Connecting my UPS to Paypal

[CbsSheb]

I have had a Paypal account for years and was never able to use my UPS account.  I have a UPS account number.  For some reason when I try to use it through Paypal it comes up saying my contact information is different than what is on file for UPS.  I have checked both accounts and have no idea what Paypal is referring too.  My address is exactly the same in both places and I don't know what else to look for.  It is very inconvenient because instead of going through paypal to print my labels I have to go to UPS directly.  Can someone help me figure this out once and for all.  Thanks.

[patrickwolf2]

I got it to work adding my phone number. Maybe it's unrelated but it wasn't working when I tried entering my number as a solid string of numbers or with dashes. After I typed it as "XXX XXX XXXX" it worked. BTW I used "Add an existing UPS account" as I created a new one on UPS.com since doing it thru paypal wasn't working right.

Anyway it's something else to try.

[ElectroLund]

This did not work for me just now. 

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@patrickwolf2 wrote:

I got it to work adding my phone number. Maybe it's unrelated but it wasn't working when I tried entering my number as a solid string of numbers or with dashes. After I typed it as "XXX XXX XXXX" it worked. BTW I used "Add an existing UPS account" as I created a new one on UPS.com since doing it thru paypal wasn't working right.

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[temp11032011z]

So it appears that I'm not the only one with this issue that I've had for years, and I get ***bleep** out of the "calculated" shipping fees since I end up having to pay retail.

After finally deciding to spend some time to research the problem I find this thread and *NOBODY AT PAYPAL* has done anything about it.

Mods/Admins - care to tell us why the issue hasn't been elevated to someone who can correct it, or is this "support" forum really just a collective **bleep** session that is intended to be summarily dismissed and ignored by PayPal?

[ElectroLund]

I just shipped another eBay package and had to resort (of course!) to creating the label myself on UPS, rather than through PayPal.  Here's an email message I sent to PayPal just now.  Everyone should copy/paste it and send as well.  Let's let them here us!

Hello, I want to alert you to a very long-standing site bug that PayPal has left unanswered.  I'm referring to the inability to link UPS accounts to your PayPal account.  This would normally result only in lost convenience, but in this case PayPal has explicitly offered monetary incentives for premier accounts to use their built-in UPS support.  Please refer to your own community forum for pages and pages of other users having the same problem:

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Shipping/Connecting-my-UPS-to-Paypal/m-p/370634#M4661

Therefore, as you can imagine, if a PayPal user is unable to use this feature, that user is missing out on substantial savings in shipping cost.  Particularly disturbing is that PayPal is charging me for the use of their service as a premiere account holder!  There is no excuse for this prolonged failure to resolve the issue!

Just this morning, I had to resort to creating my own shipping label from my UPS account manually, rather than use the promised linked feature from inside PayPal.  As a result, this shipping fee cost more than it should have.  I paid $15.59.

In light of this grievance, I would respectfully request that PayPal cover my loss in shipping incentive.  I think that's a fair request, given the circumstances.

Please feel free to contact me with as many questions as you have.  I, and many many other disgruntled users, am eager to resolve this!

[lizzyg]

I was having the same problem.  I follwed these instructions and added my new UPS account number and it worked:

We’re introducing a new and improved Profile to some customers. Until all customers are using the new Profile, there are 2 sets of instructions on how to do this. Please follow the instructions that match what you see on the site.

To register for PayPal Shipping to ship products online using UPS, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click Profile near the top of the page.
3. Click the Shipping Preferences link. (Don’t see this step? Try the instructions below.)
4. Click the Add new or existing UPS account information link.
5. Under Choose Account Type, enter an existing UPS account number or register for a new one.
6. Click Continue.
7. Confirm your information and then click Continue.
8. Click I agree on the UPS Shipping Agreement Page to complete your registration.

Or: 

1. Log in to your PayPal account. 
2. Click Profile near the top of the page. 
3. Click My selling tools.
4. Click Update next to Shipping preferences.
5. Click Add new or existing UPS account information. 
6. Enter an existing UPS account number or register for a new account. 
7. Click Continue. 
8. Confirm your information and then click Continue. 
9. Click I agree on the UPS Shipping Agreement to complete your registration. 

If you do not agree, your shipping registration will be canceled.

[ElectroLund]

Thanks for the reply, but these steps didn't work for me still.  I also got a similar reply from PayPal's tech support:

Hello Rob,

Thank you for contacting PayPal Customer Support. My name is Maricela and I am happy to assist you with your account.


If you have a discounted rate for large volume shipping set up on your personal UPS account, you will not be able to get that same rate with PayPal shipping.

However, UPS does offer a special pricing program when shipping with PayPal.

You can enroll in the program simply by registering for a UPS account from your PayPal Shipping preferences. Here's how:

    Go to the PayPal website and log in to your account.
    Click "Profile."
    Click the "Shipping Preferences" link.
    Click "Remove UPS Information" if you have an older account registered.
    Review information and click "Remove."
    Click the "Add new or existing UPS account information link."
    Under Choose Account Type, select I do not have a UPS Shipping Account.
    Complete the page and click "Continue."
    Complete the registration.

Here's how you can reprint a UPS shipping label:

    Go to www.paypal.com and log in to your PayPal account.
    Click "History" near the top of the page.
    Find the original payment from the buyer.
    Click "Details."
    Click "Reprint Label" near the bottom of the "Transaction Details" page.
    Click "Print Label."

Note:

    If it hasn't been more than 24 hours since you created the label, you can reprint the shipping label.
    If you've enabled the pop-up windows on your browser, or if you have a pop-up blocker installed on your computer, the label page won't open. You must disable the pop-up blocker before using our Print Label feature.
    You cannot use the same label to ship more than one package.

Thanks for sharing your concerns with us. We value what you have to say, and we know situations like this can be difficult. If you have more questions, visit our Help Center by clicking "Help" in the top right corner of any PayPal page. 

Sincerely,

Maricela

PayPal, an eBay Company

Then I got the following from UPS (without having sent any tech support emails to them directly):

Dear Customer,

On 11/20/2011 you requested enrollment in the UPS Special Pricing Program for eBay Sellers. The UPS Account Number you entered (2496W2) is already subject to a customized shipping agreement with UPS. Per the terms of the program, your UPS Account Number (listed above), is not eligible and can not be enrolled in the UPS Special Pricing Program for eBay Sellers.

If you would like to verify that the UPS Account Number listed above is covered by a customized shipping agreement with UPS, or if you have additional questions regarding your UPS service or account, please contact your UPS account representative or 1.800.PICK.UPS®.

    Please see the FAQs for additional details on the following:
    • Questions and Answers for the UPS Special Pricing Program for eBay Sellers
    • Updating your eBay shipping calculator preferences
    • Printing UPS shipping labels from My eBay
    • Link to UPS WorldShip™

All UPS shipping services are governed by the UPS Rate and Service Guide and the UPS Tariff/Terms and Conditions of Service. Other terms may apply for UPS Freight and UPS Air Freight services.

UPS will continue to look for opportunities and solutions to help you meet your sales objectives on eBay. Thank you for your continued business.

So this begins to address the situation for me. Up till now, PayPal has been totally unhelpful in helping us understand the nature of their problem.  At least UPS is shedding light on the situation.  I had been using a UPS account number that I had (apparently) created on UPS, not through PayPal.  This still doesn't satisfactorily explain the cryptic explanation given on PayPal's site when attemting to use that account.  As a fellow programmer, I can tell you that exception handling is woefully underused; this is an excellent example of an error that should have had a better output message to the user (perhaps "UPS account number not supported"?)!

So, I deleted this one account number that was listed in my UPS profile.  I then repeated the above steps many times.  I then received 6 more confirmation emails from UPS, stating that I successfully created new UPS account numbers (all unique!).  So this confirms for me that PayPal's UPS account number creation mechanism is indeed working.  The true irony here is that PayPal is not able to then use those account numbers, for each time I go the same error:

This User ID already exists.PayPal Shipping is not available. We apologize for the inconvenience.