Custom Shipping Methods

Modified on Sun, 24 Sep, 2023 at 4:39 PM

Should I base shipping charges on subtotal, weight, quantity or flat fee per item?

It's really a matter of personal preference. Subtotal and quantity are the easiest to manage and work best if most of your products weigh about the same. Weight and flat fee per item are more accurate if your products vary greatly in size or weight.

Besides creating the shipping method, what else do I have to do?

If you create shipping methods based on the order subtotal or quantity, no additional steps are needed. If you create shipping methods based on the order weight or a flat fee per item, you will need to assign a weight amount or shipping charge to each product. You do this in the Products area when editing or creating a new product.

How do I set up threshold settings when basing shipping on the order subtotal?

Threshold settings allow you to enter subtotal ranges that set shipping charges. For example, let's say you want to charge shipping as follows:

If the order subtotal is between 0 and 15, charge 3.5 for shipping.

If the order subtotal is between 15.01 and 40, charge 5 for shipping.

If the order subtotal is between 40.01 and 100, charge 9.5 for shipping.

If the order subtotal is over 100, charge 15 for shipping.

In the "Threshold Settings" box you would enter 0-15=3.50,15.01-40=5,40.01-100=9.50,>100=15

How do I set up threshold settings when basing shipping on the order weight?

Threshold settings allow you to enter weight ranges that set shipping charges. For example, let's say you want to charge shipping as follows:

If the order weight is between 0 and 5 pounds, charge 4.25 for shipping.

If the order weight is between 6 and 10 pounds, charge 7.5 for shipping.

If the order weight is between 11 and 20 pounds, charge 10 for shipping.

If the order subtotal is over 20 pounds, charge 18.65 for shipping.

In the "Threshold Settings" box you would enter: 0-5=4.25,6-10=7.50,11-20=10,>20=18.65

NOTE: "Pounds" were used in the examples above, however, you can base weight on any unit of measure. If, for example, you prefer ounces, the above threshold settings would be: 0-80=4.25,81-160=7.50,161-320=10,>320=18.65

How do I set up threshold settings when basing shipping on the order quantity?

Threshold settings allow you to enter weight ranges that set shipping charges. For example, let's say you want to charge shipping as follows:

If 1 to 6 items are ordered, charge 2.75 for shipping.

If 7 to 15 items are ordered, charge 5.5 for shipping.

If 16 to 30 items are ordered, charge 9 for shipping.

If more than 30 items are ordered, charge 15.35 for shipping.

In the "Threshold Settings" box you would enter: 0-6=2.75,7-15=5.50,16-30=9,>30=15.35

How do I set up threshold settings when basing shipping on a flat fee per item?

When you base shipping charges on a flat fee per item, you also need to enter a shipping charge for each item in the Products area. In this case, most threshold settings do not apply. You simply need to enter a 1 in the "Threshold Settings" box. This causes the shopping cart to multiply each product's shipping charge by 1, which results in no change.

There are cases when you may want to create a shipping method that uses a threshold setting besides 1. For example, let's say you want to offer two shipping methods: one is for domestic shipments and the other is for international shipments. For international shipments, you want to charge 1 and 1/2 times more than domestic.

For the domestic shipping method, you would simply enter 1 in the "Threshold Settings" box.

For the international shipping method, you would enter 1.5 in the "Threshold Settings" box.

How do I charge one flat shipping rate per order?

If, for example, you want to charge 5 for shipping any order, you would create a shipping method based on the order subtotal. Then, in the threshold settings box, enter: >0=5

What does "Apply shipping charge assigned to matching threshold setting only" mean?

If you select the "Apply shipping charge assigned to matching threshold setting only" button, the shopping cart will scan through all of the threshold settings and look for a match. If found, the shipping charge assigned will be applied.

For example, Company XYZ set up a shipping method based on quantity. They used the following threshold settings: 0-6=2.75,7-15=5.50,16-30=9,>30=15.35 Let's say a customer orders 8 items. The shipping charge for this order would be you select the "Apply shipping charge assigned to matching threshold setting and all settings before it" button, the shopping cart will scan through all of the threshold settings and look for a match. If found, the shipping charge assigned will be applied, along with all shipping charges assigned to previous threshold settings.

If Company XYZ had selected the "Apply shipping charge assigned to matching threshold setting and all settings before it" button, the shipping charge would be 8.25 (2.75 + 5.5).

What other kind of settings can I enter in the threshold settings box?

Multiply Shipping Charge

You can multiply the shipping charge by the matching weight, quantity or order subtotal, by placing an asterisk "*" next to the shipping charge (e.g., 0-10=0.25* - this means charge 25 cents each for shipping).

Use Percent of Subtotal for Shipping Charge

You can use a percentage of the subtotal, instead of a flat shipping charge, by entering the the percent sign after the shipping charge amount. For example, the threshold setting 1-10=5% means charge 5 percent of the order subtotal for shipping.

Hide a Shipping Method

You can hide a shipping method if the order weight, subtotal or quantity reaches certain points by skipping threshold settings. For example, lets say you create a shipping method based on weight and use the following threshold settings: 0-5=4.25,10-20=7.50. If the order weight is between 5.01 and 9.99 or greater than 20, this shipping method will not display.

Can I create more than one Custom Shipping method?

Yes. After saving the settings for one Custom Shipping method, click on the "Add New" button to continue creating additional Custom Shipping methods. Depending on your threshold settings and country conditions, each Custom Shipping method will be offered to your customers when they are going through the ordering process.