Many stores sell products of different sizes and weights. Therefore, Flat Rate Shipping is just not good enough for them. They need a solution for advanced shipping cost calculations. So, what is Table Rate Shipping? It is an easy way in which a store can set rules to calculate advanced shipping cost. In this article, I’ll show you how it works.
Rules and conditions in calculations
Basic calculations for shipping cost a store would consist in charging a customer depending on the weight of their order. For example 1-5 lbs: $5, 5-10 lbs: $8, 10-20 lbs: $15 and so on. It seems pretty easy, so what’s advanced about that? When you combine such rules with shipping classes and other conditions, you can set virtually any shipping cost for an order.
Every rule can add some cost to the total cost or subtract a cost from it. A rule can use different conditions such as:
- if all items from the order weight from 1 lbs to 5 lbs, then add $10 to the shipping cost,
- if items from shipping class XYZ appears in the cart, then subtract $3 from the shipping cost,
- if there are more than 5 items in the order, then add $8 to the shipping cost.
Use a table to configure shipping costs
Table Rate Shipping as a method uses a table to establish such rules. Let’s try to write down the conditions we talked about above.
| Rule based on | Conditions | Shipping class? | Cost to add |
|---|---|---|---|
| weight | 1-5 lbs | no, every product | $10 |
| items | any item | yes, XYZ | -$3 |
| items | 5 or more items | no, every product | $8 |
You see? If you use the table then it seems much easier! Especially when you have a lot of rules and conditions.
There’s a plugin for that
You can use a Table Rate Shipping method to set shipping cost rules in your WooCommerce shop. We are the authors of the Flexible Shipping plugin. It is a really simple and easy to use plugin which is used by almost 10.000 WooCommerce shops worldwide.
It works with WooCommerce 2.6.14 – 3.2. It is so easy that even people who don’t know what table rate shipping is can use it with ease. Flexible Shipping supports shipping zones and, what is more, you can download this plugin for free →
What is Table Rate Shipping? – an example
Mark runs a shop with car parts. Most customers buy only a few products per order. One package can contain as much as 10 lbs of items. The base cost of the shipment is $10. He needs to add additional $1 for every 3 lbs above the 1st lb.
Mark pays for the shipping insurance for the orders above $100. The insurance costs $5 for a package and Mark wants to charge the customer for it.
How would the rules in the Flexible Shipping look like?
Let’s talk through the rules one by one:
- If items in an order weight up to 10 lbs, add $10 to the shipping cost;
- If items in an order weight from 1 to 3,99 lbs, add additional $1 to the shipping cost or
- If items in an order weight from 4 to 6,99 lbs, add additional $2 to the shipping cost or
- If items in an order weight from 7 to 10 lbs, add additional $3 to the shipping cost;
- If the total cost of an order is more than $100, add additional $5 to the shipping cost (for the insurance).
Easy-peasy!
Summary
In this article, you learned the answer to the question: what is the Table Rate Shipping method. You have also learned how to set rules in Flexible Shipping. You can use the Table Rate Shipping method in your WooCommerce shop now!
Do you want to learn more about shipping in WooCommerce? Check out The Ultimate Guide to WooCommerce Shipping → for free!
