USPS Click-n-Ship account error: “Sorry, your transaction has been declined. Your transaction cannot be processed at this time with this payment type”

I’ve been having an issue with the USPS Click & Ship account where it would not allow me to pay for shipping labels online. Everything would work fine up until I tried to pay, and then it would give me the “Sorry, your transaction has been declined. Your transaction cannot be processed at this time with this payment type” error message. It only took USPS a week to resolve it.

I tried paying with two different credit cards, and my PayPal account, and got the same error message with all of them.   The credit card companies showed an authorization hold being placed on my account, and then released. PayPal reported that the payment had been authorized, but that USPS did not withdraw the money.   So the problem was on USPS’s side of things.

Searching the Internet, I found many other people with the same error message going back to 2016 in the comments on this USPS blog page. So it appears to happen to more than just me.

I reported the issue on December 8th, and their internet customer care center got back to me on the 10th, asking to confirm all of my account information.   After a few more days, they “escalated” the issue on December 15th and it was almost immediately resolved.

“Thank you for contacting the USPS ®  Internet Customer Care Center in regards to the Account Error you encountered.   I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

This error has been resolved.   You will now be able to print labels using Click-N-Ship.   Please log into your account to proceed.”

So, apparently something (a security flag?) had gotten stuck in my account, and the only way to resolve the issue is to contact USPS’s support department. So if you get the same error, fill out the online support form and get ready to wait a few days before it’s resolved.

31 thoughts on “USPS Click-n-Ship account error: “Sorry, your transaction has been declined. Your transaction cannot be processed at this time with this payment type”

  1. I’ve been having this issue lately. I submitted a service request, so I guess I’mm off to fedex.com until the postal service sorts it out. Lame

  2. I can buy stamps and nothing else. I have filled out this form 3 times. This is my same issue. I have tried 3 different credit cards and my paypal. All work to buy stamps and none work to pay postage. I am trying again. With an immune issue, I am trying to stay away from the USPS. This time I asked them to call me vs email me as the email is generic as can be.

    • It is possible that this is just an “authorization” or “hold” on your credit card and will automatically disappear after a few days, but if it does not, you can complain to your credit card company to get the charge removed.

  3. I am having this same problem, and have emailed them several times, I have used different cards, set up an entirely new account, downloaded a new browser, nothing has worked, this is so frustrating. USPS still has not resolved the issue.

  4. I’m having the exact same issue. Tried 3 different credit cards and PayPal, they all come back with that error message. Really frustrating.

  5. You are extremely lucky to get this resolved and have an actual tech person contact you rather than the system’s canned response.

    I’ve been having this issue since 2017 when we transferred overseas (military). Since then, I get this message anytime I try to pay.

    I’ve messaged tech support multiple times over the years and always receive automated, canned, general troubleshooting responses that basically say if this doesn’t work, contact us further…meaning that’s their answer, period and it doesn’t seem like they want to help.

    I gave up in 2019. I’m now trying again, but I’m not hopeful.

      • Update 18-May: After several back and forth email to prove my identity, etc…, they fixed my account, and I can now use click n ship again. As you mentioned in your original post, they must be placing some sort of security flag on accounts like yours and mine for whatever reason. I assume mine was flagged because I was suddenly using it overseas. Anyway, it works now, having used it today, and I’m so glad I saw your post and tried to get this resolved again. Thank you, Jay! Jack

  6. Same problem here. I called tech support and the guy was so condescending. He said my address on my credit card must not match what I’m putting in the billing information. Even though I confirmed it was correct. He offered no other assistance and escalated the ticket. This is the second time I have called them with no resolution.

  7. I am having the same issue and I can’t wait a week to get it resolved. Guess I’m using UPS instead. :/

    I tried paypal and 4 different cards. So, if they end up charging me anyway it’ll be a real pain.

  8. I paid my P.O. BOX fee before it expired. It said I was good. I saw it in the processing part on my Credit Card app. That was July 30 and online… August 11th I got a “my account is now closed for no payment”. So I had to go in person and pay an extra 23 dollars because it was closed already and talked to someone later on from USPS customer support. I just checked my Credit Card app and now it’s gone again. Credit hasn’t updated yet but I’m sure that will update tomorrow. It’s been less than 36 hours since I charged my card. Not sure when it left but somewhere under that time. I’ll update when I get a response. I’ll probably call tomorrow and inform them of it happening again.
    ***To all the other people that this happened to. Which Card provider are you using and is it debit or credit. Curious if it’s unique to certain ones.***
    I did wells fargo Card. Same one both times. I also confirmed with Wells Fargo that nothing was declined or if anything on their end would have caused it. They said it was them and they had no other info because the transaction disappears like a hold would when you get a hotel or rent a car.

  9. The USPS Click N Ship website is FUBAR. I can’t believe the trouble I’ve had using a credit card to on this site.

    After I’ve spent all the time packaging everything in USPS boxes and inputting all the info and now what?

    Get your frickin act together people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. Can’t get on the website to purchase a click-n-ship label. Have tried two days in a row. They were ok to take my money to buy stamps but then the next day there is an error message. I want the post office we used to have….reliable!

  11. Yep, same exact problem here. We’ve tried to pay for click-n-ship with multiple credit cards (with billing addresses that match our account and completely different credit cards) and our PayPal account. I get the same error message as the original poster. I called USPS and they created a ticket yesterday. So far it’s not fixed. I created an entirely new account today to try it that way, and I got the same error message. It’s so frustrating.

  12. It happened to me also, have had an online account w/ USPS for over 10 years for the same address. Paypal, debit card, credit card, same messages. I got alerts from PayPal that it was received by them, and later got two tracking numbers. Clicking on the PayPal transaction shows it was declined by USPS both times. Never got a label and both mailings are still in my “cart” on USPS.

    Salt in the wound: USPS just raised rates.

    All of these examples are great illustrations of the oxymoron known as government efficiency:
    “We dump it on the government, they create a bureaucracy, and the cost goes up”

    • Unfortunately, USPS is a private company (but heavily regulated and bailed out regularly by the US government). Would it work better if it was still fully controlled by the government? No one can say for sure…

  13. 2021Nov10

    This “decline” problem continues to occur. Tried using Click N Ship last evening and received the same “Sorry, Declined” message. So tried with a 2nd for Credit Card and received the Same “Sorry, Declined” message again. Gave up and at 09:20 this morning 10 Nov tried finding an “on-line form” to make a claim. There appears to be no such form. The URL listed above “https://www.usps.com/help/contact-us.htm” offers no such form. The solution seems ONLY to be a telephone call to Technical Support at (800) 344-7779 where you will likely spend 40 to 60 minutes in the Black Hole of “On-Hold” listening to your choice of distorted “On-Hold” music before you are connected to a Tech to solve the problem. According to the Tech “Bob” with whom I eventually spoke the problem was likely a software “glitch”.

    • I waited on hold about 10 seconds at most, and the agent immediately recognized the issue and put in a ticket.

    • THANK YOU. I was reading the other responses and just getting madder and madder at USPS. Your PayPal suggestion worked and got me a USPS label which is what I needed –can’t ship via Fedex or UPS from my diplomatic pouch address overseas. I will be using PayPal ShipStation from now on. Now just to make sure all the erroneous credit card charges from when I was unsuccessfully trying to do this through click-n-ship disappear…

    • Thank you! Your link led me to PayPal ShipStation, which worked to create and print a USPS Priority shipping label for only $7.75 (compared to $8.95). This was after multiple failures trying to get PayPal and credit cards to go through on USPS.

      https://paypal.shipstation.com/

      • Thank you so so much for your effective advice, finally something that worked!
        And this just shows the difference between private enterprise Vs government agencies.

  14. Maddening!! I’m trying to mail 2 boxes for Christmas and no payment method will work. My wife had to create a new separate account and that had the same issue. Now we are waiting for 2 to 3 days while they process a technical request # 33546899. By the way since I’m mailing Regional rate A boxes the cost to walk up to a post office is higher than through click and ship. What a rip off. I’m heading to FedX ground.

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