Show HN: CanWeShip – will USPS, UPS or FedEx accept my item?

CanWeShip launched as a Show HN project to help users quickly determine whether USPS, UPS, or FedEx will accept a given item for shipment. The tool simplifies a common frustration: knowing the carrier rules around restricted items, hazmat materials, size limits, and other restrictions before showing up at a shipping counter or placing an order.

The tool checks items against the major U.S. carrier policies in real time. Users enter an item description or category, and CanWeShip reports which of the three carriers will and will not ship it, along with the relevant restrictions. The project addresses a practical gap — while carrier websites publish these rules separately, there's no single place to cross-check all three at once.

The creator posted the project to Hacker News as a Show HN, a community category for work-in-progress builds seeking feedback and early users. Show HN posts typically attract developer and builder audiences rather than venture-backed announcements, and this one reflects that ethos: a solo tool built to solve a specific problem, not an incorporated startup with funding or a founding team.

The market opportunity is modest but real. Small businesses, e-commerce sellers, and occasional shippers all lose time navigating carrier websites or calling ahead to confirm policies. Competitors in this space are fragmented — some consolidators like Shippo and EasyPost offer carrier rule databases as part of broader shipping platforms, but a focused, free tool has little direct competition. The business model for CanWeShip remains unstated; it could eventually monetize through ads, premium carrier integrations, or partnerships with shipping software providers, though no such plan is evident from the launch post.

Shipping restrictions have grown more complex as carriers tightened policies around lithium batteries, flammable materials, and oversized packages in recent years. A tool that aggregates and updates these rules automatically could reduce customer service calls for 3PLs and help individual sellers avoid costly shipping rejections.