Tracking for the letters you mail with a stamp

Print the USPS barcode on your own printer, add a Forever stamp and mail it. You and your buyer follow every USPS scan across the map, and the app for iPhone and Android keeps the whole mail run in your pocket.

Start freeDownload on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Your first 100 letters each month are free, and you don't need a card.

A #10 envelope printed by PigeonTrail: the shop's return address at the top left, a Forever stamp at the top right, and the buyer's address with a USPS barcode above it.

The app goes to the mailbox with you

Scan the stack on your way out the door, then follow every letter across the country from your pocket.

  • Slide the stack past the camera on the way to the mailbox, and every envelope is marked mailed when you tap Done.
  • Every letter in the mail sits on a live map at the last place USPS scanned it, and the ones that need you are listed right under it.
  • Each letter has its own route, and Replay the trip flies you through every USPS plant it passed on the way.
  • Widgets keep count on your Home Screen, and a notification arrives at the first scan, at delivery and whenever a letter falls behind.
Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

The app is free with your account. The mail run scanner comes with Pro, and Look up opens any letter on every plan. More about the iPhone and Android apps

Orders come in from wherever you sell

Every order lands on the Orders page with its address checked against USPS's data, ready to print as a letter. Seven stores connect to your account directly, and TCGplayer, Amazon and Etsy hand you a file.

Connect once, and one button on the Orders page brings in every paid order waiting to ship. You can also let new orders come in by themselves every 15 minutes, and Mana Pool sends each new order the moment it is placed. When the envelope prints, the order is marked shipped in your store, and Shopify, Mana Pool and WooCommerce pass your buyer the tracking link as well.

Drop in the order file you already export, and PigeonTrail reads the addresses as it lands. For TCGplayer it also writes the shipping file you import back, and orders of $50 or more go to a Pirate Ship list for a tracked package. The connected stores' own order files work here too.

The Orders page in PigeonTrail, with a box to drop an order file exported from TCGplayer, eBay or Shopify, and a button to type in a single order.

Can you track a First Class letter?

A First Class letter with only a stamp on it has no tracking, because USPS gives letters no tracking number. PigeonTrail adds USPS scans to it by printing an Intelligent Mail barcode above the address, which USPS's sorting machines read at every plant the letter passes through. You still pay $0.82 for a 1 ounce letter with a Forever stamp, and you see each scan the way you would on a package. How First Class letter tracking works

Watch the letter cross the country

Each time USPS sorts the letter at one of its plants, the scan lands on a map of the real route, drawn from the cities USPS reports. This one left Austin on a Friday evening, passed through Coppell, Memphis and Indianapolis, and reached the plant near the buyer in Columbus on Monday morning.

  1. Austin, TXIn the mail
  2. Coppell, TX
  3. Memphis, TN
  4. Indianapolis, IN
  5. Columbus, OHAt the plant near the buyer

USPS scans a letter on its sorting machines rather than at the mailbox, so the first scan comes when the letter reaches a plant, often the evening it is picked up, and a day can pass between scans. Nobody scans a letter at the door, so when USPS marks one delivered, it is going by the carrier's route that day. What each USPS scan means

The line shows each place USPS has scanned the letter so far.

USPS tells you which day to expect it

USPS publishes how many days a letter should take between any two ZIP codes, and PigeonTrail counts them out on the calendar for you, skipping Sundays and postal holidays. Your buyer sees the same day on their page. If a letter still isn't marked delivered more than a day past it, or goes five days without a scan, it is flagged in your list, and on Pro we also email you, with a message you can send the buyer before they ask.

  1. Fri16Austin, TX
  2. Sat17Coppell, TX
    Memphis, TN
  3. Sun18Indianapolis, IN
    No delivery
  4. Mon19Columbus, OH
    Today
  5. Tue20
  6. Wed21
  7. Thu22USPS
    expects it
  8. Fri23A day late
    is still fine
  9. Sat24Behind
    We alert you
  • USPS scanned it on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, in Austin, Coppell, Memphis, Indianapolis and Columbus.
  • USPS expects it by Thursday, October 22.
  • From Saturday, October 24 it counts as behind, and we alert you.

Print it on the printer you already have

PigeonTrail lays out the whole envelope, with your return address, the buyer's address and the USPS barcode exactly where USPS reads them, and any inkjet or laser printer does the rest. It knows #10, #9, #6 3/4, A7 and 6 x 9 envelopes, Avery 5163 sheets, 4 x 2 and 4 x 6 thermal labels, and a packing slip that folds into a #10 window envelope. Postage is the Forever stamp you already buy, and your first 100 letters each month cost nothing.

#109½ x 4⅛ in
#98⅞ x 3⅞ in
#6¾6½ x 3⅝ in
A77¼ x 5¼ in
6 x 99 x 6 in
4 x 6 label4 x 6 in
4 x 2 label4 x 2 in
Window slip8½ x 11 in
Avery 51638½ x 11 in

Make the envelope look like your shop

Upload your logo, pick Helvetica, Times or Courier, write a tagline and choose an accent color, or start from one of four finished designs and change what you like. You see every change on a live preview of each envelope size before anything prints. The design lives in the return corner, so the address and the barcode stay exactly where USPS wants them.

Dragon CardsPO BOX 1234AUSTIN TX 78701Thanks for your order!ORDER 1142FOREVERSTAMPJORDAN REYES418 W MAPLE STCOLUMBUS OH 43215-1234
#10
Moonlight ComicsPO BOX 77SALEM OR 97301New issues every WednesdayORDER 1142FOREVERSTAMPJORDAN REYES418 W MAPLE STCOLUMBUS OH 43215-1234
A7
Pine and Paper418 W MAPLE STMISSOULA MT 59802Handmade in small batchesORDER 1142FOREVERSTAMPJORDAN REYES418 W MAPLE STCOLUMBUS OH 43215-1234
6 x 9
Tidewater GamesPO BOX 902NORFOLK VA 23510Game night starts hereORDER 1142FOREVERSTAMPJORDAN REYES418 W MAPLE STCOLUMBUS OH 43215-1234
#9

Your buyer follows the letter on your shop's page

Every letter gets its own tracking page, and it carries your logo, your tagline and your accent color, with the route map and the day USPS expects it. The first time USPS scans the letter, your buyer gets an email from PigeonTrail with the link. If you're on Pro, those emails come from your shop's name instead, and your buyer hears from you when the letter is mailed, when it's almost there and when it's delivered.

Every email has a link to stop them, and none go out at night.

The buyer tracking page on a phone, in the look of a shop called Dragon Cards: its logo and tagline at the top, then the words your letter is on its way and was last scanned in Columbus, OH, USPS expects it to arrive by Thursday, October 22, a map of the route from Austin to Columbus, and the list of steps so far.
The PigeonTrail letters list. Three letters are printed and not mailed, two are in the mail and flagged for no USPS scan in 5 days, one is sorted for the mail carrier and one is delivered. The PigeonTrail letters list on a phone, with letters that are printed, in the mail and flagged for no USPS scan in 5 days.

Every letter in one list

Each letter you print lands in one list and moves along as USPS scans it. A letter that falls behind is flagged where you can see it, and when one is lost for good, one click sends a replacement with its own barcode, and the old tracking page points your buyer to the new one. The free letter checker tells you whether an envelope goes as a letter.

Letters without an order

Quick letters are for the mail that doesn't come from a sale. Type or paste an address, or pick one from your address book, and the letter prints and tracks like any other. You get an email at the first scan and again when it's delivered, and the person you're writing to hears from us when it's on the way.

Pricing

FreeProShop
Price$0$12.99 a monthor $129 a year$49 a monthor $490 a year
Letters a month100500, then 2 cents each2,500, then 1.5 cents each
Tracking, the route map, USPS's day, printing, envelope design and the buyer pageYesYesYes
Emails to buyersOne from PigeonTrail at the first scanMailed, almost there and delivered, from your shop nameSame as Pro
Mail run scans in the phone appYesYes
Alerts for letters that fall behindYesYes
Mailing record for buyer claims20 credits eachYesYes
Pay as you goWithout a plan, credits pay for letters at 10 cents each, come in batches of $5 or more, and don't expire while your account is open. If a Free month passes 100 letters, credits pay for all of them.
PostageYou pay postage with a regular stamp.
TrialYour first letter starts a 30 day Pro trial with no card and no charge when it ends.
Founding priceThe first 500 sellers on Pro monthly pay $9.99 a month for as long as they keep it.
CancelingYou can cancel any time.

Free

$0

100 letters a month.

  • Tracking, the route map, USPS's expected day, imports, printing, the envelope design and the buyer page.
  • One email to the buyer from PigeonTrail at the first scan.
  • A mailing record for buyer claims costs 20 credits.

Pro

$12.99 a monthor $129 a year

500 letters a month, then 2 cents each.

  • Everything in Free.
  • Emails from your shop name when the letter is mailed, almost there and delivered.
  • Mail run scans in the iPhone and Android apps.
  • Alerts for letters that fall behind.
  • Mailing records for buyer claims.

Shop

$49 a monthor $490 a year

2,500 letters a month, then 1.5 cents each.

  • Everything in Pro.
Pay as you go
Without a plan, credits pay for letters at 10 cents each, come in batches of $5 or more, and don't expire while your account is open. If a Free month passes 100 letters, credits pay for all of them.
Postage
You pay postage with a regular stamp.
Trial
Your first letter starts a 30 day Pro trial with no card and no charge when it ends.
Founding price
The first 500 sellers on Pro monthly pay $9.99 a month for as long as they keep it.
Canceling
You can cancel any time.

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