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Address Validation

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ShipStation validates and corrects domestic addresses, as well as international addresses going to certain countries.

Note

For U.S. orders, ShipStation uses the USPS address validation database. For other supported countries, ShipStation uses the Melissa Database.

ShipStation's Address Verification feature supports address validation and correct for the following countries:

  • Australia

  • Canada

  • France

  • Germany

  • Great Britain

  • Israel

  • Italy

  • Norway

  • Spain

  • Sweden

  • United States

While the address validation will always run on orders shipping to the above countries, you are not required to use the automatic address correction feature.

Validated Addresses

ShipStation displays an icon to indicate the validation status of an order's delivery address. This icon appears in the Orders grid alongside the recipient's name and in the Order Details screen.

Figure 4. Orders Grid

Orders Grid

Figure 5. Order Details

Order Details

Address Validation Icons

Icon

Description
Validated Domestic Address icon: Green office building with white squares as windows

Validated Domestic Address

The address verification service has verified the address successfully and the ship-to country is the same as the home country for your ShipStation account.

For U.S.-based account, this icon also means the address is treated as a commercial address.
Validated Residential Address icon: Simplified house in green

Validated Residential Address (U.S. only)

Same a Validated Domestic Address, except the address is considered residential. A residential address may qualify for different services or rates.

ShipStation cannot verify addresses as residential for non-U.S. countries.
Validated International Address icon: Green globe

Validated International Address (Supported Countries only)

The address verification service has verified the address successfully and the ship-to country is different than the home country for your ShipStation account.
​​"Address not verified​" or "​Address not found" icon. White question mark inside of a black circle. ​

Address not verified or Address not found

This icon will appear for one of two reasons:

  1. ShipStation has not run address verification yet. Address verification will run automatically when an order is in Awaiting Shipment. If the order is not in Awaiting Shipment, you may need to manually verify address before you can create a label.

  2. ShipStation ran the address verification, but the ship-to country is not supported so address verification could not be completed.
​​"Address Verification Warning​​" icon. White exclamation point inside of an orange triangle.

Address Verification Warning

The core components of the address (Address 1, City, State, and Postal Code) verified successfully, but there is either missing or extra information in the address that is preventing full validation.

For example, an apartment number included in address line 2 cannot be verified, or there is additional text in address line 2 which is not needed.

This warning will not prevent you from attempting to create a label. However, if the postage provider finds fault with the address they may reject the label creation attempt and provide an additional error. If the postage provider returns additional errors, you will need to correct the address to create the label successfully.
Address Verification Error icon: white exclamation point inside a red circle.

Address Verification Error

The address verification system encountered an error when attempting to validate the address, usually due to a missing or invalid value, or combination of values, in the City, State, and Postal Code fields.

For example, the City field may be blank, or the postal code is in an incorrect format for the ship-to country.

An address verification error will not prevent you from attempting to create a label. However, if the postage provider finds fault with the address they may reject the label creation attempt and provide an additional error. If the postage provider returns additional errors, you will need to correct the address to create the label successfully.

Automatic Address Correction

In addition to validating delivery addresses, ShipStation can also automatically standardize and correct addresses for supported countries.

Note

For U.S. orders, ShipStation uses the USPS address validation database. For other supported countries, ShipStation uses the Melissa Database.

This feature is enabled by default, and can be enabled/disabled on a per store basis. 

  1. Go to Account Settings (the wrench icon in the upper right).

    V3 Closeup of Toolbar. Red box highlights the wrench icon for Settings.

  2. Select Selling Channels from the left-hand sidebar, then choose Store Setup.

    Left-hand sidebar. Under Selling Channels, red box highlights Store Setup.

  3. Click Edit next to the store you want to modify.

    Store Setup. Red box highlights column of Edit action buttons @ right of each current store in list.

  4. Check or uncheck the box to enable or disable the option to Automatically standardize and correct for either domestic or international addresses. 

    SET_SC_SSU_Setup-AddVal_MRK.png

  5. Click Save Changes. 

About Automatic Address Correction

  • When using the address correction feature to standardize recipient addresses, there is a chance the closest matching address in either the USPS database (U.S. addresses) or Melissa database (all other countries) will not match the intended delivery address.

  • ShipStation will still validate addresses when the automatic correction option is disabled.

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