12. A system configured to make shipping processing decisions on behalf of a user, said system comprising: a rules engine configured to create, for said user, a set of shipping processing rules for making shipping decisions for said user, wherein said set of shipping processing rules is generated by: automatically constructing a plurality of shipping processing rules based on rule parameters and a data set, wherein the rule parameters comprise conditions and operators, wherein the conditions comprise shipping attribute information for making shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, and the operators comprise at least one of logical operators and mathematical operators that are applied to said conditions to make said shipping processing decisions, determinations, or both, wherein the data set comprises: raw shipping data comprising at least one of shipment weight information, address information, shipment size information, shipping container type information, and item type information, user defined data comprising information associated with at least one of one or more customer categories, one or more pricing categories, one or more delivery time categories, and one or more quality of service levels provided by said user, and derived data comprising at least one of calculated shipping rates, delivery dates, delivery times, and wherein construction of the plurality of shipping processing rules by said rules engine comprises constructing at least one shipping processing rule configured to select, based on an amount of time that a customer has been using a service offered by said user, a type of shipping service for shipment of an item purchased from said user by said customer; analyzing the plurality of shipping processing rules to define said set of shipping processing rules, wherein said set of shipping processing rules includes said at least one shipping processing rule constructed based, at least in part, on said amount of time that said customer has been using said service, wherein said analyzing comprises: analyzing, by a processor-based system, said plurality of shipping processing rules to identify whether a conflict exists between at least two shipping processing rules, wherein a conflict is identified based on a determination that applying the same conditions to said at least two shipping processing rules presents different shipping decisions; and automatically resolving, by said processor-based system, said conflict between said at least two shipping processing rules based on a conflict resolution parameter that specifies an outcome criterion, wherein automatically resolving the conflict comprises: identifying, by said processor-based system, a particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a time-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a most rapid delivery time, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a cost-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a lowest shipping cost, wherein, when the outcome criterion is a level of service-based outcome criterion, the particular shipping processing rule of the at least two shipping processing rules that satisfies the outcome criterion corresponds to a shipping processing rule that provides a highest level of service; and selecting, by said processor-based system, the particular shipping processing rule that satisfies the outcome criterion for inclusion in the set of shipping processing rules; and a computer processor configured to perform shipment processing for an item to be shipped, wherein said shipment processing comprises: receiving shipping information for said item to be shipped, and utilizing said set of shipping processing rules and said received shipping information to generate a postage indicium for said item to be shipped.
21. The system of claim 12 wherein said rules engine is further configured to receive shipping options, wherein shipping options are shipping options that are offered by a carrier.