Pirate Ship was built to make turning spreadsheets into shipping labels super easy... but if you've got packages that are different weights and sizes, it may not be immediately obvious what you need to do.

Step-by-step instructions are below, but this video also shows how to do it:

Example address spreadsheet:

Download example spreadsheet (Excel XLSX format)

Step-by-step Instructions:

First off, note that you currently can't specify different Package Types, Extra Services, or Customs Forms options in a spreadsheet... so all orders in your spreadsheet need to share those characteristics. For example, if you're shipping differently sized envelopes and boxes, you'd need a sheet for each package type.

Step 1: Prepare your spreadsheet

If the weight of your packages will vary, you'll need a column for Weight in your spreadsheet. You can enter the weight either in ounces or pounds, or you can have one column for each. You can only use numbers, or numbers with decimals... so don't put "lbs" or "oz" or anything else in these fields.

If the dimensions of your packages will vary, you'll need to add columns for Length, Width, and Height. The values can only be numbers, or numbers with decimals... so don't put " symbols or "inches" or anything like that in there:

A screenshot showing an address spreadsheet. Towards the right, four columns are highlighted- these columns are for 'pounds,' 'length,' 'width, and 'height,' and they will be used for the shipments getting sent out.

If you leave any of the weight or dimension fields blank for any of the orders, Pirate Ship will use the "Default" package details that you enter when you upload the spreadsheet.

Step 2: Upload your spreadsheet to Pirate Ship

When you upload your sheet, you'll need to map the weight & dimension fields to "Override" like this:

A screenshot showing the field mapping for the columns on your spreadsheet when you upload it to Pirate Ship. The mapping for 'pounds,' 'length,' 'width,' and 'height' are highlighted to bring attention to these fields.

Step 3: Enter the "Default" package details:

In the next step you'll be required to enter a "Default" dimensions and weight. If any of the addresses in your spreadsheet didn't have a weight or size specified, this is what will be used.

If every address in your sheet has a weight or size specified, then what you enter as a "Default" doesn't matter, because it will be overridden by the values in your sheet.

So just fill in some gibberish if you need to... and trust us, the designer has been flogged:

A screenshot showing where you can enter the package dimensions and weight for the batch of labels. Since the spreadsheet includes values for these items, the spreadsheet will overwrite whatever you put here.

Step 4: Confirm and Buy

Each individual label price isn't broken out. Instead, the prices will be shown as an average... but you can confirm that Pirate Ship is overriding your data by looking in the Shipment Details section:

A screenshot showing the confirmation page before you buy the batch of labels. Towards the top center of the page, the section in the Shipment Details where the dimensions and weights is shown is highlighted. Next to 'length,' 'width,' 'height,' and 'pounds,' it reads 'override with data from...' to indicate that your spreadsheet will be filling in that information.

That's it! You're all set.

Any questions? Just chat with us! 😃