Setting up custom shipping rates

From Spiffy Stores Knowledge Base

Spiffy Stores allows you to create custom shipping rates based on weight, cart value, shipping codes, or global cart-wide shipping options. To add a custom shipping rate, go to the "Preferences >> Shipping & handling" section of your Store Toolbox, and follow the instructions below.

Most stores should start with weight-based or price-based shipping rates. Shipping-code based rates and global shipping rates are advanced options that are useful when particular products, collections, or checkout scenarios need special handling.

Creating a custom weight-based shipping rate

  1. Click on the "Add a weight-based rate" link under the country that you want to add a custom weight-based shipping rate for.
  2. Name your shipping rate. This name appears in your checkout when a customer places an order, so generally you would write the shipping method being used. For instance "Australia Post".
  3. Add the weight range. The first box is the starting (lowest) weight that applies for this weight range. The second box is the ending (highest) weight that applies for this weight range.

    Note: In order for the weight range to apply to the current contents of the shopping cart, the weight of the cart must be greater than the lowest value in the range, but less than or equal to the highest value in the weight range.
  4. Add the price for this shipping rate.
  5. Just click the Save Rate button, as this is a fixed-price shipping rate, and you don't need to specify a Shipping Agent rate calculator.

If you want to adjust the price for different regions in the country (including custom regions that you've created), click on the rate that you've just created, and use the arrows to adjust the rate up or down. You can also disable the rate for any regions as well, so you can create a custom rate that only applies to customers in your local area.

See also:

Creating a custom price-based shipping rate

  1. Click on the "Add a price-based rate" link under the country that you want to add a custom rate for.
  2. Name your shipping rate. This name appears in your checkout when a customer places an order, so generally you would write the shipping method being used. For instance "Australia Post".
  3. Add the Cart Value Range. This value box is the lowest value of items in your customer's shopping cart that applies for this shipping rate.

    If you want to restrict the value range, you can supply an upper limit to the range by clicking on the or more link. This will then allow you to enter an upper range for the cart value.

    Note: The value of the cart must be greater than or equal to the lowest value, but less than the highest value, if supplied.
  4. Add the price for this shipping rate.
  5. Click the Save Rate button.

If you want to adjust the price for different regions in the country (including custom regions that you've created), edit the rate that you've just created, and use the arrows to adjust the rate up or down. You can also disable the rate for any regions as well, so you can create a custom rate that only applies to customers in your local area.

Important note: If one or more matching price-based shipping rates are found for a shopping cart, then all weight-based rates are ignored.

Example: Creating a price-based shipping rate - Free shipping for orders over $200

  1. Click on the "Add a price-based rate" link under the country that you want to add a custom rate for.
  2. Name your shipping rate. This name appears in your checkout when a customer places an order, so generally you would write the shipping method being used. For instance "Free shipping for orders over $200".
  3. Enter $200 for the Cart Value Range.
  4. Set the price to $0 for this shipping rate.
  5. Click the Save Rate button.


Creating shipping code based shipping rates

Warning: Please do not use shipping codes unless you fully understand this documentation. Shipping codes are not a solution for all of your shipping prices. They should be used alongside your normal weight-based or price-based rates. They are designed for special products or product groups that require shipping to be calculated outside of how you would normally calculate shipping.

A shipping-code based shipping rate has a unique code associated with it. You define this code when you create the shipping rate.

Shipping codes can be applied to:

  • a product;
  • a product variation;
  • a collection.

Product and variation shipping codes have the highest priority. Collection shipping codes are used when the product or variation does not already have its own shipping code. If no shipping code applies, the product uses your standard weight-based or price-based shipping rates.

In order to use shipping-code based shipping rates, you will need to enable Advanced Shipping Options under "Your Settings" in the Advanced Configuration section. After you've done this, you can then create the shipping-code rate in the "Preferences > Shipping & handling" section of your Toolbox.

  1. Click on the "Add a shipping-code based rate" link under the country that you want to add a custom rate for.
  2. Name your shipping rate. This name appears in your checkout when a customer places an order, so generally you would write the shipping method being used. For instance "Fragile Item Shipping" or "Oversized Item Shipping".
  3. Enter the Shipping Code. You will need to enter this shipping code when editing a product, variation, or collection, so make sure you make a note of it.
  4. Enter the maximum number of products that can be shipped at this price in the "Max Items" box. If you are setting a shipping rate for 1 item, but it's the same price to ship 3 items, you should enter 3 here.
  5. Add the price for this shipping rate.
  6. Click the Save Rate button.

Once you have created a shipping-code based rate, you can then use this code on a product, variation, or collection.

When a product or variation is configured to use a shipping code, the shipping costs for that product or variation are determined by the shipping rate with the matching code.

When a collection is configured to use a shipping code, products in that collection automatically inherit the collection shipping code, unless the product or variation has its own shipping code.

A product or variation with a shipping code can only use the shipping rate that has been defined with the same code. If a shipping rate has not been defined with a matching code, then the checkout may not be able to calculate shipping correctly for that item. Products and variations that have been defined with a shipping code do not use your normal weight-based or price-based shipping rates.

To assign a shipping code to a product or variation:

  1. Go to the product in your Toolbox that you want to use the shipping code on.
  2. If the shipping code applies to all of the variations that belong to this product, edit the shipping code on the far right of the product edit screen that has the title "Shipping Code". Enter the code and click the "update code" button.
  3. If the shipping code applies to only one or two of the variations that belong to this product, edit the variations directly and enter the shipping code in the "Shipping" section when you're editing the variation.

Shipping code priority

When the checkout calculates shipping, Spiffy Stores uses the following priority:

  1. Product or variation shipping code
  2. Collection shipping code
  3. Standard weight-based or price-based shipping rates

This means that a product or variation shipping code overrides a collection shipping code.

For example, you might assign the shipping code FRAGILE to a Ceramics collection. Most products in that collection will use the FRAGILE shipping rate. If one product in the collection is unusually large, you can assign a different shipping code to that product or variation, such as OVERSIZE. The product or variation shipping code will be used instead of the collection shipping code.

Multiple shipping codes in one order

If a customer's cart contains products with different shipping codes, the checkout groups those products by shipping code. Each group can show its own shipping options.

This is useful when different products need to be packed or sent separately. For example, a cart may contain standard products, fragile products, and oversized products. Each group can have its own shipping calculation.

Assigning shipping codes to collections

A collection shipping code lets you apply a shipping code to all products in a collection. This is useful when a group of products all need the same special shipping rule.

For example, you might use a collection shipping code for:

  • fragile products;
  • heavy or oversized products;
  • products that need to be packed separately;
  • products that require a special delivery method;
  • gift vouchers or other products that need a special shipping rule.

Instead of editing each product individually, you can assign the shipping code to the collection. Products in that collection then inherit the shipping code automatically, unless the product or variation has its own shipping code.

To assign a shipping code to a collection:

  1. Go to the "Collections" section of your Store Toolbox.
  2. Open the collection you want to update.
  3. Enter the shipping code for the collection.
  4. Save the collection.

The shipping code entered on the collection must match a shipping-code based rate that you have created in "Preferences > Shipping & handling".

A product or variation shipping code will always override the collection shipping code.

Creating global shipping rates

A global shipping rate is a shipping option that applies to the whole cart.

Unlike a normal weight-based, price-based, or shipping-code based rate, a global shipping rate is not limited to a particular product group. It can apply to all items in the cart, regardless of whether products or collections have shipping codes.

Global shipping rates are useful for simple cart-wide options such as:

  • Local Pickup;
  • Click & Collect;
  • Free In-Store Collection;
  • a simple flat-rate option for the whole order.

A common example is a global rate named "Local Pickup" with a price of $0.00. This gives the customer a simple pickup option for the whole order, even when the cart contains products that would otherwise be split into different shipping-code groups.

When a customer selects a global shipping rate, other shipping-code groups are hidden from the checkout. If the customer changes back to a non-global shipping option, the shipping-code groups are shown again.

This keeps the checkout simpler when the customer has selected a cart-wide option such as Local Pickup.

Creating a "free shipping" or "Click & Collect" rate for customers in your area

If you want to offer free pickup or click and collect to customers nearby, you have the option of creating an additional shipping rate. The cost can be set to zero, and you should limit its availability to customers in the same state or region as your store by editing the rate and disabling all other regions.

You would also definitely need to name your shipping rate something like "Pick up from Bendigo, Victoria", so you don't get customers that are too far away selecting this option.

This works well for weight-based shipping. If you have a combination of weight-based and price-based rates set up, you'll need to experiment with how you set it up, as price-based rates will always override weight-based rates.

If you are using shipping-code based rates, you should usually create your pickup option as a global shipping rate instead. A global shipping rate applies to the whole cart and can be used for options such as "Local Pickup", "Click & Collect", or "Free In-Store Collection".

Step by Step - Creating a free "Pick Up" or "Click & Collect" rate using a weight-based rate

Note: If your store uses shipping codes, consider creating this as a global shipping rate instead. A global rate is usually a better option for Local Pickup or Click & Collect because it applies to the whole cart.

  1. Firstly, ensure that you have enabled free shipping offers for your country in the "Country/Region Options" right below where you set your shipping rates.
  2. Click on the "Add a weight-based rate" link under the country that you want to add a custom weight-base shipping rate for.
  3. Name your shipping rate something like "Pick up from Bendigo, Victoria", so you don't get customers that are too far away selecting this option.
  4. Add the weight range. Generally for pickup, the lowest value would be zero, and the highest value would be 100kg to cover all rates.
  5. Set the price for this shipping rate to zero.
  6. Click the Save Rate button.
  7. Click on the rate that you've just created, and disable the rate for any regions that are too far away to pick up from you.


You might also want to offer payment on pickup. This is done in the Preferences > Checkout & Payment section of your store's admin by following the instructions below.

Step by Step - Creating a "Pay on Pickup" rate in your checkout

  1. Go to the Preferences > Checkout & Payment section of your store's admin.
  2. In the Custom Payment Methods section choose Create a custom payment method.
  3. For the Name, enter "Pay on Pickup" or whatever you prefer.
  4. In the Instructions field enter "Pay when picking up from YOUR SUBURB, YOUR STATE".
  5. DO NOT TICK the Items are automatically marked as paid option.
  6. Click the Activate button.

Creating a shipping rate for customers in your area

If you want to offer a special rate to customers nearby, you have the option of creating an additional shipping rate. The cost can be set to whatever you prefer, and you should limit its availability to customers in the same state or region as your store by editing the rate and disabling all other regions.

You would also definitely need to name your shipping rate something like "Delivery to Melbourne Metro", so you don't get customers that are too far away selecting this option.

This works well for weight based shipping. If you have a combination of weight based and price based rates set up, you'll need to experiment with how you set it up, as price based rates will always override weight-based rates.

If you want to control this rate even further, you can restrict your shipping rate so it only applies to customers that are within a certain distance from you using Checkout Rules.

If you are using shipping-code based rates, consider whether this local rate should be created as a global shipping rate. A global rate can apply to the whole cart, while a shipping-code based rate applies only to products or collections using the matching shipping code.

Further Reference

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