Getting started

Onport can streamline and automate a lot of the shipping setup that comes with dropshipping. In order to do so, you will need to onboard your vendors to your Onport platform and set up their shipping under Contacts > Shipping.

Once you’ve done this successfully, you are able to manage their shipping directly from Onport. You can also start tracking the shipping breakdown between your vendors from the Sales tab.

This article will break down the different ways you can manage shipping once you have set up your vendors and will be your guide to more in-depth instructions on the topics.

Provide shipping labels and packing slips to vendors

Shipping labels: The first (and recommended) way of managing shipping is choosing the option to generate shipping labels for your vendors. Not only will this make the job of your vendors easier, but it also ensures that the labels they are using have your branding. Your vendors will then be able to view and print the labels either from their own e-commerce platforms (if supported by Onport) or from their vendor portal. If needed, you as the retailer can also generate or re-generate the labels for the vendors directly from Onport.

Read here for more on how to generate shipping labels for vendors and check out the FAQ’s at the end of the article for more information!

Shipping labels for in-house: As an Onport user, you are able to generate shipping labels for your In-house shipments directly from the Onport app. Doing so, you will notice that Onport will suggest the shipping rates to use, but all rates will be available to you and you can choose to override the default settings.

Read here for more on how to generate shipping labels in-house.

Packing slips: When your vendors are shipping items out to your customers, it is useful to have your logo and details included in the shipment. Onport can automatically include a US-letter-size branded packing slip along with each order for the vendor.

Read here for more on packing slips.

Shipping providers Onport works with: If you have decided to provide shipping labels to your vendors, here’s a list of providers Onport currently supports.

• Shippo
• Postmen
• Custom carriers
• Aftership
• ShipStation
• Shippypro
• USPS

Have vendors pay for shipping themselves

Providing shipping labels to your vendors might not always work. Your vendors might want orders sent directly to their platform instead of using a separate portal. Or, they have their own shipping operations in place. You can also use Onport's shipping rates to set up shipping rates for each of your vendors. If you enable the Invoice shipping option under Contacts > Shipping, you'll also be able to automatically invoice vendors as they are shipped.

If your vendors are paying for shipping, they will need to either enter the tracking in the vendor portal, or in their store. Another option is for you to import their shipping files via CSV or FTP.

Importing shipping files from CSV/FTP

If you have decided not to provide shipping labels to your vendors, one option for you is to import their tracking details and shipping costs via CSV to Onport. This is an easy way for you to have the information link up with the items in Onport.

Read here for more on how to automatically import shipping files.