Skip to main content
You can test Sendcloud APIs without running the risk of being charged for any shipping labels you create in the process. There are two methods of creating test labels:
  1. Create a test label using the Sendcloud shipping options Unstamped letter (for outgoing shipments) or Unstamped letter return (for returns). You won’t be charged for any labels created with these options.
  2. Create a label and cancel it within the deadline
Use method 1 whenever you can. Method 2 relies on the carrier accepting the cancellation, and some carriers don’t allow a label to be canceled once it has been created or manifested. You’ll be charged for any label you can’t cancel. Check which carriers support cancellation before you choose one for testing.

​
Method 1: create a test label using the Unstamped letter shipping options

Sendcloud provides two free shipping options for testing:

​
Test outgoing shipments

If you’re creating a number of test parcels, you may find it helpful to set Unstamped letter as your default shipping option in your Sendcloud account settings.
You can specify the shipping option Unstamped letter in your Shipments API requests within the ship_with object. Note that the shipping_option_code for this method is sendcloud:letter at the time of writing.
Example request body

​
Test returns

You can’t create returns with the Shipments API. To test returns creation, use the Unstamped letter return shipping option with the Create a return endpoint of the Returns API. Pass the shipping_option_code sendcloud:letterreturn in the ship_with object.
Example request body

​
Method 2: create a label and cancel it within the deadline

When the Unstamped letter shipping options aren’t suitable for what you want to test, for example because you need a label from a specific carrier, you can create shipping labels and then cancel them within the cancellation deadline.

Cancel a label

Find out how to cancel a label before the cancellation deadline
Not all carriers support cancellation requests. Carefully consult the list of carriers in our help center before you request a label for a particular shipping option to be sure that cancellation is possible.