Most merchants already have a shipping command center. If yours is ShipStation, you pick carriers, print labels, and track parcels there every day on the outbound side. The return trip, though, has usually lived somewhere else, which means a second rate table, a second set of carrier accounts, and a return label that never quite matches the way you ship. Starting today that split closes: Exchange It can generate return labels through ShipStation, so returns come back on the same carriers and account you already ship out with.

ShipStation joins Shippo, EasyPost, and Sendcloud as a built-in return-label provider. If you have been following along, this is the next step after we added Sendcloud for EU and international returns and EasyPost labels. The goal is the same each time: let you run returns on the carrier network you have already set up, instead of forcing a new one.

What is new

Exchange It can now create return labels through ShipStation, the multi-carrier platform a huge number of Shopify sellers already use to run outbound fulfillment. It is a bring-your-own-account integration: you connect your own ShipStation key, and Exchange It uses it to pull return-capable rates and buy return labels against your connected carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx, and more).

The simplest way to think about it: the account you already ship out of now handles the trip back too. A return approved in Exchange It can produce a prepaid ShipStation label in the same screen, with no export to a separate tool and no re-keying of carrier details.

How it works

You will find the new controls at Integrations > Shipping > ShipStation Integration. Setup takes about a minute:

Turn on Show ShipStation in my Return Shipping Label options. This toggle is off by default, and switching it on makes ShipStation a selectable provider and unlocks the key field below.
Enter your ShipStation API Key. Use a ShipStation API v2 key, found in ShipStation under Settings, Account, API Settings. Your ShipStation plan needs to include API access.
Save your settings. The key is encrypted on save, shown masked afterward, and ShipStation immediately becomes an option when you generate a return label.

Unlike some providers, ShipStation uses a single API key rather than a key pair, so there is one value to paste and nothing else to configure. For the full walkthrough, including how to replace a saved key, see the help article on setting up ShipStation for return shipping labels.

What you can do

Once ShipStation is active, it shows up anywhere Exchange It creates a return label:

Return on the carriers you already use. Labels are bought against your connected ShipStation carriers, so returns ride the USPS, UPS, and FedEx accounts and rates you have already negotiated, not a generic reseller rate.
Keep one source of truth for shipping. Outbound and returns run through the same ShipStation account, so tracking, carrier choice, and billing stay in one place instead of spread across two tools.
Compare rates across providers. When you generate a label, the rate picker merges options from every active provider and groups them under clear headers, so a ShipStation rate sits side by side with Shippo, EasyPost, and Sendcloud and you can pick the best one per return.

Nothing changes for returns you have already processed. Existing labels and their tracking keep working exactly as before, and you can add ShipStation without disturbing anything already in flight.

Built to be safe

Your key stays encrypted. The API key is encrypted the moment you save, shown masked from then on, and never sent back to the browser. To rotate it, clear the field, paste the new key, and save again.
You stay in control. Return options come from your own ShipStation account, so the carriers, rates, and contracts in play are the ones you set up, not ours.

Availability

Shipping label integrations, ShipStation included, are part of the Advanced plan. On other plans the ShipStation controls stay disabled and you will see an option to upgrade in their place. If you are already on Advanced, ShipStation is live for you now at no extra cost.

Get started

Open Integrations > Shipping > ShipStation Integration, flip the toggle on, and paste your ShipStation API v2 key. Your next return can go out on a prepaid ShipStation label in the approval flow you already use. Already using Shippo, EasyPost, or Sendcloud? Keep them running: Exchange It lets every active provider compete and surfaces the best rate per return.

New to Exchange It? Install it from the Shopify App Store, or browse the help center to see everything it can do.