To send someone a shipping label, create a prepaid label on USPS, UPS, or FedEx using their address as the origin and yours as the destination, pay for the postage, then deliver the label to them by emailing the PDF, texting a QR code, or mailing a printed copy. Once they attach it to the box and drop it off, the shipment is on you. Knowing how to send someone a shipping label the right way takes about five minutes if you have the addresses, weight, and dimensions ready.
Information You Need Before You Start
Collect the full name and complete street address for both sides of the trip. The person dropping off the package is the sender (origin); wherever the box is going is the recipient (destination). If someone is shipping something to you, your address goes in the destination field.
Get this right the first time. UPS charges $25.25 per package for address corrections on both air and ground shipments, and other carriers charge comparable fees.1UPS. Revised Rates for Value-Added Services and Other Charges
You also need the package’s weight in pounds and its dimensions (length, width, and height). Carriers bill on whichever is greater, actual weight or dimensional weight, which is calculated by multiplying length by width by height and dividing by 166 for domestic shipments.2United States Postal Service. Retail Postage Price Calculator GXG Dimensional Weight A large but lightweight box can cost more than the scale suggests. If the sender has no scale, tell them to estimate and round up. Underpaying triggers a bill for the difference plus a surcharge.
Creating the Prepaid Label
Every major carrier lets you build and pay for a label on their website. You’ll enter the two addresses, weight, and dimensions, pick a service level from ground up through overnight, and pay. The system produces a label with a tracking barcode. The steps differ slightly by carrier.
USPS Click-N-Ship
Sign into a free USPS.com account and open Click-N-Ship. Put the sender’s address in the “Ship From” field and yours in “Ship To,” enter weight and dimensions, pick a service such as Ground Advantage or Priority Mail, and pay by card. Download or print the label. USPS also offers a Label Delivery service that prints the label and mails it to the sender for $1.65 per label if you’d rather skip the transmission step entirely.3United States Postal Service. Customer Returns – Label Services and Package Return Options
UPS
Sign into your UPS account at ups.com, go to the shipping section, and create the label with the other person’s address as the origin. UPS can email a return label directly to your recipient with both a printable PDF and a mobile barcode they can show at any UPS location if they can’t print.4UPS. Customer Return Services For returns, UPS also offers a driver pickup option that brings the label along and makes up to three attempts to collect the package.
FedEx
At fedex.com, create a return label and choose to print it, email it, or generate a QR code. Emailing a FedEx return label gives the recipient a link and a mobile barcode. QR code returns are accepted at more than 10,000 FedEx Office, FedEx Ship Center, and Walgreens locations.5FedEx. How To Print, Manage and Create a Shipping Label
Sending the Label by Email
Download the label as a PDF. That format keeps the barcode at the correct size and resolution; a file that gets compressed by a messaging app may not scan on automated sorting equipment. Attach the PDF to an email or send it through a messaging app that preserves attachments, and keep a copy on your device in case you need to resend.
Before you send, confirm the recipient has a printer. They need to print at full size on standard letter paper (8.5 by 11 inches) and tape the label flat to the largest surface of the box with clear packing tape. Taping over the barcode is fine and protects it from moisture and handling.
Sending a QR Code When There’s No Printer
If the sender has no printer, a QR code is the easier route. All three major carriers support some version of printerless drop-off.
USPS calls its version Label Broker. When you create a Click-N-Ship label, you can generate a Label Broker QR code and text or email it. The sender brings the package and their phone to a participating Post Office, scans the code at the counter or a self-service kiosk, and staff or the kiosk prints the physical label at no extra charge.6United States Postal Service. Label Broker and Label Delivery Service – Section: Print Shipping Labels Without a Printer Not every Post Office offers Label Broker, so check the USPS location finder first.
FedEx accepts QR code returns at FedEx Office, FedEx Ship Centers, and Walgreens.5FedEx. How To Print, Manage and Create a Shipping Label UPS offers a mobile barcode for scanning at UPS Store and UPS Access Point locations.7UPS. How To Return a Package In every case, the sender just shows the code on their phone and the location handles printing and attaching.
Mailing a Printed Label
When the recipient has neither a smartphone nor a printer, mail them a paper copy. Print the label on standard paper, fold it inside a protective envelope so it doesn’t smudge, and send it first-class. A first-class stamp costs $0.78.8United States Postal Service. First-Class Mail and Postage It’s the slowest method by several days but works when nothing else does. Add a short note reminding them to tape the label flat with clear packing tape before drop-off.
Offering a Pickup Instead of a Drop-Off
The sender doesn’t always have to leave the house. USPS offers free package pickup during regular mail delivery for certain services, including Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express. The sender schedules pickup at usps.com and the letter carrier collects the package from their door.9United States Postal Service. Schedule a Pickup Ground Advantage and other non-premium services qualify for free pickup only when bundled with at least one premium package; otherwise USPS charges for a time-specific window.
UPS offers On-Call Pickup for prepaid return labels, though pickup charges may apply depending on the label type. FedEx has a similar scheduling tool. Mentioning the pickup option in the same message as the label can save the sender a trip.
Getting a Refund on an Unused Label
Sometimes the package never ships. Each carrier handles unused labels differently.
USPS allows refunds on unused Click-N-Ship labels through your online account for up to 30 days from the print date. Between 30 and 60 days, you have to email the Click-N-Ship Help Desk with your account number, label number, and transaction details.10United States Postal Service. Request a USPS Refund – Domestic After 60 days, the label is no longer eligible, and it must never have been scanned into the postal system to qualify.
Many FedEx return labels are pay-on-use, so you’re not billed until the package is actually delivered. UPS gives you a shorter window to void labels directly, and unused labels showing no scan activity within a few days are typically voided and credited automatically. Check the current policy before buying, especially for high-value shipments.
International Packages
An international shipment almost always requires a customs declaration, which adds a step to whichever label path you’re using. In USPS Click-N-Ship, the customs form is built into the label creation flow: you fill in descriptions, values, and quantities for each item, and the system produces the customs form with the label.11United States Postal Service. Customs Forms
Item descriptions have to be specific. “Electronics” gets a package flagged or delayed; “laptop computer” is what customs officials expect, and each item needs its own declared value.11United States Postal Service. Customs Forms The form also requires full names, unabbreviated addresses, and contact details for both parties, so collect all of it before you start.
Commercial shipments through FedEx or UPS also need a commercial invoice listing the goods, country of origin, quantities, and Harmonized System (HS) codes, the standardized six-digit numbers used worldwide to classify traded products and calculate duties.12International Trade Administration. Harmonized System (HS) Codes USPS assigns HS codes automatically when your item descriptions are detailed enough; FedEx and UPS may require you to look them up. The International Trade Administration runs a free search tool.
Packages With Lithium Batteries
If the box contains a laptop, phone, tablet, or anything else with a lithium battery, federal hazardous materials rules apply, even for ordinary consumer devices. Small lithium-ion batteries under 100 watt-hours installed in the device they power are allowed through standard carriers, but the outer box may need a lithium battery handling mark with the correct UN identification number.13U.S. Department of Transportation. Check the Box for Lithium Batteries There’s an exception: if the package contains no more than two batteries installed in equipment, the mark isn’t required.
Loose lithium batteries shipped separately from any device face stricter rules, including quantity limits and specific packaging requirements. Tell the sender to disclose the contents at the counter when they drop off. Getting this wrong can lead to the package being refused, returned, or in rare cases, a fine from the Department of Transportation.