Shopify Shipping costs for bulk orders?

[dailydopamine]

Hello. Recently, we started to expand into B2B sales, which means we’ll be shipping products in larger quantities, often requiring multiple large boxes. For instance, one of our products measures 14x10x2 inches and weighs around 2.5 pounds. If a customer orders one unit, we ship it in a bubble mailer. But when a client orders 30 units, we need to ship them in boxes instead of individual bubble mailers.

Our question is: how does Shopify calculate shipping costs in situations like this, where the order requires larger/multiple packaging? How can we ensure the shipping total reflects the change from smaller mailers to bigger boxes?

[UjjawalS]

hi @dailydopamine I have seen a lot of business owners with a similar query so I can assure you are not alone. One of the major reasons for this issue is the dimensions not being considered in Shopify. In our Multi-Carrier Shipping Label application, we have considered this specific scenario with the help of:

• Dimensions for the products
• Letting store owners define their box(es)

As you mentioned, when there is a single product in the order, our application considers the smaller size box based on the product and box dimensions to ensure a perfect fit. Similarly, when there are multiple products in the order, the application considers a bigger box to accommodate the increase in the weight and dimensions of the order. I recommend you try out the application and let me know if it fits your business requirements.

[kolevich]

Hi @dailydopamine,
I believe this can't be achieved with default Shopify shipping settings. The only way to consider dimensions is to set a single default box which can be used for requesting real-time rates with Shopify. It is obviously a huge limitation. 
However your scenario is perfectly solved with our app's Smart Packaging feature. It virtually pre-packs cart items into available boxes in optimal way or based on your own Packaging Rules. Then it can request real-time rates from major carriers based on those packaging results or you can configure your custom Table Rates based on packaging. This helps to achieve high-accurate shipping calculations. We are happy to serve you with a free initial app setup. This is our app - Calcurates: Accurate Shipping.