Create a Pirate Ship SCAN Form and book a pickup

1. On the Ship page, click End of Day; Pirate Ship groups USPS labels by Ship Date and, with several Ship From Addresses, a drop-down at the top switches between them.
2. Click Create SCAN Form next to today's group, then Print SCAN Form for the letter-size PDF you hand to USPS with the packages.
3. Back on the Ship page, click the blue Schedule a Pickup button, then Request Pickup > USPS, choose the Pickup Location and where the packages will be left.
4. Check the package count and total estimated weight that Pirate Ship pre-fills from today's Ship Date, and correct them if only part of the pile is going.
5. UPS goes through Request Pickup > UPS with a service, a count per service and a paid On Call fee. Doing both carriers every evening is easy to skip, and a missed USPS request means the parcels sit until the day after.

When today's labels are done, make the SCAN Form for the USPS ones and book a free USPS pickup at the front porch for tomorrow. For UPS, tell me the count and ask before booking.

1. 01

   Count what actually ships today

   list_shipments since today, split by carrier, gives the package count. Labels already refunded are left out, and USPS labels bought after 8:00 PM local time are counted for tomorrow, the same way Pirate Ship groups them.

2. 02

   Make the SCAN Form once, then only for stragglers

   create_scan_form runs for today's Ship Date and each Ship From Address you used. If a form already exists and more USPS labels came in later, the agent makes a second form for those rather than looking for a way to edit the first.

3. 03

   Check the USPS pickup qualifies

   USPS will not collect a pile that is only Media Mail. The agent checks that at least one Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express or international label is in the pickup, and otherwise tells you to drop the parcels at the Post Office.

4. 04

   Book USPS for the next pickup day

   schedule_pickup with carrier usps, the count, a total weight from the day's batches and the spot you named. A request made on Saturday or Sunday lands on Monday, and the agent says so in the report.

5. 05

   Treat UPS as a paid choice

   For UPS labels the agent stops and shows the count with the fee before calling schedule_pickup, because free drop-off at a UPS location is the alternative. A late-day request for tomorrow may be charged as same-day, so it books UPS early.

Monday 12 Oct 2026, Ship From: Garage studio.
USPS: 24 labels on SCAN Form 1 (PDF ready). 3 labels bought at 8:40 PM moved to tomorrow's form.
USPS pickup booked for Tuesday 13 Oct, 24 packages, 31 lb total, left at the front porch. Free.
UPS: 4 labels (UPS Ground). Next-day pickup costs $4.75; waiting for your OK or drop-off at The UPS Store.

• Pirate Ship SCAN Forms cover USPS labels only, cannot be edited once created, and stay on the End of Day page for 14 days.
• USPS labels bought in Pirate Ship after 8:00 PM local time fall onto the next day's SCAN Form.
• The cutoff for a free next-day USPS pickup booked through Pirate Ship is 3 AM ET, and USPS picks up every day except Sunday. A specific time slot costs $25 directly at usps.com.
• Pirate Ship lists next-day UPS pickups at $4.75 and same-day at $10, plus a Saturday or Delivery Area surcharge where it applies. A late request for tomorrow may be treated as same-day.
• Pirate Ship's insurance provider does not accept a SCAN Form as proof that a package entered the mail; a tracking scan is required for an InsureShield claim.

schedule_pickup asks for your OK by default. To run it daily without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: Can I print an End of Day SCAN Form? · How do I schedule a USPS pickup? · How do I schedule a UPS pickup?

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/pirate-ship/schedule_pickup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"carrier":"usps","date":"2026-10-13","package_count":24,"total_weight_oz":496,"location":"front porch"}'

{
  "carrier": "USPS",
  "date": "2026-10-13",
  "package_count": 12,
  "total_weight_oz": 264,
  "fee_usd": 0,
  "status": "scheduled"
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is pirate-ship_schedule_pickup. Example data.

• Buy Pirate Ship shipping labels in bulk
• Refund unused Pirate Ship labels
• Pirate Ship API and MCP server: every tool
• All use cases