Why is my shipping cost calculation incorrect for multiple item orders?

[Mkle]

Hi, I had an order recently where the customer ordered 3 bundles of hair products that weigh 9lbs all put together. The domestic (US) shipping price for one bundle calculate would normally be $9.00.The customer who bought 3 bundles of hair products was only charged $13.00 for shipping, so they basically they got free shipping for everything else. How can I fix this? Because they were not charged for the other 2 bundles. I had to pay the difference. 

[pokupoku]

You can't. Shopify's shipping calculations for multiple items is what you would expect from a website built in 2001.

[Mkle]

Thank you!

[Skye]

Hi, @Mkle.

Thank you for posting to the Shopify Community! I hope your day is going well. To know exactly what happened here, we would need to see a screenshot of the shipping rates for this product. Additionally, are you using a shipping at all?

The reason I ask, is Shopify natively does not have per product shipping. However, we do have weight based shipping. With weight based shipping you can set up per product shipping by increasing the shipping rate by the product weight. For example, as you mentioned your product weighs 9 lbs, you could increase the shipping rate by $5 every 9 lbs. 

Since you are located in the US, another option would be to set up Shopify Shipping and use the USPS calculated rates. To enable this you would simply need to add weights to all your products, then set up the calculated rate for your shipping profile. This will use your address, the customers address, and the weight of your products to calculate the exact label price. You can then purchase the label directly in your Shopify admin.

Lastly, I would also consider the marketing strategy of adding free shipping. To offer free shipping without incurring a loss, simply increase your product prices to include shipping. Research shows that customers are more inclined to make a higher priced purchase with free shipping, then a lower product cost and paid shipping! 

When you have a moment, kindly provide a screenshot of your shipping rates. This will allow me to explain exactly what happened in this situation. When uploading a screenshot please edit out any sensitive account information.

[pokupoku]

Weight based shipping doesn't work for large packages. A 16x16x16 packages costs the same to ship whether its 5 pounds or 10 pounds. If someone buys two items with a dimension 16x16x16 inches and 5 pounds each, the shopify will say its a single 16 cubed box weighing 10 pounds when the reality is I need to ship them in 2 separate 16 cubed boxes.

Free shipping does not work when the shipping cost varies from $15 all the way to $45 for the exact same package.

[Skye]

Hi, @pokupoku.

Thanks so much for joining in on the conversation! Shipping can be very complicated, and is definitely not a one sized fits all functionality. It is especially important when you sell a variety of bulk items. That being said, the information provided above are simply general ideas with the very limited amount of information known about the situation. To provide the best shipping strategy possible, it's important for us to know the full scope of the situation. This includes, location, markup, inventory, carrier rates, product size, etc. 

If you would like assistance on your store and its shipping needs I absolutely invite you to provide full details on your business and we can help you determine what would work for your business!

[pokupoku]

It would be a very simple fix; Allow us to multiple box sizes to calculate shipping costs on a per item basis, and have the box size calculate per item, not per order. A customer buying 2 items should generate 2 shipping labels, not 1, on certain products.

[Skye]

Hi, @pokupoku.

I will definitely pass that feedback on to our developers! I know a lot of merchants would like to see per product shipping. 

As mentioned to the original poster, weight based shipping does actually provide you a work around to add per product shipping. This would not be for calculated rates, this would be for flat rates. For example, if you gave each product a weight of 1 lb, then increased your shipping rate by the same cost for each pound, this creates per product shipping. Each pound represents one product, not an actual weight. 

Additionally, we do offer USPS cubic rates on the Shopify plan and above. This is helpful if you ship heavy, yet small items. To qualify for cubic pricing the package must not exceed .5 cubic feet in volume, and must be under 20 lbs. 

[Jcain]

Rate based shipping seems to be broken today for me- the USPS priority rates are not showing- parcel select will come through correctly, as does UPS. Anyone have insight on that?
I had to turn off priority mail because we are taking a bath on incorrect rates.

[Skye]

Hi, @Jcain.

That is definitely strange! With how many orders did this occur? To provide a specific response I will need to know more context. Specifically, the product weight, package dimensions, and the abandoned order information. You can absolutely provide that information here, or, it is potentially easier to reach out to a live advisor. 

To speak with a live advisor, visit our Help Center and log in to your account to create a support request through live chat, email, or callback. Once you have logged in to your account, type your request in 'Ask about a topic', scroll down to 'Get Support', and then click 'Continue.'

[Jcain]

it occurs with anyone choosing priority mail at check out- the rate to go to southern California is almost the same to go to someone in PA. Doesn't matter if it is 25 pounds or 5 pounds. But if I get to a high weight it seems to be ok. If I use the negotiated rates to check it is also giving incorrect rates/

[Skye]

Hi, @Jcain.

This situation is difficult to provide support for without looking directly at the abandoned carts and shipping rate set up. I recommend you reach out directly to our live advisors who can authenticate you and pull up your account for troubleshooting. 

Please visit our Help Center, log in to your account and create a support request through live chat, email, or callback. When you are logged in, type your request in 'Ask about a topic', ignore the results, scroll down to 'Get Support', and then click 'Continue.'

[Jcain]

It looks like I have tracked this down. At some point commercial rates started offering cubic pricing, and that is coming through based on the dimensions on the package in shopify shipping settings. Aa 10 pound package is the same rate as a 19 pound package as long as the dimensions are below a certain limit, It really causes havoc on a purely weight/distance setup when no regard is made to package size as previously was the case with USPS.

Here is the link. https://www.stamps.com/usps/cubic-pricing/

[Skye]

Hi, @Jcain.

I'm glad you figured it out! That is correct that the cost is the same as long as the weight and size are under a certain size with USPS cubic pricing. This was an option provided above to a previous comment by another user.

This is not something that Shopify controls and is set by USPS. That being said, as mentioned above, it is difficult to comment on your particular situation without viewing your specific settings. 

[pokupoku]

USPS and UPS base rates on package size while Shopify bases the rates on weight. This is embarrassingly incompetent from a company with a market cap of $58,000,000,000. No excuse to not offer a better shipping experience.

[Jcain]

You are right- I can't set up cubic rates on Shopify because that feature is not offered yet that is now how the shipping companies are pricing their rates.

[Skye]

Hi, @pokupoku and @Jcain.

Please allow me to clarify any confusion surrounding Shopify Shipping and USPS rates. Shopify does not create our own rates, all rates are provided directly through USPS. USPS does offer a variety of rates that use the size of the box, weight, and zipcodes to provide a rate. This is known as Priority Mail and First-Class Mail, and can fluctuate in certain circumstances. These rates are completely provided by USPS however at a discounted rate for purchase through your Shopify Admin. These are not created by Shopify, they are calculated by USPS.

The other option, is to use USPS Priority Mail Cubic, which is a flat rate price provided by USPS as long as the package volume and weight stay beneath a specific size. USPS cubic rates are again provided by USPS, not Shopify, however are only available on the Shopify Plan and above.

I can definitely appreciate how it would be amazing to have USPS cubic rates on all plans, thus, I will be providing this as a feature request to our developers on your behalf.

[Jcain]

Here is a great example- the cart offered a priority mail  price of 13.67 to a customer yesterday for 5 pounds going to Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814 from zip 16412, package size 11x11x11. I cannot get that rate to show no matter what dimensions and weight I enter even in shopify shipping. So there is still definitely a break someplace. 

[Skye]

Hi, @Jcain.

Please know, I truly do want to help you. However shipping is very sensitive and in order to provide a specific answer I must be able to see the abandoned checkout, the shipping profile, the zones, the ships from location, the product/order weight, the default box dimensions, etc. 

You can absolutely provide screenshots and I can take a closer look, however, it would serve you well to reach out directly to our live advisors who can easily pull up all the settings that need to be looked at to provide a straight forward answer. 

[pokupoku]

Bump. Has this been fixed yet?

[Maz]

Hi, @pokupoku!

Thanks for joining this thread.

Can you please outline the exact issues you're experiencing for us to troubleshoot? Are you having the same issue as the OP or something else? 

The more information you can share the better we will be equipped to provide tailored assistance and resources. You can share screenshots of your shipping rates and set up.

Thanks! 
 

[pokupoku]

Lets say shipping item Z requires a 16x16x16 box and weighs 8 pounds. If someone orders 2 of these, Shopify shipping only charges the customer ONCE for shipping, instead of twice. It calculates BOTH items together as being 16x16x16 and 16 pounds. The weight is combined but the SIZE is not. For item Z, if 2 are purchased, I have to ship them in separate boxes.

[pokupoku]

6 months later and this is still an issue. I can not add dimensions to my items. Bigger items cost more to ship than smaller items. Auto calculations should be sending item dimensions. Why is weight used for calculations but item size isn't? This would take a developer an afternoon to fix.