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Amazon Buy Shipping API

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ShipStation Content Team

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Details about ShipStation's Amazon Buy Shipping API integration: requirements, how to enable, features, and troubleshooting tips.

For US- and UK-based ShipStation Accounts Only

ShipStation's integration with the Amazon Buy Shipping API is currently only available for US- and UK-based accounts.

ShipStation’s integration with the Amazon Buy Shipping API allows you to use ShipStation to create labels for merchant-fulfilled Amazon orders that have been imported either from your directly connected Amazon Marketplace account or from a ChannelAdvisor store.

If you are shipping Merchant Fulfilled Prime orders through ShipStation, you are required to create your labels using the Amazon Buy Shipping API integration. ShipStation applies a special tag to Prime orders to help you identify them quickly. To learn how to ship your Merchant Fulfilled Prime orders using ShipStation, please review our Ship Merchant Fulfilled Prime Orders help article.

Limitations

  • Amazon Buy Shipping API does not support international shipments.

  • If Amazon determines the selected service will not guarantee the shipment's arrival in the required time frame, Amazon will return the alert "Selected service is not compatible with other settings" and prevent you from creating the label for that order. In these cases, you will need to select a faster service.

    Important

    Give yourself enough time to pick, pack, and ship your orders!

    The last pick-up time for each shipping service will impact the availability of the shipping service when you purchase a shipping label using services from the Amazon Buy Shipping API. You may not see your preferred shipping services if the label purchase time is less than an hour from the last carrier pick-up time you defined.

  • If using ChannelAdvisor to import your Amazon orders, the Amazon Buy Shipping API integration will only function for orders imported from the Amazon store you most recently connected to ShipStation.

    Review our ChannelAdvisor article for more details.

  • You cannot connect more than one Amazon Buy Shipping API account to ShipStation.

  • You cannot edit the recipient address for shipments using Amazon Buy Shipping API services. All labels will use the recipient address Amazon has on file for the order. If you must update the recipient address, you must log into Amazon Seller Central to make the change.

  • You cannot create multi-package shipments in ShipStation when using Amazon Buy Shipping API services. To create multi-package shipments, you must do so in Amazon Seller Central.

  • Delayed notifications are not available for shipments created with the Amazon Buy Shipping API. Since the label is created through Amazon's system, Amazon is aware of the shipment as soon as the label is generated.

  • End of Day forms (sometimes called manifests) are not currently supported in ShipStation for Amazon Buy Shipping API labels. These shipments will display in Shipments > End of Day, but cannot be closed or printed through ShipStation. However, you can print End of Day forms via Amazon's shipping portal, if needed.

  • To use your own carrier account rates for the Amazon Buy Shipping API, you must connect your carrier accounts within Amazon's shipping portal. Review Amazon’s Seller Central help article to learn how to connect your own carrier accounts to use with the Amazon Buy Shipping API (requires you to log into Amazon Seller Central).

Amazon Buy Shipping API Requirements

  • Amazon Merchant Fulfilled orders imported from either an Amazon Marketplace or ChannelAdvisor store connected to ShipStation.

    If you need help connecting your Amazon store, please review our Amazon Marketplace help article.

  • Your Amazon Seller Central email address and password.

  • You must log in to Amazon and agree to terms and conditions for any shipping carrier you intend to use.

Connect Amazon Buy Shipping API to ShipStation

To connect the Amazon Buy Shipping API to ShipStation:

  1. Connect your Amazon.com seller account to ShipStation, if you haven't already.

  2. Go to Account Settings.

    Closeup of ShipStation toolbar with outline marking the Settings icon.

  3. Select Shipping, then choose Carriers from the left-hand sidebar.

    V3_SET_SB_SHP_Carriers_MRK.png

  4. Go to the Your Carrier Accounts tab, then click Add Carrier.

    Carriers Settings, Your Carrier Accounts tab. Arrow points to Add Carrier link.

  5. Select the Amazon Buy Shipping tile.

    Amazon Buy Shipping tile

  6. Follow the steps provided in the connection pop-up window.

    • Select the Amazon Order Source

    • Enter your Seller Central Email

    Amazon Order Source and Seller Central Email fields highlighted in ShipStation connection window.

  7. Review and agree to the terms and conditions by checking the Agree to Terms and Conditions checkbox.

    Amazon Buy Shipping Terms and Conditions open in ShipStation connection window, with checkbox to agree highlighted.

  8. Click Connect.

    Blue connect button from Amazon Buy Shipping connect window in ShipStation settings.

    You will be redirected to the Amazon Seller Central sign-in page.

  9. Sign in to your Amazon Seller Central account.

    Login screen for Amazon Seller Central with Email or Phone Number and Password fields highlighted.

  10. Select the correct Amazon Account and country. Then, click the Select Account button.

    Amazon account country menu with United States option selected.

  11. Authorize ShipStation by checking the checkbox and clicking Connect.

    Amazon Authorize ShipStation window with Confirm button selected.

    You will be redirected back to ShipStation and will be automatically logged in.

Once completed successfully, you will see Amazon Buy Shipping as a carrier in your Services drop-down menu, along with any services you have configured with Amazon.

Services drop-down, partial list of Amazon Buy Shipping services.

To hide services you do not plan to use:

  1. Go to your ShipStation Settings and choose Shipping > Carriers.

  2. Click the Services link for the Amazon carrier to show the available services.

  3. Deselect any services you do not wish to use.

  4. Click Update.

Your Services drop-down will now only show the selected services.

Amazon Orders Imported via ChannelAdvisor

If you'll be using your ChannelAdvisor account to import Amazon orders into ShipStation, you must still connect your Amazon store to ShipStation, but you can set it to Inactive so it doesn't appear in your Store list or attempt to import orders.

Amazon Buy Shipping API Troubleshooting Tips

Here are some common issues, potential causes, and troubleshooting tips.

Issue

How to troubleshoot or resolve

Error: Selected service is not compatible with other settings (package type, weight, size)

What it means: This error message may appear when getting rates or creating labels with Amazon Buy Shipping API. It can occur for a few different reasons, but the most common are:

  • The selected shipping service does not support the package type, weight, or dimensions you've entered for the shipment.

  • The selected shipping service would not get the package to the customer in time for the Prime guaranteed delivery date.

Error: Resource Not Found

What it means: This error message will occur if ShipStation is able to communicate with Amazon but Amazon isn't able to find the order in the Amazon account ShipStation is trying to access.

This error message is most commonly seen when using a ChannelAdvisor store connection that is importing orders from multiple Amazon accounts. ShipStation relies on an existing Amazon store connection that contains the Amazon credentials needed to communicate with the Amazon Buy Shipping API. ShipStation cannot determine which specific Amazon store a ChannelAdvisor order originated from, so it will always attempt to use the credentials from the most recently connected Amazon store. This error message will display if the order in question does not belong to that Amazon store.

What to do: To resolve this issue, you will need to create a new Amazon.com store connection in ShipStation that is linked to the Amazon account you will be shipping Merchant Fulfilled orders for. Then, make the store inactive so you can process the orders imported through ChannelAdvisor.

If shipping Merchant Fulfilled orders for multiple Amazon stores, we recommend you use ShipStation's direct Amazon integration to import those orders instead of ChannelAdvisor.

Error: Amazon Requires an email address to be specified on every label. Please specify an email address on your Amazon store in your ShipStation Account Settings > Selling Channels.

What it means: The email address must be a verified email address for Amazon to officially recognize it.

What to do: Go to Settings > Selling Channels > Store Setup and click Edit next to your Amazon store. Under the Branding Tab, you should see text underneath the email field to Verify this Email Address. Click the link and follow the instructions to verify the address.

A verified email address will display the text "This email address has been verified for your account" under the email field.

Prime orders stuck in Pending Fulfillment status.

What to do: If your Prime orders are still in Pending Fulfillment status, click the import button to refresh the store. If the orders do not move into the Awaiting Shipment status, contact our support team for further assistance.

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