A draft shipment is a pre-configured shipment that has been set up with address, parcel, and carrier information but has not yet been charged or had a label generated. Think of it as a shipment saved in progress, ready for your review before postage is purchased.
Draft shipments give you a chance to verify all details before any money leaves your postage balance. Once you're satisfied, you can approve the draft and generate the label as you normally would. You can create draft shipments with Shippy via workflow or barcode scanner, depending on your subscription.
Create Draft Shipment: Workflow Action
Any Shippy user with access to HubSpot workflows can create draft shipments automatically using the Create Draft Shipment workflow action.
To set it up:
Open HubSpot and navigate to Workflows.
In your workflow, search for Shippy by Dijy actions.
Select Create Draft Shipment.
Configure the action with the following required fields:
Carrier Service
Preset Package (parcel dimensions and weight)
Sender's Preset Address
Recipient Name
Recipient Street Address, City, State/Region, Postal Code, and Country
💡 Dijy Tip: Use tokens to populate name and address fields dynamically from your contact, company, deal, ticket, or order records.
Once a record passes through this action, a draft shipment is created and held for review - no label is generated, and no charge is applied to your postage balance.
Create Draft Shipment: Barcode Scan
If you're on the Power Shipper or Mega Shipper plan, you can create drafts by scanning a packing slip barcode. This is especially useful in warehouse or fulfillment environments where speed and accuracy matter.
To create a draft via barcode:
Generate a packing slip on the relevant Deal record, selecting With Shipping Data for the barcode option.
Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Connected Apps > Shippy by Dijy > Settings > Barcode Import.
Click inside the Barcode Scanner Input field to place your cursor.
Scan the barcode from your packing slip.
Shippy will automatically pre-fill the sender address, recipient address, and package details, saving the result as a draft shipment for your review.
If you use a scale, connect it via Shippy Connect to auto-populate the package weight during the scan process.
Reviewing Draft Shipments
Whether created by workflow or barcode scan, all draft shipments can be found in Shippy Settings > Shipments.
From here, you can review each draft's details, make necessary edits, and charge the shipment when you're ready. Drafts remain in this view until they are either purchased or deleted.
When to Use Drafts vs. Charging Shipments
Use a Draft Shipment When:
You want a human review step before charging.
Automated workflows are powerful, but mistakes happen. Creating a draft lets a team member confirm the details before postage is purchased.
You're shipping high-value or time-sensitive orders.
For orders where getting it right the first time matters, a draft gives you a safety net. Verify the carrier service, address, and dimensions before committing.
Your address or package data may be inconsistent.
If your HubSpot records aren't fully populated - for example, if contacts are missing a suite number or postal code - drafts help you catch and correct those gaps before generating a label.
You're batching shipments for end-of-day processing.
Some teams prefer to queue up all shipments throughout the day and review them together before purchasing labels in bulk. Draft shipments support this workflow naturally.
You're onboarding new team members.
Drafts provide a low-risk environment for new staff to learn the shipping process. Labels are only generated once someone approves the draft.
Charge a Shipment When:
Your data is reliable and consistently clean.
If your HubSpot records are well-maintained and your package presets accurately reflect what you ship, immediate label creation via the Create Shipment workflow action is faster and requires no manual review.
You're running a high-volume, time-sensitive operation.
For teams shipping hundreds of orders a day, adding a review step for every shipment may create a bottleneck. If your process is well-tested and your data quality is high, automating label generation supports efficiency.
You're shipping standard, repeatable packages.
When you always ship the same item in the same box to well-verified addresses, the risk of dimension or address mismatches is low and direct shipment creation is the quickest path.
How Drafts Can Help: A Note on Adjustment Fees
One of the most compelling reasons to use draft shipments is the potential to reduce or eliminate carrier adjustment fees.
When a shipment is generated, you're charged based on the address, weight, and dimensions you provided. However, carriers verify this information as packages move through their facilities using automated scanning systems. If the carrier determines that the actual package differs from what was entered, they will issue a billing adjustment after the fact, which reflects against your postage balance.
By reviewing draft shipments before charging, you have the opportunity to catch and fix these issues before the label is created + before the package is in the carrier's hands. Correcting an address in a draft costs nothing; waiting for the carrier to catch it can cost significantly more.
💡 Best practice: If you're using address tokens from HubSpot records, periodically audit your contact and company records to ensure address fields are complete and accurate. This reduces the likelihood of adjustment fees regardless of whether you use drafts or direct shipment creation.
Feature Availability Summary
Create Draft Shipment (Workflow) | All plans |
Create Draft via Barcode Scan | Power Shipper, Mega Shipper |
Review Drafts | All plans |
Not sure which plan you're on? Visit Shippy Settings or review Subscription Plans to discover which tier best suits your needs with Shippy.