Postmaster, the Austin-based shipping API startup that helps its users send and track FedEx, UPS and USPS shipments, announced a number of new features and a new pricing model today that will make the service free for its users who make fewer than 50,000 API calls and send fewer than 5,000 packages per month.
Customers who send more pay $0.05 per shipment (with discounts for high-volume shippers) and the service now also features discounted rates for shippers who use USPS.
That's good news for the company's users, but the new "Box and Bin" packaging feature the company announced today is actually quite a bit more interesting. While being able to compare shipping prices and create labels is great, after all, that doesn't help users maximize the amount of good they can pack into a box - and the more boxes you send, the more expensive your shipment will be. To help businesses pack as much as possible into their boxes, the company now allows them to optimize their shipments by looking at the boxes in their inventory and creating a 3D diagram that shows them exactly how to best utilize the space.
"One of the problems that a high-volume retailer faces when fulfilling an order is determining the right size box to fit all the items in the order," said Jesse Lovelace, CEO and cofounder of Postmaster today. "If the retailer uses too big of a box, they will be charged more for their shipment due to the way parcel carriers calculate volumetric pricing. We're committed to helping ease the pain associated with shipping and logistics today, and are excited to offer even more value to retailers with the new Box and Bin feature, as well as our new pricing levels."
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