One shipping cost when sending from multiple locations

Brando1
Excursionist
14 1 23

I have run into challenge that I am not able to figure out. I have a store with multiple locations. A customer is able to put two items in the cart that have stock from two locations. We use a flat shipping rate. When the rate is calculated it will double the shipping rate, since it is being sent from two locations.

Is there a way to get it to only use a single rate?

Replies 48 (48)

Brando1
Excursionist
14 1 23

As an example:

Customer orders Cup and Plate. The Cup is available in Location1 and Plate in Location2.


We have a flat shipping rate of $5. The customer will only pay $5 for both items.

 

As it stands today the customer will pay $10.

AdanRamirez
Shopify Partner
54 0 3

Hi @Brando1,

 

With ShipperHQ, you can manage shipping rates from multiple warehouses or dropship vendors. You can automate which origin certain products are shipped from, based on the fewest number of origins, origin nearest to a customer or zone restrictions for a given location. 

 

You can also specify where a product is located, such as making all products available via all warehouses or only certain ones. The list goes on and on. You can read more about it on our blog here about multi-location shipping. 

 

The best way to figure out your shipping strategy is by connecting with our sales team. They would be happy to discuss further and have experience working with thousands of different retailers big or small. You can also sign up for a free 30-day trial and see how ShipperHQ works for yourself.

Brando1
Excursionist
14 1 23

Hey @AdanRamirez 

 

Thanks for the response. I will look into ShipperHQ. But at first glance it seems like paying $50/month is a steep price for what seems to be a simple problem.

Sharon-Reeds
Trailblazer
126 6 27

@Brando1,

 

Unfortunately, Shopify locations cause unexpected results like this. While you can technically only offer one location for shipping calculations at checkout, this can then cause errors in your fulfillment since the proper warehouses won't get the notification to fulfill. It's an unfortunate catch 22. 

 

An alternative to Shipper HQ is our app, Intuitive Shipping. We start at $29.99/mo and can do much more than just fill your current shipping gap; as your store scales and your shipping needs change, you can work with our team to implement the best shipping strategy for your store. One feature that will come in handy for you here since items will arrive in multiple shipments is creating custom shipping descriptions at checkout. In this instance, we recommend something like "Your order will arrive in multiple shipments". Without this additional touchpoint, your buyers can get confused and think you forgot to ship their other item(s), creating unnecessary customer service request. 

 

One thing to note is that Shopify requires merchants who are on the Basic or Shopify plan to add Third Party Carrier Rates.   It's essentially a switch in their backend that lets shipping apps "talk" to Shopify. This feature is $20/mo a-la-carte, or free if you switch to annual billing, which also saves you 10% on your Shopify subscription. You need to contact Shopify support to get this added - we've heard their chat is the fastest route for this. 

 

If you want to learn more about Intuitive Shipping,  I encourage you to book a call - we're always happy to help 🙂

 

Warm regards,
Sharon 

Co-Founder / CEO @ Intuitive Shipping Inc.
Intuitive Shipping | Smart Boxing | Automate Shipping Profiles





Brando1
Excursionist
14 1 23

Hey @Sharon-Reeds ,

 

I have just given Inuitive Shipping a shot. Unfortunately, after speaking with Paul at Intuitive, it doesn't solve my problem. Apparently Locations can't be used as basis for shipping scenarios in your app.(or any app?) After speaking with Paul it seems that Shopify doesn't send location data to apps.

He told me i could check out Bespoke Shipping as they code directly in the Shopify codebase.

SharonReeds
Shopify Partner
197 6 65

Hey @Brando1 ,

 

Thank you so much for following up! I had wanted to follow up with you after a team meeting earlier last week where we went over locations again, but I used my other (incorrect) Shopify Community account and couldn't find this post in it (I did feel crazy for a good while and wondered if I had actually commented :p). My apologies it took me a few days to get back to you here. 

 

Paul is correct that Bespoke is a good option to try for this if you are housing inventory in multiple locations. If you don't mind and have time, would you mind updating us whether Bespoke was able to do this?  I would like our team to be able to send merchants to a solution that works for this. 

 

Warm regards,

Sharon 

Co-Founder / CEO @ Intuitive Shipping
Execute a strategic approach to shipping | Intuitive Shipping | Smart Boxing | Automate Shipping Profiles

Johanna2
Explorer
50 0 44

Hi, 

unfortunately, I don't have a solution. But I want to underline for developers, that this is a serious problem and we need to get it solved!

Hope, Shopify will provide a solution itself soon. This is a such a basic need. 

Johanna

duckmamanh
Excursionist
24 1 10

I'm in the same boat!  Will Shopify  fix this?   I'm not paying for an app to do it.

Hyg
Tourist
6 0 8

Agreed. I have come across this issue a few times and lost orders because of it. Just like most businesses, they create problems and then make you buy another product to fix it. I have enough apps, and I shouldn't need one for this. Come on, Shopify, it's 2022. Please fix this for us!

boxxman13
Tourist
4 0 5

still not fixed, still so basic, still extremely frustrating. 

badpharmastore
Tourist
7 0 18

Has anybody been able to figure this out? I am baffled that Shopify doesn't have a solution to this, as it seems like such a simple problem. Currently this issue is delaying the launch of my store, as I worry that customers paying double what I intend for shipping when buying certain products is going to increase cart abandonment.

badpharmastore
Tourist
7 0 18

Okay! I think I figured out one fix that works after a couple chats with Shopify support. The first person I talked to was completely unhelpful (extensive solutions were given to problems other than the one I was experiencing). I tried again and got somebody who seemed determined to figure out a fix, but at first was unable to find a solution other than to suggest shipping apps. She then got back to me later and offered this advice:

We can push this manually through the product editor:

  1. Choose your product you would like to change inventory management for

  2. Scroll to the inventory settings

  3. Change "Inventory managed by" to "Shopify"

She provided this link as an example:

https://screenshot.click/10-13-virzq-focxp.mp4

I tested this on a few products and it seems to be working. I am getting the intended shipping rate rather than a doubled rate. The issue still is that this must be changed for each size of each variant for each product, so it is incredibly tedious. It really should not be this difficult, but at least it seems for the time being that this fix will work.

 

Brando1
Excursionist
14 1 23

Thanks for coming back with your findings @badpharmastore .

Unfortunately for me i only have one Inventory Tracker, which is Shopify. So your solution won't work for me.
But, i have a tip for you on how to change all you products in bulk. Export all your products. Edit the file and in the column named "Variant Inventory Tracker" you can change the cells to 'shopify' and reupload it to Shopify.

Brando1
Excursionist
14 1 23

I have found a work around. This will only work for those of you on the Shopify Plus plan. You can create a Shopify Script that discounts shipping cost. In this example the flat shipping rate is $5. Here is an example script that i used:

Input.shipping_rates.each do |shipping_rate|
  if shipping_rate.price == Money.new(cents: 1000)
    shipping_rate.apply_discount(Money.new(cents: 500), message: "Flat $5 Shipping")
  elsif shipping_rate.price == Money.new(cents: 1500)
    shipping_rate.apply_discount(Money.new(cents: 1000), message: "Flat $5 Shipping")
  end
  
  end

Output.shipping_rates = Input.shipping_rates

 

This will check if the shipping is $10. If it is then it will discount the shipping by $5. It is not a perfect solution, but at least it works.

badpharmastore
Tourist
7 0 18

Thank your your advice! And for that fix, though I only have a basic Shopify plan at the moment.

Now I am running into an issue where when somebody orders something from Printful, the "inventory managed by" designation changes back to Printful from Shopify. So the next time somebody orders that SKU with an item from another POD provider in the cart, the shipping rate will double. So every time an order is placed the "inventory managed by" designation will have to be manually changed back to Shopify for that SKU. This is incredibly frustrating and I continue to be completely dismayed that there is not a fix to something that seems so simple. Just let me charge what I want for shipping, that is really all I am asking here.

duckmamanh
Excursionist
24 1 10

I think I found a free fix.  I've installed it...will let you know how it works!

 

https://apps.shopify.com/shipping-rates-logic

duckmamanh
Excursionist
24 1 10

Disregard my last post.  The app requires spending an extra $20 per month with Shopify.

edgarsaul
Visitor
1 0 0

Ya encontraron alguna solución?

mummelman
Visitor
1 0 4

I have the completely same issue still in summer 2021.

Shopify support only could say that they will give this issue to their development team... but I guess, it will not change in near future - very frustrating.

 

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

Hi! Did you continue to use this script? Where did you put it? @Brando1 

edit: just realised you probably put it in the script editor app on plus plan?

Jdnathan
Visitor
1 0 4

I have reached out to quite a few of the app developers in this thread, and so far nobody can help. Would be super useful if Shopify got their act together!! 

Ian625
Tourist
7 0 5

I have exactly same issue. It's June 2022, no solution yet ?? Please!

duckmamanh
Excursionist
24 1 10

The point is no one wants an app, we want Shopify to fix this.

nia2
Visitor
1 0 3

Unfortunately, these apps don't work anymore as Shopify has changed its checkout URL. Shopify needs to find a solution to this problem!

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

I found this plugin which I'm testing at the moment which claims to solve this. There's a checkbox for enabling single location shipping rates for multiple location setups. https://apps.shopify.com/shipping-based-on-zipcode

I'll report back. Massive overkill, but actually seems pretty cool in other aspects.

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

I can confirm that the plugin above fixes the issue. So now (in the rules I've created) if price is less than £99, it will apply only ONE £3.99 shipping charge and will NOT add them together. And then I've added a tier based on order price to the same shipping rate so it's free above £99. Plus a second costed rate for next day shipping at any order value. Excellent. Recommended. Obviously it's $9 a month, but should gain that back in extra orders from people trying to buy multiple products that won't get put off.

Irinaaa
Tourist
4 0 1

hi there, would you please be so nice to share with us the rules you have created? Thanks!

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

I just made a zone and a shipping rate and then in the main settings, pressed "Do you want to enable this option to get single-location shipping rates?" (yes)

Johanna2
Explorer
50 0 44

@Charlesr
Could you please share, where do you find this question "Do you want to enable this option to get single-location shipping rates?" in the main settings? 
Thank you!

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

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Ray32
Excursionist
10 0 8

See, why can't @Shopify just add that feature. Seems like a small option to just be able to put in a check box in the shipping settings to utilize shipping from a single location for all products..

MiraPatil
Excursionist
71 0 5

 

Yes, now i get an exact solution from the same app. thanx for suggestion. even they now upgraded option that works with multiple tier by addon as well. 

DaveSG84
Excursionist
19 0 2

is the basic plan good enough for 9.99$ to resolve this annoying issue? Or which one did you purchase?

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

Yes, it is.

DaveSG84
Excursionist
19 0 2

@charlesr - but I just learned yesterday that I have to purchase Shopify Advanced or pay another 20$ additional each month in order to activate ccs. Otherwise a 3rd party app cant make the required settings.

 

To activate the third-party carrier-calculated shipping, your store needs to be on the Advanced Shopify or Plus plan. If you're on the Shopify plan, then you can add this feature for a monthly fee of 20 Euro or switch from monthly to yearly billing. I would like to send you our help document, which you can take a look at in this regard. 

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

Ah. Good info. Sorry, I didn't know that. The client that I used this with is on advanced.

MiraPatil
Excursionist
71 0 5

Hello @DaveSG84 

 

No need to pay additional $20 if you have already advance plan.

 

For Shopify plan(middle plan of $79) have 2 options to activate CCS.

1: Annual/Yearly billing cycle. (get free CCS and 20% off)

2: Additional $20 USD with monthly billing cycle. 

 

For Basic Shopify plan, no option to activate CCS.

 

 

Ian625
Tourist
7 0 5

I was in the same boat and couldn't find right solution for months and now I'm happy with app- ShipZip by Cirklestudio. it has been solved with $9.99 plan. Sid (tech support), he just set up for me within 10 mins and working perfect!

amor-lafayette
Tourist
3 0 1

hi! is this still working for you?

charlesr
Shopify Partner
26 0 8

The one I linked to a few posts back is still working for me.

art_cunami
Shopify Partner
1 0 0

I found a solution on this we had also 2 locations and set up basic delivery fees for both. But at the end I deleted one of the location fees and now it works properly. 

Irinaaa
Tourist
4 0 1
hi there, so you kept only 1 fee? and what happens if the customer orders
from the warehouse that does not have a fee?
Johanna2
Explorer
50 0 44

Seems similar to the "solution" we use. We only ship from one location right now. So, it is actually not a solution at all. 

Irinaaa
Tourist
4 0 1

OK!! So i have found a solution! I'm on Shopify Plan (the middle one), i talked to the support to pay +20$ extra monthly fee in order to have my CCS activated and installed this app: Shipping & delivery : Shipzip

It's amazing and solved all of our problems! Now even if we have split orders from 2 locations, the customer is only charged with 1 Shipping TAX, not two! GREAT GREAT GREAT!

DaveSG84
Excursionist
19 0 2

yes but again, this simple solution costs 240$ per year plus it requires an upgrade of the shopify plan. I find it still very frustrating.

MiraPatil
Excursionist
71 0 5

Hello @DaveSG84  

Yes, it is Shopify's requirement, as it is update on checkout may be that's why they charge extra!  

before it was working with Basic plan as well but since Jan-23 they have force to available for new users required Shopify plan.

 

 

sniper2804
Shopify Partner
384 25 64

Now in 2023, we have found a solution for flat rate shippers facing this double charging issue. Using our app ShipMagic's shipping customization feature, you can setup rules such that the customer is not double charged even if products are present in cart from more than one location.

 

You can install the app and reach out to the live chat support present in app for more info on how to setup the app.

Automate & bulk assign products to shipping profile: Auto Shipping Profiles: Shipr
Calculate accurate shipping rates: Shipping Calculator: ShipMagic
Hide, rename, reorder payment methods at checkout: Payment Customization: PayMix