I have heard good feedback from customers who use the shipping export feature with Dazzle. I have actually seen the Dazzle interface and it looks good!
posted on May 5, 2005 01:24:45 PM new
I use this feature to export shipping to Dazzle, but unfortunately, due to some major limitations, I only use the export function to get the addresses into Endicia.
In theory, you can import the entire file of "items to ship" and simply have Endicia print all your labels at once, with one stroke of the keyboard. There are a few reasons why this doesn't work for me:
1. If you want to add insurance to particular items through Endicia (note that you can add the cost of shipping to the item's value, so you're covered for both if damage occurs) you can't do this if you import everything at once-- there's no way to go in and edit the file.
2. If you use a different shipping box than what you typically use, and the item therefore weighs a different amount, there's no way to edit the weight of a particular item when you import the entire batch.
In other words, as far as I know (and I have been back & forth with both Vendio & Endicia on this) when you export your shipping from Vendio to Dazzle as one batch, everything has to be ready to go: the shipping needs to be correct, and you can't add Endicia's insurance. So again, that's why I only import the addresses, then edit each label one by one.
It would be MUCH easier if Vendio & Endicia could work together to come up with a way for us to edit the entire batch before printing...I waste a lot of time setting up each individual label.
Vendio, please let me know if I'm wrong on any of this...I hope I am!
posted on May 6, 2005 08:46:11 AM new
Just go through Vendio's "export shipping" process: Click the "export shipping" tab under "Post Sale", then select the "USPS (works with Dazzle)" radio button (I don't ever select "mark step 5, item shipped" since if something goes wrong & the export doesn't work, you won't know what's really been shipped & what hasn't). Then all you have to do is save the file to your computer.
When you open up Dazzle, make sure you click the "Address Book" tab 1st, then go to File>Import. At the very bottom of the window that pops up, click in the "Files of Type" pull-down area & change the file type from "Text-delimited" to "Text, XML Format." Once you do that, the file you've exported from Vendio should appear within the window. Select it, click "Open" and your addresses will be imported.
What I do is I always save my Vendio shipping downloads with the same name, copying over the old file time & time again. That way I only have one shipping file on my computer. Once you import the addresses into Dazzle, they stay there until you clear them out anyway, so even if you want to access an old address, it'll still be in Dazzle, even if you've copied over the original file with a new one. Follow the same exact steps the next time you export your shipping.
This may sound like a lot of steps, but it's actually really easy & only takes me about 20 seconds--MUCH faster than typing addresses.
