shipment from Edit Shipment on the Shipment Details page before generating the label.
• Buyers can turn off automatic signature confirmation in their account preferences; if they do and a signed-for package goes missing after delivery, it isn't eligible for Buyer Protection. See Signature confirmation for buyers.

Carrier adjustments

USPS re-weighs and measures packages after drop-off. Starting November 4, 2026, weight-based adjustments on Whatnot USPS labels are charged to your ledger for shipments sent on or after that date; Whatnot continues to cover dimension and hazmat adjustments for now. Review and appeal adjustments (within 45 days, one appeal per shipment) in the Carrier Adjustments dashboard. See Review and appeal carrier adjustments.

UPS

UPS Ground Saver is a UPS ground service with rates Whatnot negotiated for sellers, offered for shipments over 5 lbs. It is the lowest-cost option for most 6–20 lb shipments and lets you ship in a box nearly twice the size of a USPS Large Flat Rate Box. UPS Ground Saver is currently in a limited pilot with a small group of sellers. If you don't see UPS in your Shipping Settings yet, it isn't available on your account; we're rolling it out to all US sellers soon and will email you when it's ready.

Who can use it

• Sellers shipping from the contiguous 48 states with a street (not PO box) return address.  UPS Ground Saver is not available for sellers in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or U.S. Territories.
• Pilot sellers only for now, available to all US sellers soon.
• Shipments over 5 lbs only. For 1–5 lbs, USPS Ground Advantage at $7.75 is the better option, and UPS is not offered for that range.

How to enable UPS (for eligible pilot sellers)

1. Go to Shipping Settings in Seller Hub.
2. In the US shipments over 5 lbs section, select UPS Ground Saver.
3. Accept UPS's terms of service and confirm your return address when prompted (once).
4. *Recommended* Set your 1–5 lb option to USPS Ground Advantage so lighter shipments get the $7.75 rate.

Setup takes about five minutes. After that, quoting, bundling, and labels work the same way they do for USPS.

Changing your UPS return address

The return address you confirm during setup is registered with UPS as your carrier account address, and UPS doesn't let it be changed from Whatnot once the account exists. If you move or need to ship from a different location, contact Whatnot Support from Seller Hub and ask to update your UPS return address.  

You can do this in a few ways

On web

1. Open "Support Chat" and talk with the chatbot and ask it to "Update UPS return address"
2. Attempt an edit/delete of the UPS return address. This will open a popup with a button to open the support chat.

On iOS and Android

• Tap on your Account in the bottom toolbar
• Tap “Contact Us” → “Account” → “Update Account Information” → Update UPS Return Address

Our team will update it with UPS and confirm with you once it's live. Until then, UPS labels and any returned packages will keep using your previous return address, so plan the change before you ship from the new location. 

Your USPS return address is managed separately in your account settings and is not affected. 

Rates

The rates below are what buyers pay at checkout and are the same regardless of distance for packages up to 20 lbs.  These are pilot rates and subject to change.

Extended delivery area fee: UPS charges an extra $3.45 to deliver to certain rural and small-town ZIP codes (about 14% of Whatnot buyers). The fee is included in the shipping price the buyer sees on the pinned listing; it is not charged to you and does not appear in your carrier adjustments. 

Where UPS Ground Saver can't deliver

Orders to the addresses below automatically ship with USPS Ground Advantage instead, and the buyer pays the USPS rate. You'll print a USPS label for these orders even with UPS selected.

• Alaska and Hawaii
• Puerto Rico, US territories, and military (APO/FPO/DPO) addresses
• PO boxes
• A small set of very remote ZIP codes in the contiguous 48 states

Packaging

• UPS does not provide free boxes. Any sturdy box works; many sellers order from Uline or a similar supplier.
• A 12" × 12" × 12" box (1,728 cubic inches) gets the most out of UPS Ground Saver. Above that size UPS prices on dimensional weight, and boxes with any side over 48" carry an additional handling fee.
• Never reuse USPS Priority Mail or Flat Rate boxes for UPS shipments. These shipments may be charged an additional fee and/or be returned to you.
• Weigh the packed box before generating the label. If it doesn't match, edit the weight on the shipment first.

Ship times

Ship within 2 business days of the sale and scan each package in the app when you hand it to UPS. UPS Ground Saver typically delivers in 2–7 business days; in our testing, delivery times were comparable to USPS Ground Advantage, with fewer damage reports.

Drop-off and pickups

• Drop-off: any UPS Store, UPS drop box, UPS Access Point, or UPS Customer Center. About 88% of US sellers are within 10 miles of one. Find locations at ups.com/dropoff.
• Self-serve pickups: schedule a one-time or recurring daily pickup directly with UPS at ups.com for up to 30 packages per pickup. UPS charges its own fees (about $4.75 for a next-day pickup, 6–10 for same-day, and a weekly rate for daily scheduled pickups; residential surcharges may apply).
• High volume: if you regularly ship more than 30 packages at a time, contact your Account Manager or contact Whatnot Carrier Operations Support and we can work with our UPS account team to set up recurring pickups for your location.

Insurance and claims

• Each UPS Ground Saver label includes UPS's standard declared value coverage of up to $100 per package. [Confirm limit and whether additional declared value can be purchased at label generation.]
• If a UPS package is lost or damaged, handle the buyer's request through your Customer Support inbox as you would for any shipment. Refund with the shipping claim opt-in switched on, and Whatnot will file the claim with UPS on your behalf. Approved claims are credited to your ledger. [Process being finalized with UPS; confirm steps, documentation UPS requires (photos, packaging retained), and timelines before publishing.]
• Shipments over $500 fall under the same High Value Loss Reimbursement Policy video requirement as USPS.

Signature confirmation

UPS Ground Saver does not support signature required delivery. To keep protection on high-value orders, shipments over $500 in eligible categories automatically ship with USPS Ground Advantage with Signature Confirmation instead of UPS, and the seller pays the standard $4.36 signature fee. 

The signature toggle is unavailable on UPS shipments.

Carrier adjustments

UPS, like USPS, charges an adjustment when a package's actual weight or dimensions don't match the label. UPS adjustments appear in your Carrier Adjustments dashboard with the same dispute flow as USPS. 

Weight-based UPS adjustments are not yet charged to sellers; we'll give advance notice before that changes.

Shipping labels

UPS Ground Saver labels don't show the buyer's username (a UPS limitation). The buyer's username is still on the shipment in Seller Hub.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to do anything per order once UPS is on? No. Once UPS Ground Saver is selected and your profiles have accurate weights and dimensions, quoting, bundling, and labels work the same as today.

What will my buyers see when I use UPS? Most buyers see cheaper shipping on heavier orders. Buyers in extended delivery area ZIP codes will see an additional $3.45 UPS fee included in the shipping price. Buyers with addresses that UPS can't deliver to see the USPS Ground Advantage rate and will have USPS Ground Advantage labels automatically generated for their shipments.

Why don't I see UPS in my Shipping Settings? UPS Ground Saver is in a limited pilot. We're rolling it out to all US sellers soon.

Can I use both carriers? Yes. Your 1–5 lb and over 5 lb options are set separately, and orders that UPS can't deliver fall back to USPS automatically. You can switch options in Shipping Settings at any time.

What happens to my Flat Rate Box option? It stays available in Shipping Settings at $12.99 until December. We will give advance notice on the updated rates before this changes.  Flat Rate will remain available beyond December at new rates.

I use my own labels (BYOL). Does any of this apply to me? No. BYOL shipments are priced, insured, and adjusted by the service you buy labels from, and automatic signature confirmation and Whatnot-filed claims don't apply.

Will Priority Mail or UPS 2nd Day Air be offered? Priority Mail remains available. UPS Ground Saver is the first UPS option; we plan to add more services over the coming months.

A package shows delivered but the buyer says it's missing. What do I do? Ask the buyer to open a request through your Customer Support inbox. For orders over $500, your packing video is required for reimbursement under the High Value Loss Reimbursement Policy.

Will you support UPS for sellers in Alaska or Hawaii? Yes.  UPS Ground Saver is not available for shipments to or from Alaska or Hawaii, but we are working on support for other service levels that do support those locations.  These are not available today but we will bring them to sellers as soon as we can.

Need more help? Contact Whatnot Support from Seller Hub.