How to set up Flat Rate Shipping with clubINK
Very Simple Method
The simplest solution: Free Shipping on all clubINK Products. Perhaps your Shopify store is already set up this way and will make perfect sense.
We’re going to use our Basic Tote as a quick example. The idea is to take the Single Unit Price, add in the clubInk shipping for one unit, and determine the Retail Selling Price.
Basic Tote $12.72 + Shipping One Unit $5.00 = Built In Price $17.72
Now let’s determine the Retail Selling Price on our store. Let’s keep it easy and say $24.00. If you subtract the Built in Price from the Retail Selling Price, you’ll know your profit for the sale. Using our example here’s the math:
Retail Selling Price $24.00 – Built In Price $17.72 = You’ll profit $6.28 for selling one Basic Tote.
Medium Effort Method
In this next section we’ll be utilizing Weight Based Shipping in Shopify that you can locate in your store Dashboard: Settings > Shipping > Custom Shipping Rates for Products > under “shipping to” then “Add Rate”
IMPORTANT NOTE: You’ll notice in the examples moving ahead that we’ve created weights for our products that are not real, or exact, to the physical products. We’re only using the weight based shipping functions of Shopify as a way to emulate or mimic the way clubINK charges flat rates.
To make things more efficient, gather a list of all the clubINK products that you would like to sell on your Shopify store. The table below is an example list of products we’ve decided to sell on our new Home Decor Shop with products available in the clubINK catalog. Beside each product is the clubINK Shipping Price.
To access a full list of products with their shipping costs, go to: clubink.com/shipping-rates/.
Going a step further, let’s take the clubINK standard shipping prices into account, organize the products based on their weight profile, and then assign them into their own Weight Group; A, B or C. The best method we have found is to assign each group an arbitrary weight that we can use in Shopify. They don’t need to be exact but they should be in the same weight range. In the scenarios we’ll be presenting moving forward please reference the following table which is an example using clubINK products.
In addition, you can directly edit the clubINK product weights in the Shopify dashboard by finding each one in the Products menu once they’ve been created.
Simple Solutions
Use Case 1
In this scenario, we’re only going to be selling Basic Totes in our Shopify home decor shop. The clubINK flat rate price for one Basic Tote is $5.00 and each additional Basic Tote in the order is $4.00
IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember, in the examples that we’ve created, these weights and ranges are not real to the product itself. We’re only using the weight based shipping functions of Shopify as a way to emulate or mimic the way clubINK charges flat rates.
In the settings menu for Shopify Shipping we’re going to set the shipping price for selling one Basic Tote that is in our Weight Group A to $5.00 .
When our customers purchase one Basic Tote the Total Shipping Cost will be $5.00. When an Additional Basic Tote enters the shopping cart the shipping cost will increase by $4.00 and the Total Shipping Cost will now be $9.00
We’ll move ahead from there and create more weight ranges for when our customers purchase three, four and perhaps up to five Basic Totes in one order.
Use Case 2
Example 1
In this next scenario, we’ll be selling mixed products that Club Ink offers that are in the same weight group that we’ve created in Group A: Basic Totes and Cotton Twill Napkins.
Both of these products are close in flat rate prices but we’ll need to use Averages for the single unit and additional units so that shipping can be calculated properly in the shopping cart when ordered
Single Unit: ($5.00 + $3.00) / 2 = $4.00
Additional Unit: ($4.00 + $1.00) / 2 = $2.50
Once the Averages are determined you’ll have your Single Unit rate for these two items at $4.00. When the Additional Unit enters the shopping cart, the shipping cost will increase by $2.50 and the Total Shipping Cost will now be $6.50
Single Unit Rate + Additional Unit Rate = Total Shipping Cost
Creating the settings is quite easy. But you should also notice that it’s not exactly covering the Club Ink flat rate shipping prices. We will gain an additional $1.00 each time we sell a single Cotton Twill Napkin. But, we will lose $1.00 when we sell a single Basic Tote.
Example 2
By using this next method, we can adjust our shipping rates higher in order to avoid having to calculate averages. We will simply set the Single Unit and Additional Unit rates to meet the Club Ink flat shipping rates for the Basic Totes, which happen to cost more to ship than the Cotton Twill Napkins.
In this set up we will earn additional money when we are selling Cotton Twill Napkins. But the most important aspect is that you are covering the cost of shipping Basic Totes with Club Ink. Here’s the math to consider using our store example from above:
Single Unit Rate + Additional Unit Rate = Total Shipping Cost is $9.00
One Basic Tote + Another Basic Tote in the Order = We are Covered
One Basic Tote + One Napkin in the order = We have gained $1.00
One Napkin + Another Napkin in the order = We have gained $5.00
In Closing
Using the examples we have presented above, you should be able to take these methods forward and expand into more complex shipping scenarios as they present themselves. As we mentioned in the beginning of the tutorial, we are currently in development of shipping carrier integrations where most of these calculations can be automated during the checkout process.