Table rate shipping

Updated24 August 2022

Table rates are a great way to set up your shipping, especially if you need a dynamic shipping system, where a flat rate and free shipping system alone will not be enough.

To set up table rates navigate to:

Vendor dashboard
Settings
Shipping

From here, you can create your shipping settings.

Click on the applicable zone and add the shipping method, and table rate, then edit.

This is the table rate form where we can set up and define our shipping rates.

How Does Table Rate Shipping Calculation Work (Rules & Conditions)

On the next page, they will find different fields for setting up their shipping rules.

Method Title — Name of shipping method displayed to customers. For example, 1st Class and 2nd Class, if there are two methods for a zone.
Tax Status — Define whether tax applies to the shipping amount.
Tax included in shipping costs — Define whether the shipping costs defines in the table are inclusive or exclusive of taxes.
Handling Fee — Additional fee. Can be a fixed amount (2.50) or left blank for no handling fee. You can set a fixed price for packaging or labor costs.
Maximum Shipping Cost — Can assign a maximum cost to a method. For example, if you set the price at £200, even if the shipping cost is £250, it will still show £200.
Per order — Calculates shipping for the entire cart.
Calculated rates per item — Calculate the rate by checking each item in the customer’s basket against the table of rates.
Calculated rates per line – Look at each line in the basket and check that against the table. Multiple of the same item are on the same line, so we will only charge once the customer for multiples of the same item.

calculation type

Handling fees per Order/Item/Line Item: Add a flat additional fee to the cost of each calculated item or the entire order, per line item.
Minimum cost per Order/Item/Line Item: Set the minimum cost per calculated item for each calculated item or the entire order, per line item.
Maximum cost per item Order/Item/Line Item: Set the maximum cost per calculated item for each calculated item or the entire order, per line item.

Table Rates

Now let’s look at the options for creating your rates.

Condition

This column tells the system what product information it should use to calculate rates. Your options are:

None–you don’t wish to use product information to calculate the total
Price–the price of the items
Weight–the weight of the items
Item Count–the number of an individual item

Min/Max

The minimum and maximum amounts for your chosen condition. These will be:

Price–the minimum and maximum price starting from 0
Weight – the minimum and maximum weight. (Kg)
Item Count – the minimum and a maximum number of an individual item. For example, you may wish to have one price for 1-50 items and another for 50+ items

Break

You can reorder the table by dragging and dropping rows. When you check this option, you’re telling the system: If you reach this row of the table, stop the calculation from going any further. Meaning, you’re telling the process to break.

We use this for:

Per order–to tell the system to offer a specific rate and no others

Abort

Check the box if you want to disable all rates in the row you are editing. This saves you from deleting the row completely if it is unavailable.

Shipping Prices

This is where you set the cost for your shipping. You can add the following figures:

Row Cost–the base cost for shipping this item. This could include the cost of your packaging.
Item Cost–the cost for each individual item. This is in addition to the cost.
Cost per kg–the cost per kg for the items.
% Cost–the percentage of the items’ total that should calculate shipping.

Label

Name your rates and rows if needed for customers to view in the shopping cart. This can be handy if you offer free shipping on orders over a certain price.

Update settings once you have finished to save.

Examples

Here are some examples of how these rules work for Table Rate Shipping.

Per Order

Dynamic shipping rates which are defined by the order value.

We have selected Per Order from the Calculation Type box. We have kept the other fields like handling fees, and maximum/minimum cost, empty. But you can add any amount you want, it will be in addition to the shipping cost.

We have chosen the condition “Price” as it is the most popular, with a minimum price of £0.00 and a maximum price of £35.00. We are charging £10 shipping.

That means if the order (cart) value is between £0.00 – £35.00, we will charge £10.00 shipping per order.

Now, let’s create our next row. Again the condition is price but we will start from £35.01 – £65.00. For orders in this range, we will charge £5.00 shipping.

Finally, we start from 65.01 – n/a (blank) and charge 0. Any order of £65.01 and over will qualify for free shipping. We can use the label field to let our customers know they have qualified for free courier shipping.

NOTE: If we have gaps in our range or a maximum value and the order exceeds this, then “No shipping methods found” will show in the cart when your customers try to checkout. Ensure you have the correct range in place for your table to avoid any situation where your customers won’t be able to checkout.

If your range is £0-£35, £36-£65, and the cart total is £35.50, your customers will not be able to checkout as there is no range or conditions between £35.00 and £36.00. Always start your next range a penny more (£35.01 – £65.00) as we have in the article examples.

Leaving your last row with a maximum value as n/a will prevent a maximum value from causing a “No shipping methods found” situation.

Calculated Rates Per Item

The value of each item determines fixed shipping rates.

We will use the same conditions as before. This option counts the shipping based on the price, weight, etc. But the Label option doesn’t work for this calculation type.

The value of our product below is £30 as we have set the condition based on the price, with a minimum price of £0.00 and a maximum price of £35.00. The shipping cost will be £10.00 for this product. If we increase the quantity to 2, the shipping cost will be £20.00 and so on. Any product which has a value that falls within our table conditions will be subject to that shipping cost.

Let’s add three £30.00 products to the cart and see the result.

As you can see, the shipping cost is £30.00, £10.00 shipping charge per item with a value between £0 – £35, as defined in our table.

Calculated Rates Per Line Item

As more items are purchased or the quantity is increased, the individual shipping prices per item decrease, if they meet the next condition.

This shipping calculation type calculates the shipping cost based on the ordered item quantity. If the product quantity and value of the cart fall within one of our conditions below the applicable shipping rate is applied. So, with the same conditions.

Again, the value of our product below is £30.00. As we have set the condition based on the price, with a minimum price of £0.00 and a maximum price of £35.00. The shipping cost will be £10.00 for this product.

Now if we increase the quantity to 3 to total value increases to £90.00 and therefore the rate of £3.00 shipping is applied.

As you can see the total value of multiple items contributes to defining the shipping cost.

General FAQ about Table Rate Shipping

What is a table rate method?

The table rate shipping method references a table of data to calculate shipping rates based on a combination of conditions, including weight v. destination. Price v. destination.

How are shipping costs calculated?

The four elements required to calculate shipping costs are shipping point and origin, package weight, package dimensions, and expected delivery times.

What is the difference between table rate and flat rate shipping?

The fundamental difference between table rates and flat rates is the ability to customize rates for your individual business needs. With flat rates, you charge a set fee for all shipments regardless of the cart value.

How to show Free Shipping?

Clarify to customers by editing the Label column with a message such as “Free Shipping” which will display when viewing the cart, and at checkout.