Straight answers.

What does Hopper actually do?

Hopper runs the packing station. Your team scans a box, Hopper checks that scan against the shipment you are actually packing, and prints the one label that belongs on that box. Exact match, or the scan stops.

It covers the whole floor job around that: which boxes are done, which are not, who packed what, what printed and when, and loading the truck at the end.

What problem is it for?

Hunting for the right label. If your crew prints a stack of labels and then matches them to boxes by eye, that is the job Hopper removes — and the mis-ships it causes.

What is a station?

A station is the workflow location a person confirms for scanning, reservations, and audit history. It is not a printer license and it does not have to be the Windows PC that sends the label.

Printing has its own destination: a Windows print host and one of the printers installed on it. A user chooses that destination once and the same choice follows them through Amazon, Walmart, Loading / TMS, and mobile until they change it.

What is the Station App?

A small Windows program that turns a matched scan into a label on an exact printer. Hopper calls that Windows machine a print host.

The normal setup is one host with every warehouse printer installed on it. A dedicated bench is the same setup with one printer enabled. Both use the same app and the same routing model.

Why does it exist? Why not just print from the browser?

Because browsers cannot print a label properly. A browser can open a print dialog; it cannot send a label straight to a specific thermal printer, at the right size, with nobody clicking anything.

The Station App can. That is the difference between a label appearing and a packer stopping to deal with a dialog on every box.

What happens if the network drops mid-shift?

The Station App keeps its own queue on the machine, so a print that was already handed to it is not lost to a blip.

Does it need its own login?

No. It is registered to your account once when you install it, and identified as that station from then on.

Is Hopper an inventory or warehouse management system?

No. Hopper does not hold your inventory counts, manage bin locations, or replace a WMS. It is the execution layer at the packing station and the dock.

Does Hopper buy, sell, or ship anything for me?

No. Hopper does not create orders, negotiate rates, buy postage, or move freight. It prepares and labels your boxes and records what happened.

Does Hopper change anything in my seller account?

No. Hopper reads from your marketplace account — shipments, items, and the labels the marketplace generates. It does not create, edit, or cancel orders, and it does not change your listings or your inventory numbers.

Everything Hopper needs, it asks for. Nothing it does writes back.

Amazon FBA

Supported. You connect your Amazon seller account yourself from inside Hopper — sign in with Amazon, approve the access, done. Hopper pulls your inbound shipments and the box labels Amazon generates for them.

Amazon AWD (Warehousing & Distribution)

Supported, through the same connection as FBA. AWD uses a different label and a different identifier on the box, and Hopper handles that difference for you — your crew scans and prints exactly the way they do for FBA.

Walmart WFS

Supported and tested. Today Walmart is connected using your developer keys rather than a sign-in button — you supply the keys once and Hopper does the rest. The one-click sign-in flow is still to come; nothing else about Walmart is waiting on it.

Can I run more than one marketplace?

Yes on a paid plan. The free trial is limited to one marketplace so the trial stays simple — see the trial section below.

What is an alias?

An alias is any code that points at the same product. A UPC, a GTIN, an ASIN, an FNSKU, a seller SKU, or your own internal part number — different codes, one item.

That is what lets your crew scan whatever is physically on the box instead of hunting for the “right” sticker. Hopper already knows those codes belong to the same thing.

If you prep for more than one seller, an alias can be kept to a single client or shared across your whole account.

Where do aliases come from?

Most of them come from your marketplace account — Hopper picks up the identifiers the marketplace already holds for each product when it syncs.

You can add your own, and codes seen at the station can be put forward for you to confirm. Nothing is treated as a known code until someone approves it.

What is the item list Hopper matches against?

One entry per product — your item master. It is built from your connected marketplace account: Hopper pulls your products and the identifiers held against them, and keeps that list in sync.

Each field on a product records where it came from, so you can tell what the marketplace supplied and what you set yourself.

What is the optional upload?

If you hold product data the marketplace does not carry — your own part numbers, case-pack information — you can upload it as a spreadsheet. CSV or XLSX.

It is optional. Hopper works without it; the upload is there for the details only you have.

Uploads are preview-then-commit. You see exactly what would be created or changed, row by row, before anything is written.

Can I upload product photos?

No, and that is deliberate. Product photos come from the marketplace or another approved source — never from a spreadsheet or a manual upload — so the picture your packer checks against is the one the marketplace actually shows for that item, not something typed in by hand.

What is Loading / TMS?

The second half of the job. Labelling a box is not the end of it — the box has to get onto a pallet, the pallet onto a truck, and the truck out of the yard with the right paperwork. Loading / TMS is that half.

Together with the packing station it closes the chain of custody: from the moment a box is scanned at packout to the moment the truck pulls away, every box has a recorded place.

How do pallets work?

As you pack a shipment, boxes are scanned onto a pallet. That means you always know which box is on which pallet — not from a clipboard, from the scan itself.

You are not asked to do a separate palletising pass. It happens while the shipment is being processed, at the same station, by the same person.

And loading the truck?

Pallets go onto a truck the same way boxes go onto a pallet — recorded, not remembered. That is what completes the chain: box to pallet, pallet to truck, truck off the yard.

Is there a screen for trucks?

Yes, its own. Trucks are checked in when they arrive and checked out when they leave, on a screen built for the dock rather than a corner of the packing screen.

What about the bill of lading?

For Amazon, Hopper fetches it for you. When a BOL is available for a shipment, Hopper pulls it in rather than making somebody go and find it, and it is there against the load when you need it.

You can also attach one yourself if the paperwork came from somewhere else.

Which plans include it?

Loading / TMS is included from Prep Plus up — that is Prep Plus and the Site license. The smaller plans cover the packing station itself.

How many users do I get?

Unlimited. Invite your whole crew — packers, supervisors, the office. Hopper does not charge per seat and there is no user limit on any plan.

Then what am I paying for?

Production label volume, marketplace-account capacity, and the modules your building needs — not seats, Station App installs, print hosts, or printers.

Every paid plan can use a shared print host or dedicated hosts. Mobile PDA processing is included only with the Site license; it is not sold as an add-on.

Can I control what people can do?

Yes. People have roles, and stations have their own sessions, so you can tell who packed a box and at which station without giving everyone the same access.

What do I get?

3 complete shipments, free, with no credit card. Not a demo and not sample data — your own shipments, your own boxes, your own printer.

Full feature access on one marketplace: Amazon or Walmart. You pick which when you connect.

Why only one marketplace?

So the trial is a fair test of the thing you actually do, without asking you to set up two integrations before you know whether you like it. The first marketplace you connect is the one the trial runs on.

What counts as a shipment?

One shipment is one shipment as your marketplace defines it — however many boxes are in it. A shipment counts once you start packing it, and finishing it does not cost you a second one.

What happens when the trial ends?

Nothing disappears and nothing is deleted. Hopper stops you starting a NEW shipment and asks you to pick a plan. A shipment already open on the station finishes normally — the box on the scanner always finishes.

Your data stays where it is. Pick a plan whenever you are ready and carry straight on.

Do I have to pick a plan up front?

No. You start the trial without choosing anything and without a card. You choose a plan from inside Hopper once you have used it.

How is Hopper billed?

Monthly, per building. Every account bills on the first of the month, so your invoice date is the same as everyone else's and the same every month.

What if I start mid-month?

You are prorated. Start on the 16th and you pay for the part of the month you used, then bill normally on the first from then on. That way nobody ends up on an odd renewal date they have to remember.

One subscription per building?

Yes. Each site is its own plan. There is no separate enterprise product — if you run several buildings, sites two and up can be discounted as a bundle.

Is annual billing available?

Yes, if you would rather pay once a year than monthly.

What is a box-label?

One label printed for one box. That is the unit Hopper counts, because it is the unit of work — one box, one label, one slot.

How many do I get?

Every plan includes a set number each month. Starter includes 2,000 box-labels a month; the Site license is unlimited. The full table is on the pricing page.

Am I charged extra if I go over?

No. There is no per-label charge on any plan, at any volume. The allowance is what your plan includes, not a meter running against your card.

So what happens when I reach it?

Hopper tells you, and asks. When your month's allowance is used up, the next time someone starts a NEW shipment Hopper shows a prompt explaining that the plan's allowance is used and offering the next plan up.

It does not upgrade you quietly. Somebody with the authority to spend money has to say yes — you will never find out you changed plans by reading an invoice.

Does work stop dead?

No. The box already on the scanner always finishes, and so does the shipment it belongs to. Only STARTING a new shipment waits for the decision.

Do I need a call with sales to start?

No. You create the account, connect your marketplace, add a station, and start scanning. The only reason to talk to us is a multi-site discount.

How long does setup take?

Set up in 15 minutes, labeling in 20. Create the account, connect Amazon, plug in the printer you already own.

Do I need special hardware?

No. Hopper works with the label printers and barcode scanners you already have. A station is a computer and a label printer.

What is mobile scanning (PDA)? (Site only)

A PDA is the handheld you already picture when you think of a warehouse: a rugged phone-sized scanner your crew carries instead of standing at a fixed station.

With mobile scanning, the same pack-and-print workflow runs on that handheld, so someone can work down an aisle or at the dock rather than carrying every box back to a station. It is the same Hopper, on a smaller screen — nothing about how a scan is checked changes.

Included with the Site license, and only that plan.

What about my existing barcodes?

Scan whatever is on the box. UPC, GTIN, ASIN, or your own part numbers — Hopper resolves the barcode that is physically there to the right shipment box, so nobody has to relabel anything first.

What if a scan does not match?

The scan stops and nothing prints. The exception is recorded and shows up on the floor view, so a supervisor can deal with it instead of a wrong label going out the door.