FedEx FedEx Ship Manager API

During lot cataloging, the auction house enters physical attributes — dimensions, weight, and a fragile flag — for each lot. When the winning bidder proceeds to post-auction checkout, AuctionFlow queries FedEx with the lot dimensions, the auction house's ship-from address, and the buyer's ship-to address to return real-time rates across FedEx service levels. The buyer sees Ground, Express, and Overnight options with prices and estimated delivery dates, and selects their preferred service. For multi-lot winners, AuctionFlow calculates whether combining lots into a single shipment reduces the total shipping cost and presents the consolidated option alongside individual lot shipping. This automated quoting replaces the manual process where auction house staff measure, weigh, and email individual shipping quotes to each winner — a process that can take days for a 500-lot auction.

Once a winning bidder selects a shipping method and completes payment (including shipping charges), AuctionFlow generates a FedEx shipping label through the API and queues the lot in the fulfillment workflow. The label — available in PDF for standard printers and ZPL for thermal label printers — includes the lot number, auction event reference, and handling instructions (fragile, signature required, adult signature for restricted items). The fulfillment team processes lots from the queue, prints labels, and marks lots as shipped in AuctionFlow, which updates the buyer's portal with the tracking number. For auction houses processing hundreds of shipments after a major sale, this queue-based workflow with pre-generated labels reduces fulfillment time from days to hours.

For lots with hammer prices above a configurable threshold (default: $500), AuctionFlow automatically includes declared value coverage in the FedEx shipment request, with the declared value set to the hammer price. The insurance cost is calculated by FedEx and included in the shipping quote presented to the buyer. For extremely high-value lots (fine jewelry, art, rare collectibles), the auction house can override the declared value and require signature delivery confirmation or adult signature service. This ensures that high-value lots are covered in transit and that delivery disputes are resolvable with FedEx's signature proof of delivery.