Custom rates based on subtotal or weight

You can manually set up table rates based on order amount and order weight tiers if you need more complex and accurate shipping than flat rates. Custom tables are useful if:

• You want to encourage customers to spend more by offering lower shipping costs for bigger cart values (e.g. Free Shipping over $300 subtotal).
• You ship large orders by freight and need to cover these shipping expenses.
• You use a shipping or delivery service that is not integrated with Ecwid for real-time quotes, etc.

You can set up table rates in your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup section. See our video guide:

Rates calculation

With the help of custom tables, you can specify how much to charge for different subtotals or weights for customer orders:

Weight-based rates are usually more accurate than subtotal-based rates because they reflect the actual costs of shipping.

Custom tables can be based on Range only or they can be more complex and depend on Range, subtotal, and weight:

If you choose Range only when creating a custom table, the shipping cost will be a flat rate that applies within a set subtotal/weight range:

In the illustration above the shipping fees would be:
$5.00 for orders up to $9.99
$10.00 for orders from $10.00 to $49.99
$20.00 for orders above $50.00

If you choose the Range, subtotal, and weight option for a custom table, the shipping will be calculated within the set subtotal/weight range as a combination of a flat amount per order, a percent charge, a per-item fee, and a per weight unit fee:

In the illustration above the shipping fee for orders up to $9.99 will be calculated as:
$5.00 + $1.00 per each item in the cart + 5% of the cart price + $0.50 per lb.

You can add as many custom tables as you need to cover all the destination zones you ship to.

Rates based on subtotal

If you want the shipping cost to depend on the customers’ order amounts (for example, you want to offer free shipping over $500 and a shipping fee on all smaller orders), you can set up a table based on the necessary subtotal ranges. You can set up separate tables for the different countries/areas you ship to.

Example:

You have set up a table for an area that includes New York with the following subtotal ranges and shipping rates:

• $15 shipping to NY for orders up to $50
• $10 shipping to NY for orders over $50
• $5 shipping to NY for orders over $100
• $0 (free shipping) to NY for orders over $300

If a customer located in NY orders $35 worth of products, she/he will be charged $15 for shipping at checkout.

If a customer from NY orders $310 worth of products, she/he will receive free shipping.

To add a custom table with shipping rates based on the total cart price:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. Click + Add Shipping.
3. Select a carrier to ship your goods.
4. Click Set Up Custom rates.
   

   

5. In the Shipping name at checkout enter a name which customers will see at checkout.
6. Click on the Table based on drop-down menu and choose Subtotal. Choose the shipping rate calculation method from the Rate based on drop-down:
   

   

7. Set the subtotal ranges to which the rates will apply. Click Add row for extra rows in the table.
8. Set the shipping rate you want to charge for each subtotal range. For example, you can charge $10 for all orders below $199 and offer free shipping for all orders worth $200 and more:
   

   

9. Optional: Click Add description for customers and enter the details you want to display at checkout. For example, describe how the shipment will be handed over to the buyer.
10. Optional: Click Limit availability by order subtotal, if you want to inform of this shipping option those customers who are not eligible for it due to a less order sum. Then specify the minimum order subtotal at which this shipping option becomes active at checkout, i.e. the sum of all items in the cart before adding shipping costs and discounts. When this limit is reached, customers will be able to choose this shipping option at checkout.
11. Optional: Click Show approximate delivery date at checkout to display the approximate delivery date next to shipping options at checkout.
    When it comes to shipping, customers want to know when they will receive their order. A specific delivery date at checkout gives your buyers a better customer experience — they can clearly understand when to expect to receive their order, resulting in a higher number of successful sales.

    Then set it up:

    • In the Estimated transit time specify how long it usually takes for the package to be delivered after being handed in to the shipping company. You can find the information at the carriers’ website.
    • In the Days when packages are delivered, specify days of the week when your orders can be delivered. These days will be taken into account when calculating and displaying the approximate delivery date for customers at checkout.
    • In the Order preparation time specify how many days it usually takes for you to prepare an order. That time will be taken into account when calculating the delivery date for customers.
    • In the Days when you pack orders specify when you pack orders for shipment. Also set the final time to pack orders in the I pack orders received past this time on the next day box. Your schedule will be taken into account when calculating the delivery date for customers.

    Your Ecwid store will automatically calculate the delivery time and show it at the checkout so your customers can clearly see it.

12. Click Set shipping region to specify the destinations you will ship to with this method.
13. Click Save & Finish.

Now your custom shipping rate will be shown to customers with their corresponding order total at checkout.

Example

Here is an example of a custom table set up in the Ecwid admin based on order subtotal tiers:

According to this example setup, there will be:

• $8 shipping costs for orders under $100
• $5 shipping costs for orders in the $100-$299 subtotal range
• $0 shipping costs for orders over $300

At checkout customers will see the shipping rates that apply to their order subtotal:

Rates based on weight

You can set up a table with tiered rates based on the total weight of an entire order. This method helps you to cover the actual cost of delivering products with different weights to certain destinations or to cover the expenses of shipping large orders by freight.

Example:

• $5 shipping to NY for orders up to 10 kg
• $10 shipping to NY for orders over 10 kg
• $15 shipping to NY for orders over 30 kg

If a customer from NY orders products with a total weight of 20 kg, they will be charged $10 for shipping at checkout.

To add a custom table with shipping rates that depend on the total weight:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. Click + Add Shipping.
3. Select the carrier to ship your goods.
4. Click Set Up Custom Rates.
   

   

5. Choose Weight from the Table based on drop-down.
6. Choose the type of shipping rate calculation from the Rate based on drop-down:
   

   

7. Set the weight ranges for each rate — click Add row for extra rows in the table. Make sure that there are no gaps between your weight ranges.
8. Set the shipping rate you want to charge for each weight range. For example, you can ship all small orders below 5 kg for free and charge additional $5 for orders heavier than 5 kg:
   

   

9. Optional: Click Add description for customers and enter the details you want to display at checkout. For example, describe how the shipment will be handed over to the buyer.
10. Optional: Click Limit availability by order subtotal, if you want to offer this shipping method only to customers with orders over a certain sum. Then specify the minimum order subtotal, i.e. the sum of all items in the cart before adding shipping costs and discounts. When this limit is reached, customers will be able to choose this shipping option at checkout.
11. Optional: Click Show approximate delivery date at checkout to display for your customers the approximate delivery date next to delivery options at checkout. Then set it up:
    
    • specify how long it usually takes for the shipping company to deliver the package (estimated transit time)
    • at what days of the week your orders are delivered (days when packages are delivered)
    • how many days it usually takes for you to prepare an order (order preparation time)
    • when you pack orders for shipment (days when you pack orders).

    This time will be taken into account when calculating the delivery date for customers.

12. Click Set shipping region to specify the destinations you will ship to with this method.
13. Click Save & Finish.

Repeat the above steps if you need to add another weight-based table for any different destination zones you deliver to.

Now your custom shipping rate based on total order weight will be shown at checkout.

Example

Here is an example of a custom table set up in the Ecwid admin based on order weight tiers:

According to this example setup, there will be:

• $55 shipping costs on any order in the 300-500 lbs range
• $75 shipping costs for any order over 500 lbs.

At checkout customers will see the shipping rate that applies to their order based on weight. In this example the item weighs 310 lbs - which falls within the 300-500 lbs range - hence the shipping freight is $55 at checkout:

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