Shipping cost matrix

Shipping costs without a calculator

Selloff adds the shipping line to a buyer invoice from facts it already knows: the total weight of the lots, the destination country and the value of the lots bought. Weight comes from each lot's packaging. Every packaging type has a default weight that is filled in when the lot is described and can be adjusted lot by lot.

Methods, zones and rules

A shipping method (post, courier, collection or any method you define) is free or paid and priced in its own currency. Zones group countries for a departure country and for one or all methods; by default Selloff offers four zones, from local to overseas. Each paid method then combines one or more charge rules:

• weight matrix: a price per weight bracket and zone
• amount matrix: a price per bracket of purchase amount, optionally by zone
• percentage of the lots' total, optionally by zone
• fixed fee, optionally by zone

Each rule can have a minimum and a maximum, carries a label in each client language, and its amounts are converted into the invoice currency. Rules can be shown as separate lines on the invoice.

Per client, per invoice

Each contact can have a preferred shipping method; otherwise the default method applies. When you allow it, clients choose their method themselves through the API, for example on your website. On the invoice, the shipping method and cost can still be changed, and the method's name can be added to the shipping line so the buyer knows how the parcel will travel.

Who uses it

Administrators set up methods, zones and rules once; after that, invoicing staff no longer look up postage tables, and buyers see consistent shipping costs from one sale to the next.