Thanks @Ren , really looking forward to the updates!
Hopefully they can update the feature to be able to input multiple different package sizes/weights and allocate these to the products in our stores. That would be a useful package feature, which the current one unfortunately isn’t due to the limitations on package variants.
Just wanted to give you my notes on this issue. We are setting up a store and added packages to the shipping profile. We were told by support that you should choose the package you use the most as the one for Use this package to calculate rates at checkout.
At this point I think this whole setup with Shopify is flawed, as once you set that option - ALL of your shipping calculations are done based on that package.
For us, we ship strictly with USPS Priority Flat Rate shipping. This means that in the US, we can ship anything up to 70 lbs in the USPS flat rate envelopes/packages.
Most of our orders are small, so most are shipped with the Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate Envelope. So this is the option we chose as Use this package to calculate rates at checkout.
I can see where the Shopify solution is basic in the US because when pulling the rates from USPS, it seems Shopify is only basing it on weight. Technically, if you could shove 69 lbs of stuff in an envelope, you could send it with USPS. So when using this, Shopify essentially ALWAYS gives the customer the rate based on that Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate Envelope. It’s usually $8.45.
However, if the customer does order more items that we have to ship in a Medium or Large flat rate package, they are still only charged the rate based on the Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate Envelope, which is $8.45. However, if we needed to use a Large Flat rate box, we would end up paying $19.60 to ship it. So because of this, I don’t think we can use carrier rates domestically and now have to come up with our own shipping matrix. Not fun!
International Shipping is just broken!
What is worse is international shipping. With USPS Priority International, the weight limits vary. So with a Priority Mail International® Padded Flat Rate Envelope, you can only ship up to 4 lbs. Well, because our default package is setup as the Priority Mail Padded Flat Rate Envelope, if a customer adds enough product to equal more than 4 lbs, Shopify says: This order can’t be shipped to the address you entered. Why, because Shopify is basing EVERYTHING off of the default package!!
As for the previous suggestions:
Use a custom package with 0.1x0.1x0.1 dimensions: this essentially negates any benefit of the Priority Mail Flat Rate service, as now all rates are calculated based on weight and distance. So that original $8.45 package, is now closer to $10.60 charged to the customer. So now they are overcharged shipping.
Select a larger package as default: again, this is silly, as most of our orders are smaller. Now if we chose the Medium Flat rate box as default, someone who should be charged only $8.45 for an envelope, is now charged $16.10 for a medium box, even though we would never use that.
Use a 3rd party app: NOPE! Not going to have my client rely on a 3rd party AND pay even more money for something so basic.
I understand that the USPS is complicating things with allowing 70 lbs to ship at these rates, but by forcing use to pick a default package is just complicating and in the case of International, BREAKING shipping completely.
We are obviously going to have to not only come up with our own shipping rates for domestic, but also international - which is where we really could rely on carrier based rates.
I’m embarrassed to have to discuss this at all with my client. Shopify in 2022 should be better at this.
I also wanted to point out a very obvious flaw that’s not directly related to our specific use of USPS Priority Mail only.
If you wanted to offer your customers a choice of carrier based rates from USPS, UPS and DHL - you can’t if you choose your default package as something from a specific carrier.
Let’s say we ship most items in USPS Priority Padded Envelopes. However, we wanted to give customers the ability to have something shipped to them overnight via UPS. If you have a USPS Priority Envelope as your default because that’s what most items ship as, the customer will NEVER SEE the rates for UPS!
You HAVE to use a generic packaging to see multiple carrier rates and once you do that, you lose any benefit of the flat rates from USPS.
You’re very welcome! I definitely recognize that this is a prevalent ask and will be keeping tabs on any relevant progress made so I can update everyone respectively.
Hopefully some of my suggestions above can help as temporary workarounds in the meantime. If at any time you come across additional points, be sure to drop them in here!
Hi @KevinLM ,
Just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge your post and thank you for your valuable feedback.
I have updated my last submission to our Developers and will keep an eye on any changes or updates. It’s definitely the type of improvements we like to implement.
Once I have any updates I will thread them here. You can also keep tabs on this as well as all Shopify updates here in our Changelog.
Thanks again for contributing your feedback!
Just noting that I have also included this feedback in my submission to our Developers.
Thank you, @KevinLM ! Have a fantastic week.
My company is having the same problem. I distribute for 17 different manufactures and now have a sales volume over 100K a month. I am getting ready to scrap shopify and go to a competitor if this is not resolved so you may lose a significant income from me just doing my card processing alone… I would love to be updated as to the timeline for the repair.
Hi @Ren
I hope you are safe and well.
We’ve spoken on this thread before and I am just following up on any progress to the package size feature. Has an update been made yet, or is there a timeline for this to be initiated by the dev team? I am not going to use the ‘add package size’ button to test whether an update has been made, as this caused me some problems last time 
I want to use it as soon as an option/capacity for multiple variants is available as it will mean the feature is actually useful to me. Plus, it would go a long way to streamline our store’s order fulfilment process.
Thanks and warm regards
Pat from hoop
Hello again, thanks for checking in! I am actively keeping an eye on this and fully intend to update this thread with any significant progress. At this time, I can say that it’s a widely occurring and highly requested and I will continue to monitor this on my end.
In case I hadn’t mentioned it before, you can also check the changelog to see any and all up-and-coming changes. I wish I had more concrete news to share and appreciate the check-in and your patience. Cheers for now.
Hi - Any updates on this? We started selling smaller items that is charging ridiculous shipping charges now and customers are not purchasing regardless of me saying I will refund shipping overages, adding additional notifications and messages. Please fix this.
no kidding…
Hi there,
No updates at this time though I am actively keeping an eye on this.
I fully understand the predicament you’re in with adding smaller items to sell and the way it complicates your rates. Are the items small enough to offer a flat rate? Depending on the postal service you use, items that can be packaged and measure under a certain parameter will qualify for a “lettermail” fee.
If you are finding your sales are being affected, I would highly encourage you to considered a third party app in the meantime that can help improve your shipping rates. Advanced Shipping Rules may be a helpful option for only $9/monthly.
While I recognize the additional cost is undesirable, something you can consider trying to mitigate this is to add a small handling fee to your calculated rates. Your rates can still remain reasonable and the small fee collected from each sale would add up to offset the cost of the app.
Hope that makes sense and thanks for continuing to share your feedback here.
Can we please get a timeline for a fix? All we need here is to be able to unclick “Use this package to calculate rates at checkout” on the currently assigned and greyed out option for the current default. This has pretty massive impacts on stores like ours with lots of products in different sizes and all matter of order configurations. Asking vendors to pay for a 3rd party app that can cost upwards of 100$ a year in lieu of fixing this obviously impactful bug seems pretty ridiculous.
The initial post is over a year old, please give us a timeline or as others have stated, finding a new platform that responds to support requests may be on the agenda.
Ren, please just tell coding it’s a simple fix. We all just need to be able to revert back to how we all had the shipping set up for our multiple products. So basically, in layman’s terms, have the checkbox be active so we can check/ uncheck it if we make a mistake. “Use this package to calculate rates at checkout” needs to active so we can decide for ourselves if we need to use that or not. We as small businesses do not want to undercharge and lose money, and we do not want to overcharge our customers. Please. Simply stop stealing money from Shopify clients (those of us who use Shopify) by never addressing this major issue.
I 100% agree with Marbllle, the “Saved Package” now means our shipping carrier is no longer usable? Do the shipping carriers know about this?
It’s a little concerning given the amount of money many Shopify Users pay for the app and access to get shipping carrier rates that are not supported via Shopify Shipping, and I find it odd that it cannot be undone given that we didn’t actually have a default “Saved Package” 48 hours ago and our shipping worked fine.
Without a workaround - my client’s store is now locked into having to use the Shopify preferred options that do not transport the items sold in our store. And without these shipping options or a workaround, the majority (approx 60-70%) of the online customers can no longer shop with my client - and it goes against Shopify’s “Start and grow your eComm business” philosophy.
The other alternative is we list 1650+ individual custom shipping rates for each item and state in Australia - which isn’t at all sustainable.
Having a look at the code, can we remove the need to make it default??
https://shopify.dev/api/admin-graphql/2023-01/mutations/shippingPackageUpdate
@Ren can we please get some sort of update or timeline for when this will be addressed? If this cannot be fixed quickly we may have to more our e-commerce to another site as this is extremely problematic for our shop. As many have noted here, this should be a fairly simple option to fix and should be prioritized so that those of us paying for the use of Shopify have the full functionality…
Hi @Ren
Was looking at this again - if the “default” setting for Saved Packages cannot be removed, what are the possibilities of an if/else statement to prioritise any Carrier rates that are listed in the General Shipping options using a null function, being implemented/coded in?
eg/ a possible statement could be - if the Carrier and app rates section is active and not empty, and has carrier app rates listed, it will use these rates and ignore any Saved Packaged rates, else it will go to the rates specified under “Your rates” and so on.
Any info is much appreciated, I have 12 clients that will be affected by this if there is no resolution. I have advised them to not touch the “Saved Packages” section and to not select any options, which seems to keep the Carrier rates intact.
Many thanks
Michelle
After months no real solution? what a bleep joke
Hi @Ren ,
Still no update??
This is ridiculous… it should be easy to fix.
Please respond with logical alternative thank you
Hi @KevinLM ,
Were you able to figure it out?
Having same issue, this is ridicules.
Thanks!