Voiding a Label

Voiding a label cancels it. The barcode is switched off, and the carrier will turn the package away if someone tries to ship it. It's the right move when a label was created by mistake, an order was cancelled after you'd already bought the label, or the package details changed enough that the label no longer matches.

What Voiding Actually Does

A void switches the barcode off with the carrier. It can't recall a package that's already in the carrier's network, and it can't undo a scan. If the carrier already has your package, voiding won't stop it -- the package keeps moving, only now it's moving on a cancelled barcode, which is the one situation worth avoiding.

The short version: void before the package is handed over, not after.

The Four Results

Every void comes back with one of four results:

• Success -- the label is cancelled and you're all set.
• Not found -- no label matched the identifier you gave us. That's usually a typo in the identifier, or a label that belongs to a different carrier account.
• Already voided -- the label was already cancelled earlier. Nothing else happens, and it's perfectly safe to see this one on a retry.
• Already shipped -- the carrier has already scanned the package. It's too late to void at that point, so let it deliver and handle it as a return.

Refunds

Refunds are set by the carrier rather than by ShipGenius, and they work a little differently from one carrier to the next.

USPS

USPS business API accounts aren't charged for a label unless it's scanned. So voiding an unused USPS label costs you nothing in postage -- there's no refund to wait on, because you were never billed in the first place.

Other Carriers

UPS, FedEx, and DHL generally bill when the label is created and refund when it's voided. The credit usually appears on a later invoice rather than immediately, and the timing varies by carrier and by your account terms. If a credit still hasn't shown up after a full billing cycle, reach out to the carrier -- that one is a carrier billing question rather than something we can adjust on our side.

The ShipGenius Fee

Labels generated on your own carrier accounts carry a flat ShipGenius fee per label -- $0.06 by default, and tiered or adjusted per account, so higher-volume shippers often pay less. Just get in touch and we'll take a look at your usage. If you void the label, that fee is reversed and comes off your invoice. For the full picture, see How Billing Works.

Try Not to Void Too Often

There's one more thing worth knowing beyond the refund. Carriers keep an eye on void rates, and an account that creates far more labels than it ships can draw questions, since that pattern also shows up in postage fraud. The occasional void is completely normal and nothing to worry about -- it's only worth a second look if your workflow routinely creates labels it never uses.

The easiest fix is to rate without buying. Rating is free and unlimited, so you can price a shipment as often as you like without creating a label you might throw away.

Voiding in Bulk

If you need to void more than about 250 labels at once, email info@shipgeni.us instead of working through them one by one. We coordinate bulk voids with the carriers, and running them individually at that scale is slow and likely to hit carrier-side rate limits.

Voiding Through the API

The void request identifies a shipment the same way tracking does -- by carrier and account, plus a tracking number, shipment ID, or label ID -- and returns one of the four results above. One tip: treat "already voided" as a success in your integration. Retries are common, and a label that's already cancelled is exactly the outcome you were after, so there's no need to raise an error for it.

FAQs

Can I reprint a voided label?

No -- once a label is voided, that barcode is gone for good. Create a new shipment and buy a new label.

How long do I have to void a label?

Up until the carrier scans the package. On Core there's one extra thing to know: when you generate a label you're taken to a payment screen, and you have 30 minutes to complete payment. If the label isn't paid for in that window, it's voided automatically. On Plus and above the cost is drawn from your balance at purchase, so there's no payment window and no automatic void -- the label is yours until the carrier scans it. Carriers also set their own outer limits, usually a matter of weeks, after which an unused label expires on its own.

Do I get the per-label fee back?

Yes. Voiding a label generated on your own carrier account reverses the fee and takes it off your invoice. Postage refunds are separate and follow each carrier's own rules.

Where do I see whether a label was voided?

On the shipment record. Voided shipments stay in your history with their status recorded -- nothing is deleted, so you always have the paper trail.

What if I need to void several hundred labels?

Email info@shipgeni.us and we'll take care of it. Anything above roughly 250 is coordinated with the carriers rather than run label by label.