UPS UPS Developer Kit

Auction houses selling vehicles, industrial equipment, large furniture, and estate cleanout lots need freight shipping options that standard parcel carriers cannot handle. UPS Freight integration provides LTL (less-than-truckload) rate quotes for lots exceeding 150 lbs or 108 inches in any dimension. The buyer receives freight shipping quotes with estimated delivery windows, liftgate delivery surcharges (for residential deliveries without a loading dock), and inside delivery options. For auction houses selling heavy equipment — forklifts, generators, commercial kitchen equipment — freight shipping quotes are presented during post-auction checkout alongside the option for buyer-arranged pickup, giving the winner clear options for getting their purchase home.

UPS applies residential delivery surcharges to packages delivered to residential addresses, and these surcharges can be significant for large or heavy packages. AuctionFlow uses the UPS Address Validation API to classify the buyer's ship-to address as commercial or residential before generating the rate quote, ensuring that the quoted rate includes any applicable residential surcharges. This prevents the situation where a buyer sees one rate at checkout and then receives a higher charge after UPS applies the residential surcharge at delivery. Address validation also catches undeliverable addresses, PO boxes (not serviceable by UPS Ground), and addresses requiring corrections, prompting the buyer to update their address before the label is generated.

For buyers who are not available for home delivery or prefer to pick up their auction lots from a secure location, AuctionFlow offers UPS Access Point delivery as an option at checkout. The buyer selects a nearby UPS Store or Access Point location, and the lot is shipped to that location for pickup. This is particularly useful for high-value lots where the buyer wants to avoid leaving a package unattended. The buyer receives a notification when the package arrives at the Access Point and has a configurable window (default: 7 days) to pick it up before it is returned to the auction house.

Some auction lots — particularly furniture sets, tool collections, and estate cleanout lots — require multiple packages for a single lot. AuctionFlow supports multi-piece UPS shipments where the fulfillment team can add additional packages to a single lot shipment, each with its own dimensions and weight. The buyer receives a single tracking group with individual tracking numbers for each package, and delivery confirmation requires all packages to be delivered before the settlement release is triggered.