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When you’re shipping tons of packages, mistakes are inevitable. Maybe you made a typo when entering your customer’s address; maybe your customer doesn’t live at the location they provided anymore. Whatever the reason, a lot of shippers need to change the shipping address on a USPS label once they’ve sent a package…but unfortunately, this isn’t possible.
Table of Contents
- You Can’t Change the Shipping Address on a USPS Label
- How to Intercept and Reroute a Package to a New Address Once You Send a Package
- Don’t Try to Write the New Address on the Original Label
You Can’t Change the Shipping Address on a USPS Label
First thing first: technically, you can’t change the shipping address on a USPS label. Once you purchase the label, the address information is what it is, and there’s no getting around that. However, if you made a mistake on it, you do have the option to intercept it and reroute it to a new address.
How to Intercept and Reroute a Package to a New Address Once You Send a Package
To begin the package reroute process, visit the package intercept landing page on USPS.com. Then, follow the below steps:
- Enter your USPS tracking number in the field on the top left-hand corner of the page to check if it’s eligible for an intercept
- If the package is eligible, you’ll need to create a free USPS account in order to submit a request
- Select the “Reroute” request, and enter your original address on the shipping label, then the new address you’d like to reroute the package to
- If USPS accepts the request, you’ll be prompted to pay an intercept fee plus any applicable postage due for the reroute
- Follow along with your tracking number on the USPS website to track your package as USPS transports it to the new address
Don’t Try to Write the New Address on the Original Label
Here’s an important tidbit: don’t cross out the shipping address printed on your label and write a new one next to it! This won’t help you at all, and in a lot of cases, USPS will simply return any marked-up packages back to you. USPS gets all of its delivery information from the barcode on the label, and in most cases, carriers don’t even look at the addresses that are printed out on the label in the first place. This is why it’s critical to file a reroute request through the USPS website; doing so changes the address data assigned to the tracking number in the USPS system, which USPS workers will then see when they scan the barcode on the label.
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