You can set a postage cost on every product one at a time, or you can create a few shipping profiles and assign products to them. Profiles win as soon as you have more than a handful of listings, because a change to Royal Mail prices means editing one profile instead of forty products. This guide sets up two profiles for a small shop selling greetings cards and mugs.
The three ways a profile can charge
- Reduced Rate. A first item price, then a lower price for each extra unit of the same product. Good for most handmade items: the first mug costs £3.95 to post, each extra mug adds £1.50.
- Per Item. The same price for every unit. Good for heavy or bulky items where two really do cost twice as much to send.
- Combined. One flat charge per order however many they buy. Good for light things like cards, or for a “£2 postage on everything” offer.
Step 1: create the profiles
Go to Settings, then Shipping Profiles, and click Create Shipping Profile.
For the cards: name it “Cards, large letter”, choose Combined, and set the price to £1.50. Save.
For the mugs: name it “Mugs, small parcel”, choose Reduced Rate, set the first item price to £3.95 and the additional item price to £1.50. Save.
Step 2: assign products
Open a product, go to the Shipping section, set Shipping Method to use a profile and pick the right one. Set the Ready to ship in time too. Save. Repeat for each product. New products can be assigned as you create them.
For a variable product you can leave the variations on “Use default” so they follow the product’s profile, or give a heavier variation its own cost.
Local collection
On the same Shipping Profiles page, Collection Settings lets customers collect from you instead of paying postage. Turn it on and add the address, or leave the address blank to use your store address.
Free postage
Two options. Create a Combined profile with a price of £0 and assign it to the products you want to post free. Or keep normal postage and use the Free Shipping Coupons setting to offer free delivery as a promotion. Whether free delivery is worth it for your shop is discussed in Shipping overview.