Every order in the shipping queue
Wholesale and emailed orders read and sent to ShipStation with the right items, address and service.
ShipStation integration consulting
Connect ShipStation to the rest of your business.
ShipStation prints carrier labels and tracks shipments for many online sellers and growing distributors. We build the connections and tools around it, so orders arrive ready to ship and tracking, returns and costs flow back to the systems that need them.
Keep it, then extend it
What ShipStation does well, and where teams outgrow it.
Where ShipStation shines
- Many carriers on one screen
- Orders pulled from many stores
- Your team controls access
Where teams hit the limits
- Orders from outside the storesWholesale, phone and emailed orders never reach the shipping queue without someone typing them.
- Tracking stops at ShipStationYour ERP, inventory system and support team need tracking and costs, and they get them late or by export.
- Returns handled by handReturn requests, labels and refunds pass between support, the warehouse and accounting by email.
What changes
The same week, with the connection.
Today
- The warehouse lead rekeys wholesale orders from email into ShipStation before the afternoon pickup.
- The returns clerk looks up each order and emails the warehouse about what's coming back.
- Support agents open ShipStation to answer every where-is-my-order email.
With the connection
- Wholesale orders reach the shipping queue with items and address. The lead checks them and prints labels.
- A return request checks the order and creates the label. The clerk handles the unusual returns.
- Order and tracking details sit in the ticket. Agents answer without switching screens.
What we build around it
Connecting ShipStation to the rest of your work.
Tracking back where it is needed
Tracking numbers and ship dates written back to your ERP, inventory system and customer records.
Shipping cost by order
Label costs matched to orders and customers, so margin reports show what shipping really cost.
Returns that run themselves
A return request checks the order, creates the return label and tells the warehouse and accounting what to expect.
Support answers with tracking
Your support team sees order and tracking details in the ticket, so a where-is-my-order question takes seconds.
Exceptions caught early
Orders stuck on hold, addresses that fail checks and late shipments reach the right person each morning.
How it starts
What happens after you reach out.
You work directly with a senior builder from the first call to launch, not a hand-off to a junior team. How we work
Before we start
What we need from you.
- Someone on your team with admin rights sets up our access. We walk them through it.
- You choose what the connection can see and change, and you can switch it off at any time.
- We build and test on sample data before touching live records.
- Depends on your ShipStation plan. We confirm it first.
Technical details for your IT team
Someone with access to your ShipStation account settings opens Account, API Settings, checks that your plan includes outside connections, and generates a key (see ShipStation's guide). ShipStation shows the newer key only once and allows one active at a time, so we plan for that with your team. ShipStation has two generations of connection, and the older one is being retired, so new work uses the newer one where it covers what you need. Not every plan includes this access, and ShipStation has changed which plans do, so we confirm yours before quoting. Selling on Shopify? See our Shopify page.
FAQ
Common questions.
Do we have to replace ShipStation?
No. ShipStation stays where your team prints labels. We build around it and connect what it doesn't reach.
Doesn't ShipStation already connect to our store?
It connects to many stores and marketplaces, and you should use those connections. Custom work makes sense for orders from outside them and for sending tracking and costs back to your other systems.
Does our ShipStation plan allow outside connections?
Only some plans do, and that has changed over time. Your ShipStation account settings show whether yours does, and we confirm it with you before we quote.
What access do you need from us?
A key generated from your ShipStation account settings for this connection. You can replace it at any time.
Are you a certified ShipStation partner?
No. We're an independent integration consultant and development team. We build with ShipStation's official developer tools and approved access, using the access your team grants, and we work alongside your ShipStation admin or implementation partner rather than replacing them.
Sources
- ShipStation API docs: Getting started
- ShipStation API docs: Authentication
- ShipStation API docs: API reference
- ShipStation Help Center: ShipStation API
Facts checked against the vendor's own documentation, November 2026. Names are trademarks of their owners. Inkwell is independent and not affiliated with these companies.
Partner with Inkwell
Tell us how you use ShipStation today.
A few sentences is plenty. We'll tell you what we'd connect first, and whether a ready-made app already does the job.