How to add a DEAR Inventory account to ShipStation, what features are available, other need-to-know details, and troubleshooting tips.
DEAR Inventory is a cloud-based inventory-management platform. They help small businesses increase visibility for orders and inventory across all sales channels and locations. DEAR Inventory integrates directly with ShipStation to automatically import your orders so you can start shipping quickly. ShipStation will automatically notify your DEAR Inventory account with each order's shipment details as soon as you create each label.
Visit the DEAR website to sign up for a free 14-day trial!
Connection Requirements:
-
An active account with DEAR Inventory.
-
DEAR username and password.
Order Import Requirements:
-
Include a Ship To address.
DEAR Inventory offers 3 ways to integrate with ShipStation:
-
As a Store in ShipStation: This option creates a store in ShipStation to import orders from DEAR Inventory. When a shipment is created for an order, ShipStation updates DEAR Inventory with the tracking information.
-
As a ShipStation Store in DEAR Inventory: This option creates a store in DEAR Inventory to import order data from ShipStation, as well as shipment information when those orders are shipped.
-
As a Shipping Service in DEAR Inventory: ShipStation will be set up as a Shipping Service within DEAR Inventory, allowing DEAR Inventory to gather estimated shipping rates as well as create shipping labels.
Do not use both methods 1 and 2!
These methods fulfill the same purpose but in different directions. Only use one of these methods or the same order may be sent to fulfilment twice.
Method 3 can be combined with either method 1 or 2.
When using this integration method, you'll connect your DEAR Inventory account to ShipStation as a store. ShipStation will request order information from DEAR Inventory and update DEAR Inventory when shipments are created.
To connect your DEAR Inventory Custom Store to ShipStation:
-
Go to
Integrations > ShipStation. -
Click the Custom Store tab.
-
Switch the Custom Store Integration Status to Enabled.
-
Select the DEAR Systems tile.
-
Enter your DEAR Inventory Username and Password into the corresponding fields.
After you've completed the connection steps, your store will be connected to ShipStation. You'll be taken to the store's Settings page to adjust the store-specific settings like branding, notification preferences, and product handling.
When using this integration method, you'll insert your ShipStation API credentials into DEAR Inventory to create a ShipStation store within DEAR Inventory. DEAR Inventory creates orders in ShipStation and periodically queries the ShipStation API for shipment updates for those orders.
To connect your ShipStation account to DEAR Inventory as a ShipStation store:
-
Log in to your ShipStation account.
-
At the bottom of the page, click Generate New API Keys.
Note
If you've already generated your API keys, copy the existing API keys instead. If you click the button that says Regenerate API Keys, any service using the old keys will stop communicating with ShipStation.
-
In a new tab or browser window, log in to your DEAR Inventory account.
-
Go to
Integrations > ShipStation. -
Click + to make a new connection.
-
Enter the API Key and API Secret from ShipStation.
-
Click Connect as a Store.
After you've connected ShipStation as a Store, go to the Setup tab to define how you want DEAR Inventory to treat order information from ShipStation. See DEAR Inventory's article on their Integrations for details on each setting.
When using this integration method, you'll enter your ShipStation API credentials into DEAR Inventory to set up ShipStation as a Shipping Service. DEAR Inventory will request estimated shipping rates and create labels using the ShipStation API.
To connect your ShipStation account to DEAR Inventory as a Shipping Service:
-
Log in to your ShipStation account.
-
At the bottom of the page, click Generate New API Keys.
Note
If you've already generated your API keys, copy the existing API keys instead. If you click the button that says Regenerate API Keys, any service using the old keys will stop communicating with ShipStation.
-
In a new tab or browser window, log in to your DEAR Inventory account.
-
Go to
Integrations > ShipStation. -
Click + to make a new connection.
-
Enter the API Key and API Secret from ShipStation.
-
Click Connect ShipStation as a Shipping Service.
After you've connected ShipStation as a Store, you can modify the shipping service settings in DEAR Inventory to adjust how DEAR Inventory will interact with ShipStation. See DEAR Inventory's article on ShipStation as a Shipping Service for more details on these settings, and how to get rates and create labels in DEAR Inventory.
-
ShipStation will only receive orders from DEAR if they do not already have tracking information loaded into them. If an order has tracking information, it will not be exposed to ShipStation.
-
When connecting ShipStation to DEAR Inventory, you should either use the Custom Store method or the ShipStation Store method, but not both. Both integrations fulfill the same purpose, but information flows in different ways depending on which is being used. For more information on which would be better for your workflow, see DEAR's article on their ShipStation integrations.
-
The third integration method, ShipStation as a Shipping Service in DEAR, can be used in conjunction with either of the above integration methods.
-
Here are some common issues experienced by users, potential causes, and available troubleshooting tips.
|
Issue |
How to troubleshoot or resolve |
|---|---|
|
Error: (300) Multiple Choices Redirect. |
This error message may occur when you are trying to import orders from DEAR Inventory using the Custom Store method. It occurs if a username used to connect DEAR Inventory to ShipStation belongs to multiple organizations in the DEAR system account. To resolve this issue, you'll need to create a new user in your DEAR account that is only assigned to a single organization, and reconfigure the DEAR store connection using the new user. If you want to import orders from multiple organizations in ShipStation, you'll need to create a new user for each store connection. |