Sellers were shocked at how much the cost of using shipping-software service ShipStation would be rising next month. They were further dismayed when they realized alternatives were also owned by Auctane and were raising their fees too.
ShipStation is raising the monthly subscription plans – but it is also initiating a new flat monthly fee for sellers who use their own negotiated carrier rates or use carriers not supported by ShipStation, including FedEx and Amazon Buy Shipping.
A seller shared the following notice they received from ShipStation on an industry discussion board – note that fees vary by subscription plan – the following notice was sent to a seller with a ShipStation Enterprise plan:
Notice: Your ShipStation Subscription Fee Changes Soon
ShipStation will introduce changes to your pricing plan and associated fees, impacting your account in thirty days. As an Enterprise plan subscriber, your new subscription rate will be $229.99 per month.
By default, ShipStation offers discounted rates for USPS, UPS, GlobalPost, and DHL Express without any carrier setup required. Customers that take advantage of the ShipStation rates avoid any additional fees.
You’re welcome to continue to access your carrier accounts that we support, but beginning in thirty days, you will be charged a monthly service fee of $95 to do so.
The seller said they were currently paying $159 per month for the Enterprise plan. With the increase and an additional $95/month for using FedEx, the seller’s cost would rise to $324/month – which is an increase of 104%.
Some sellers are encouraging colleagues to reach out to the FTC and report Auctane for what they characterized as anticompetitive behavior. One seller shared a boilerplate template to send to them that spells out sellers’ concerns:
Dear Federal Trade Commission,
I am writing to bring your attention to what appears to be a significant antitrust issue concerning Auctane, a shipping and logistics conglomerate.
Over the past year, Auctane has acquired numerous shipping companies, including but not limited to ShipStation, Stamps.com , Endicia, Shipengine, and Global Post (https://auctane.com/products/ ). These acquisitions, in themselves, may not pose a concern. However, the manner in which Auctane has manipulated its new market power is a cause for worry.
Auctane recently announced rate hikes of 100% across these platforms, a move that may cause substantial financial strain on the numerous businesses and consumers that rely on their services. More worryingly, they have also instituted a monthly fee for users to access outside carriers such as FedEx and DHL. This blatant discouragement of competition seems designed to force customers into using Auctane’s own pre-negotiated rates with USPS and UPS.
The significant market consolidation and pricing practices Auctane has demonstrated are deeply concerning. Not only does this appear to lessen competition in the shipping and logistics industry, but it also seems to unfairly disadvantage tens of thousands of companies that depend on these services for their businesses. It is my belief that these actions amount to anti-competitive practices and are deserving of an antitrust investigation.
A healthy competitive market is crucial for both businesses and consumers. It fosters innovation, drives down prices, and ensures quality service delivery. Auctane’s actions appear to be detrimental to these principles.
I urge the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Auctane’s actions and intervene as necessary to protect consumers, businesses, and the overall health of the shipping and logistics industry.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I am available to provide any additional information that may assist in your investigation.
Sincerely,
(YOUR NAME, TITLE, and CONTACT INFO – Always include a physical address too)
The company had survived antitrust scrutiny in 2015 when it acquired Endicia. A lot has changed since then. Private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired Stamps.com in 2021 and took it private, and renamed it Auctane. And this month, Albert Ko will take over as Auctane’s new CEO, capping a complete top-management overhaul.
Sellers have only a month to adapt to the new fee structure or find an alternative. Sellers posting on the Amazon discussion boards were concerned – one seller who said the new fee structure would nearly double the fees for using ShipStation wrote, “We are now evaluating other providers but there does not appear to be many that even supports Amazon Buys Shipping connector.”
Another Amazon seller said they were testing Veeqo, “which is now owned by Amazon but it’s also completely FREE and so far it has all the same functionality we are currently using in ShipStation.”
On Reddit, a seller was looking at another option. “The best of the alternatives I’ve reviewed is ShipRush. I spent a half-hour on the phone with one of their sales team members this week. Their platform appears to offer most of what we used Shipstation for, for $30/month.” They said they were currently on ShipStation’s $45/month Silver plan that would cost them $107 beginning next month – a 138% increase. But the seller acknowledged ShipRush didn’t do everything ShipStation had offered.
Feel free to leave comments about the shipping solutions you use and if you’re impacted by the new fee structures from Auctane shipping solutions.
I am not a large enough shipper to be affected but I do want to comment. I used ShipStation for about 6 months. I went to ShipStation when Stamps.com price hit $20 a month. I’m a small seller and felt I really could not afford this, especially when the ShipStation I wanted was only $9.99 instead. My experience with ShipStation became a disaster. I think the main reason was because it seems geared for large (even the largest) shippers. I actually spent so much time trying to make it work that I would have been better off staying with Stamps.com which worked seamlessly. The final straw on ShipStation was the demand to install a required update, EXCEPT I myself would have to make changes in my actual computer hard drive settings. I am NOT an experienced enough to tech to risk doing something like this.
My biggest problem with both was they decided I should send my outside-USA destined packages to some sort of “clearance center” where they would generate labels and ship the package on to its intended recipient. This was a deal breaker (I want to be responsible myself for the ENTIRE shipment) and they actually removed this requirement, letting me print my own labels. (Heads up if you are in this situation.)
I meant to add that I am now happily using PirateShip and it’s working 100%. It prints single labels but I have never lost ANY time dealing with problems, meaning a savings in the long run.
The only “problem” I had was when I got into PirateShip’s integration with PayPal, which I should never have done, because I do not and will never use PP for any kind of shipping. I need to ship packages where customers want, not where PP insists/requires. Also, they froze funds in my PP account with no notice a few months ago, apparently because I did not input tracking numbers on purchases made by Ruby Lane customers using PP to pay.) Even after I stopped using the integration, PayPal “orders” were showing up as “unshipped” in my PirateShip account. So I have totally deleted the PayPal integration and could not be happier !!
I love using PirateShip. And it is free! Easy to navigate, I could teach a child to do my labels, it is that easy.
One of the sellers on AdultStuffOnly.com recommended PirateShip for printing online postage. Previously, I had been using the USPS site, which is a bit cumbersome. I love PirateShip for postage as it is so easy to use, and gives me an options to copy my tracking numbers with a button click. I do not integrate any software selling platforms, as there really is no need to. I do single shipping labels, but there are other options for larger sellers. I save alot of money using PirateShip, and can print both USPS and UPS labels and schedule pick ups for both. I can print labels and do customs for buyers out of the US. No problems!