Pirate Ship Announces Mandatory 2FA Verification, Some Shippers Say They'd Rather Walk The Plank
Shipping label provider Pirate Ship is battening down the hatches to protect the booty - and customers' data - by requiring mandatory 2 Factor Authentication but some shippers say they'd rather walk the plank or simply use another service than deal with the hassle of entering a code at every log in.
The announcement went out this week, with Pirate Ship explaining 2FA is a common requirement across many internet services and will help keep their customers' accounts more secure.
To ensure your Pirate Ship account stays as secure as buried treasure, we require you to verify a security code when you log in. Known as "Two-Factor Authentication" or "2FA," this is a common requirement for internet services to ensure your account cannot be accessed by anyone but you.
How it works
After you enter your email and password on Pirate Ship's login screen, we will email you a random 6-digit code that you'll need to enter to complete the log in. Once you enter that code you'll be logged in and ready to ship!You'll need to enter the code every time you log in
Note that there may be different codes each time you log in. Make sure to use the code from the most recent email that you've received, as the code will change each time you login. You can't use old codes that we sent to you from previous logins!The email with the verification code should arrive within 60 seconds
When you login, you should receive an email with the verification code you need within a few seconds, but due to internet delays it may sometimes take a little longer. Make sure to refresh your email inbox and check your spam folder if it's not showing up!What if several people use the same email address on my account to log in?
Add new users to your account: Our 2FA verification emails are sent to the email address you use to log in to your Pirate Ship account. If several users access your Pirate Ship account (for example, multiple employees using a single company login), we recommend creating unique email logins for each person accessing the account!
The update sparked discussion on Reddit where some users accepted it as a normal part of operating on the internet in 2024 and others speculated Pirate Ship could stand to lose users, especially older or less tech savvy customers who may find the requirement off-putting.
They need to focus on making their system more convenient not less convenient people are just going to use the eBay [label] system more often.
Personally, I don’t like two FA either so I’m not gonna be using pirate ship unless I need the added insurance…. Which also just changed and although now has the benefit that it covers stolen packages, they took away a lot of the benefits of the old insurance.
I dont see what the big issue is. I have 2fa set for everything. every time I need to log into my paypal, google account, bank apps etc. everyone should be used to it by now and I am glad that they ask it is me before I spend money or log in.
There was a post on the Luxembourg sub a few days ago where someone was wanting to find out how to sue their bank for age discrimination because they were ‘making’ them install a 2fa app on their phone...
...The point is that boomers and the older gen Xers (and presumably us when we get there) struggle with change. They don’t like new/different things even when they’re better.
Another Reddit thread showed some users aren't opposed to the idea of being required to use authentication, but are critical of the way in which Pirate Ship has implemented it with no option to use an authenticator app or other method besides email.
Good. But I wish they supported using an app like Authy or Google Authenticator so I can just type the code and not wait for an email. More secure and faster imo.
Those who are suggesting just printing labels from eBay or other marketplaces or providers may want to check on those site's policies first, as some of them also require 2FA in some locations or for some accounts, depending on how they are set up.
In fact, eBay UK tried to enforce mandatory SMS 2FA in 2022 and received so much customer pushback from users who experienced technical problems that they were forced to provide an email option as well.
Liz Morton
What do you think of Pirate Ship's new 2FA requirement? Let us know in the comments below!
I'm a boomer and have no trouble with changes like that introduced by PirateShip. I think two factor authentication is a good idea and welcome it.
As noted by one of the comments on your article, the best actually is to use an authenticator app that generates a code, as you can install the app on multiple devices and it's not dependent on a code by text.
