Chit Chats

It is your responsibility to make sure all of your shipments are properly addressed to your recipients. Double-check that the address information is correct and complete before and after you create and purchase your postage. Incorrect addresses may be automatically overwritten by the postage provider even if you bypass address verification. Most often this is the result of an incorrect zip code. If you choose not to use the verified address, we recommend you review your postage labels after printing your postage to confirm the address.

Along with providing accurate shipping details, it is equally important to format the delivery address to the specifications required by the country you are shipping to. Many postal carriers stipulate that the recipient name, street address, postal code, and country are written in capitals with no abbreviations. For the best results, we recommend adhering to the guidelines outlined by the destination’s local postal service.

Abbreviations

Depending on the carrier and the postage type, important details may be left off of the label for long addresses. In these cases, you may need to use the second address line or to shorten the address using an appropriate abbreviation. If you're not sure about using abbreviations you can check this list to see if they will be accepted in addresses.

Avoid including details that are not important to the delivery of the shipment to the address fields. This includes descriptions of the shipment contents or personal messages. Doing so may impact the deliverability of your shipment. However, do include apartment and suite numbers as well as the directional abbreviations for street addresses when appropriate (i.e. NE, W, etc.). Forgetting these may render your shipment undeliverable!

International Addresses

If you ship internationally, it's also important to keep in mind that each country may have a different addressing format. A recipient phone number will be required for all shipments to the European Union (EU) as customs may attempt to notify the recipient of any outstanding duties or taxes. And in some countries, the carrier may contact you via email in order to confirm details required for the delivery. You can find the specifics of addressing based on the recipient's country on the Universal Postal Union's (UPU) website. 

Canadian Addressing Format

• Canadian addresses are formatted differently for street addresses, postal boxes, military addresses, etc. In general an address must contain the addressee, the municipality, the province/territory and the postal code.
• Postal box addresses should include the postal box number and the station number on the second last line of the address. Additional delivery information such as a street address can be included above this line.
  • Ensure that the postal code provided corresponds to the street address if you are using both a PO box and street address.
• Ideally, the address should be written in capital letters and punctuation should not be used unless it is a part of a proper name (i.e. ST. JOHN'S). Accents are not considered to be punctuation. 
• The symbols # and n^o should be avoided.
• There must be two spaces between the province abbreviation and the postal code. 

For more information about Canadian addressing visit the Canada Post website and check out their tool for finding a postal code.

U.S. Addressing Format

All lines of the delivery address, city destination and country name should appear in all capital letters.

Addresses to U.S. recipients should be formatted as shown below:

• Addressee identification (name of person or business)
• Additional recipient information (optional)
• Street number and name OR PO Box
• City, State abbreviation, zip code
• USA

USPS has a tool for looking up the correct zip code for delivery addresses. For more information about U.S. addressing visit the USPS website. 

Character Limits for Address

There can be a great deal of variation in addressing formats between destinations. Add to that the physical limitations for label sizes and you end up with character limits on certain address fields. Here are some guidelines to character limits you may encounter with shipments on the Chit Chats platform. 

*Note: There is a maximum of 35 characters on recipient names for Chit Chats US Select and Chit Chats International Tracked.