Why is Etsy shipping labels duplicating address line 2 (apartment/unit)?

Hi! What you’re seeing is usually Etsy’s address “standardization” (USPS formatting) trying to be helpful by moving the apartment/unit (the secondary address info) onto Address Line 1 for the barcode, but then not removing it from Address Line 2—so it prints twice. It’s been popping up for a lot of sellers and it behaves like a bug/formatting glitch more than something you’re doing wrong, and in most cases USPS will still deliver fine even if the unit shows twice.

What to do (best practice)

• Before you buy the Etsy shipping label, click “Edit” on the buyer’s address in the label purchase screen and make it appear only once. Easiest fix is either:
  • Keep the street on Line 1 and leave Apt/Unit only on Line 2, or
  • Put “APT 4B” at the end of Line 1 and delete Line 2 (some sellers prefer this because carriers often like the unit on the same line as the street).
• If Etsy shows an “address suggestion/correction,” choose the version that doesn’t duplicate (or stick with the buyer-entered address if Etsy allows it) and manually remove the extra unit line before purchasing.

If it keeps happening

• Try purchasing labels from a different browser/device (sounds silly, but it can help with weird formatting/cache issues).
• As a workaround, you can buy postage outside Etsy for those orders and still mark the order complete in Etsy with the tracking number.
• If you want it fixed on Etsy’s side, grab a screenshot of the “before/after” address in the buy-label screen (no private details needed) and send it to Etsy Support as a technical issue so they can escalate it.

If you tell me which carrier you’re buying through Etsy (USPS, etc.) and whether the duplication appears in the edit screen or only after the label generates, I can suggest the cleanest “Line 1 vs Line 2” format that tends to stick.