Which shipping apps calculate rates by size and weight on Basic Plan?

[Janit_Calvo]

I'm completely stumped and royally stuck.

Are there any shipping apps for the Basic Shopify Plan that will calculate better rates for my customers based on SIZE and weight?

I'm losing sales and losing customers.

I've tried Shopify help but they don't seem to get what I'm looking for. They said to just get "carrier calculated shipping app" but then I find out the app needs an API from Shopify which requires at least an upgrade to the "mid-tier" plan which is $4800/year. 

[krystlerae]

Have you checked out Shopify Shipping? That link will bring you to the help center page, and then if you scroll down it will show how to install. Do YOU want to be able to check shipping calculator or do you want your customers to be able to check/choose their preferred shipping method? 

Edited to Add: I've dug around a little more in the details of the Shopify Shipping section and it appears that if your store is based in the US, then USPS rates are added by default. If you go to Settings > Shipping and delivery > scroll down to 'General shipping rates' under 'Shipping zones', select the 'Use carrier or app to calculate rates' tab under 'Shipping zones' section. It should default to USPS and then mine shows 2 services (First Class Mail and Priority Mail) and then if you wanted to add more, click 'Add rate' and select the bullet point for 'Use carrier or app to calculate rates' and select UPS or DHL and then check the boxes for whatever services you want for each carrier. 

[Janit_Calvo]

Many thanks @krystlerae - I appreciate the help. 

I had that set - the "Use carrier or app to calculate rates" for USPS - so it picks up the "Discounted rates from Shopify Shipping" automatically and adds up the weight of the order to pack the box and charges accordingly.

I need it to calculate the SIZE of the products in order to get a realistic rate for the customer, unfortunately. 

For example, it's not seeing the USPS flat rate boxes where we can save the customers postage costs for most orders. They are listed in the Shipping Packages but they are not even being considered in the calculation. If it took the size of the products into consideration, it would see that it could use these flat-rate boxes from USPS.

So is there an app for that? One that works with the Basic Plan and considers the sizes of the products in its calculation?

Am I missing something? 

(This isn't new technology and this is not a stretch to implement. I come from the GoDaddy Quick Shopping Cart that I had since 2006 (!) - their shipping calculator would pack the box accurately AND it would tell me HOW it packed it, meaning which box had what items in it. I just assumed this updated, newer Shopify program would have something similar! )

[sniper2804]

Hi @Janit_Calvo ,

Not sure if this would work, but I am suggesting a hack.

Have you tried creating custom shipping profiles based on Size of the product ?
And then you can use an automation app like Shipr to automate the process of assigning products to shipping profiles.

P.S. - I am the founder of Shipr, and in no way I am trying to sell my app. Infact, it's a free app.Just trying to see if this hack can work.

[Jagruti_Naveen]

Hey @Janit_Calvo !

I totally get your frustration—size and weight can make a big difference in shipping costs, and it’s tough when Shopify’s Basic plan doesn’t offer carrier-calculated rates out of the box.
@krystlerae ,while Shopify Shipping provides discounted rates based on weight and distance, it doesn’t factor in product dimensions. 

I’ve seen some discussions around workarounds, @sniper2804, but I believe creating multiple shipping profiles won’t help, because carrier-calculated rates just aren’t available on the Basic plan.

However, there’s a way to enable this feature on the Shopify plan—you can contact Shopify support and add carrier-calculated shipping rates to your Shopify plan for an extra $20 per month. Once that’s enabled, you can use our Shopify app - Multi Carrier Shipping Label to factor in both product size for more accurate shipping rates.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need any more details—happy to help however I can.

[Janit_Calvo]

If I wanted to spend the money to get something that should be included for free, I would have already done that. You can see a similar solution - throwing more time, money and energy at it - was offered almost 2 YEARS AGO. #lawdhelpme  

[icespecialists]

I contacted shopify, and they said that you cannot add carrier-calculated shipping rates to your Shopify plan for an extra $20 per month.  They said you need to upgrade the plan to add carrier-calculated shipping rates.

Please advise