How to get shipping lable without paing if the customer already was charged for shipping.

[RoseGeorgiART]

Hi!  I sold my painting internationally.  My customer was charged for shipping because I offer free shipping only in US.  How can I get the shipping lable without buying it?  Etsy only offers to purchase it or I just don't see any other options.  So I bought it.  Now for the same packaged both the customer and I were charged.  What should I do now?  I am confused.  Please help.  Thank you!

[WitticismsRus]

@RoseGeorgiART 

There is nothing to do now other than ship the order. That's how it works. The customer paid you whatever you charge for shipping. You then purchase the label and ship. Only sellers can purchase a shipping label.  Your buyer didn't purchase the label, they paid you whatever you charge for shipping to purchase the label.

[TickleYourWitch]

Yes you got the money from the customer to purchase shipping. It’s an in-out transaction. 

[luxcrafter]

1. You do NOT have to use Etsy for any shipping label - you can use whatever service provider you want - USPS, FedEx, UPS, ShipStation, etc.

2. Your customer paid for shipping. You will get the shipping money paid with the money you get for the item. Use the money you receive for the shipping to buy postage from whatever provider you prefer.  In other words, if the shipping paid was $10 and the item bought was $100, you will receive $110 from Etsy (minus fees of course!).  So you are being paid to buy the label for shipping directly from the customer.

[AAANativeArts]

You were paid for the shipping if you built it into the product price with your free shipping offer or if you charged your customer for it separately. Now it is up to you to use those funds to purchase the postage wherever you want. As we all know, there is no such thing as free shipping. If you want to offer free shipping and you haven't built it into the product price, you will have to pay for it out of your own funds. But somebody has to pay for it, either yourself or your customer.

Also, the cost to ship to different countries is different for each country, depending on where you are. So when you set up your shipping, you have to figure out what it is for each country you ship to, unless you are in the US and use calculated shipping. Then it figures it out for you automatically. You get whatever you charged the customer. Then you must use it to pay for the postage.

If you didn't charge the customer enough for shipping, you will have to pay the difference from your own pocket. You can't ask for more postage later if you make a mistake.

[RoseGeorgiART]

Thank all of you so much for your explanations!  It's so clear now for me!  Yay!