International shipping app/rates suggestions for 'odd' UK business

[tristancliffe]

Good morning.

We sell classic car parts worldwide, on a relatively small scale, and have done for 40 years. Prior to using e-commerce we took orders over the phone (or email), picked and packed them and used weight and volume to generate shipping quotes. We'd then go back to the customer with the price, and get the yay or nay.

Why, do you ask?

Because we sell stickers to exhaust pipes and gaskets to windscreens. A sticker is light and thin, but an exhaust is mostly just bulky. And if you order a windscreen (which we have bespoke wooden crates made up to carry them safely) and an exhaust it is far too complicted to send as "one package".

How should we solve this, do you think? Currently I'm only selling online to UK addresses, because for the most part it's quite simple, and am asking international customers to contact us directly. But if we have customers in New Zealand, the US and Europe they would prefer it if we can offer shipping online.

I've tried making rules in Shopify with exceptions for, say, exhaust pipes, but didn't find it reliable enough to "go live" with them.

I'd love your thoughts if you have any.

Thanks, Tristan

[Anindita]

Hi @tristancliffe 

Within Shopify, you can create shipping profiles ranging from light (stickers) to heavy (exhaust pipes) products & add rates accordingly. However, when using Shopify multiple profiles, it can lead to combined rates at the checkout.

To solve that you can use workarounds like PH MultiCarrier Shipping Label. The app allows you to create shipping classes & add multiple shipping rules. For instance, you create two shipping classes- stickers & exhaust pipes. Now you can add shipping rates:

Stickers: Flat Rate $2 or Free Shipping
Exhaust pipes: Flat Rate $10 or set quantity for free shipping

There are multiple such conditions that you can configure to optimize your shipping needs. If you have any queries or want to know the set up in detail feel free to reach out to me or my team of experts. We will be happy to help you!