Assigning specific boxes to products

[PomandChi]

Hi, 

I've read through a few threads already that there is no way for Shopify to assign specific boxes to specific products in order to accurately calculate shipping rates. I sell dog beds and dog accessories, so either I lose money on calculating my shipping costs with my small mailer, or lose potential customers because the shipping for a small dog bandana will calculate on the default large shipping box. 

Question 1: Is Shopify going to fix this issue? 

Question 2: What are some alternative app options I can use in the meantime that can do this? I'm having a hard time finding an app that does this basic function and is also affordable. It needs to be compatible with Canada Post. 

Thank you

[Kimi]

Hi @PomandChi.

You're correct in saying that there isn't yet a way within the Shopify admin to natively assign specific packaging to individual products. However, installing a third-party app like Advanced Shipping Rules or Parcelify should help with calculating a more accurate shipping rate for your store. Advanced Shipping Rules has a Lite option for $9 USD per month that you can look into, to see if that will suit your specific business needs. Otherwise Parcelify is perhaps the most affordable option for $14 USD per month. If you have any further questions concerning the apps I mentioned, do get in touch with their support team as they're best equipped to answer app-specific queries.

I can completely understand how having this feature natively on Shopify would be beneficial for your business, and I appreciate you raising this matter with us. I've submitted this feedback along to our developers, so that we can look at further ways of improving our platform for you and all of our merchants. Just a note that we can't guarantee when and if changes will be made, or provide a timeline for updates on this request. However any updates will be listed in our changelog here.

As you're currently looking to maximise your shipping strategies, I also recommend going through our Shopify Blog here for some helpful tips on how you can reduce shipping costs.

[Anindita]

Hi @PomandChi,

Shopify only offers one box size to be sent off for live rate calculations, regardless of the size of the actual order. The problem with using Shopify’s single box size is that you will be undercharging for some orders.

To handle this well, along with the apps @Kimi mentioned, you can also use the Multi Carrier Shipping Label app, which helps you handle this with ease. With the box packing method in the app, you can set up different packages for your products based on their weight & dimensions.

The app automatically chooses the right box and calculates the rates accordingly. Also, with the app, you can print labels, and also automate the tracking process.

[LususNaturae]

I think you all forget that an App doesnt do squat for chargin acurately for shipping.  We use a shipping AP and it works fine. Meanwhile shopify is undercharging the customers As soon as the customer orders more then one Item. Because shopify doesnt use the correct box size when they quote the shipment to the customer what ever shipping AP you use makes no difference in the quote to the customer. For as much money as ppl pay you'd figure that you could figure out how to add volumes together. Atleast enough to prevent a customer from ordering 1000$ in merch and being quoted as if we can ship it in a BUBBLE MAILER...