Cleaning ship-to addresses before an ERP or 3PL migration
Updated · Rotomal
Export every customer and ship-to record, standardise the address fields to postal format, then deduplicate on the standardised address plus company name, keeping a map of which old IDs merge into which survivor. Verify the remaining unique US addresses with a commercial provider licensed to use USPS data, not the free USPS API, whose terms restrict it to shipping and mailing use. Send uncertain rows to a person for review, and only then load the clean file into the new system.
The order that saves time
- Export everything, including inactive customers, so merges can see the full history.
- Move non-address content out of address lines first: attention names, phone numbers, dock hours, delivery notes.
- Standardise: suffixes (Street to St), directionals (North to N), unit designators (Suite, #, Ste), state codes and ZIP format.
- Deduplicate after standardising, on address plus company, and keep a merge map from every old ID to the surviving one.
- Verify unique US addresses with a licensed engine; deduplicating first means fewer paid lookups.
- Review what could not be verified or matched with confidence before import.
Licensed data options
| Option | Published price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| USPS APIs | Free | USPS limits them to facilitating its shipping or mailing transactions and bars creating address lists |
| Smarty | 42-day trial of 1,000 lookups; Professional from $552 a year | Terms bar bureau use without written authorisation |
| Melissa | $40 for 10,000 credits, 3 credits per US address | Pay as you go; free 1,000 credits a month after a $4.97 fee |
| Loqate | Not published on the pages we checked | Has a reseller program for partners |
Prices and terms as published on each provider's site, checked 7 November 2026. Read your provider's terms before running anyone else's data through your account.
Checks specific to B2B
- Suite and floor numbers matter more than in consumer data: a missing suite in an office building is a failed delivery.
- Flag ship-tos that verify as residential; for a B2B account that may be an owner's home, or an error.
- Keep receiving hours and dock instructions, but in their own fields, so they reach the carrier without breaking the address.
If you want it done for you
Ship-To Clean does this for a fixed price per file, from $39 for up to 1,000 rows, with a fixed quote before you pay, and delivers in your new system's import template.
Questions
Should I delete old customers before migrating?
Archive rather than delete. Merge them into the surviving record and keep the merge map, so invoices and order history still link after the move.
How long does it take?
For a file of a few thousand rows, the mechanical clean takes a day or two; the human review of uncertain rows is usually the longer part.
Sources
- USPS: API terms and conditions (updated 22 January 2026) Source: developers.usps.com
- Smarty: Subscription agreement (revised 9 September 2026) Source: smarty.com
- Melissa: Pricing and credit costs Source: melissa.com
- Loqate: Reseller partner program Source: loqate.com