Shipping Calculation type

  • Resolved fullcolor

    (@fullcolor)


    2 weeks, 4 days ago

    Hi,
    I can’t be the only one with the following problem: my customer is ordering multiple products with different packaging sizes. How do I tell Woocommerce that a single product fits in 1 box, but multiple products (the same or 4 different products) don’t fit in that same box?
    I will try to explain:

    Shipping box S - small box > cost € 5.00
    Shipping box M - medium box > cost € 10.00

    Product A - small product
    Product B - medium product
    Product C - medium product

    Product A is such a small product that it fits into Box A multiple times.
    Product B just fits into Box A, there is no room for anything else.
    Product C fits easily in Box M.

    Example A
    Customer orders 3 x product A.
    The volume of the 3 orders still fits well in Box S.
    I choose Per Order calculation type, so the shipping costs are €5.00 in total.
    If I choose Per Class calculation type, the shipping costs will be €5.00 in total.
    So there’s no problem > I choose Per Order calculation type

    Example B
    Customer orders 1x product B and 1x product C.
    The volume of the 2 orders will fit in Box M.
    If I choose Per Order calculation type, the shipping costs are €10.00 in total.
    If I choose Per Class calculation type, the shipping costs will be €15.00 in total.
    So there’s no problem > I choose Per Order calculation type

    Example C
    Customer orders 1x product A and 1x product B.
    The volume of the 2 orders will not fit in Box S (because Product B is fitting tighly in Box S), so I'll have to pack the order in Box M.
    If I choose Per Order calculation type, the shipping costs are €5.00 in total.
    If I choose Per Class calculation type, the shipping costs will still be €5.00 in total.
    So there’s a problem, because both products will not fitt together in Box S but independently they are both assigned Box S.
    And my costs will be €10.00 (for Box M) so I lose €5.00.

    I have more than 35 products, each with a different size.
    The weight of the products doesn’t matter, as they are very light. And the dimensions are flexible because they are assembly kits.

    As I said: I cannot believe i’m the only one with this problem. How do you solve this.

    With kind regards,
    Bianca

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Plugin Support shahzeen(woo-hc)

    (@shahzeenfarooq)

    2 weeks, 3 days ago

    Hi @fullcolor!

    Thank you for the detailed explanation and the examples. I understand the scenario you’re trying to achieve.

    The built-in WooCommerce Shipping Classes feature is designed to calculate shipping costs based on the assigned shipping class, but it does not perform box packing or determine whether multiple products can fit into the same package. As a result, it can’t automatically switch from Box S to Box M based on the combined dimensions or volume of the products in the cart.

    In your Example C, although both products are assigned to the same shipping class, WooCommerce doesn’t evaluate whether they physically fit together in the same box. This type of calculation is beyond the capabilities of WooCommerce core.

    For packing scenarios like this, you’ll need a shipping solution that supports box packing/package packing algorithms. One option available on WooCommerce.com is Table Rate Shipping, which offers more advanced shipping rules than the built-in flat rate shipping.

    To achieve the exact behavior you’re looking for, a custom shipping solution or custom development would likely be required. Per our support policy, we’re unable to provide support for customizations or custom code.

    I can recommend WooExperts and Codeable.io as options for getting professional help. Alternatively, you can also ask your development questions in the  WooCommerce Community Slack as custom code falls outside our usual scope of support.

    I hope this helps clarify the available options.

    Thread Starter fullcolor

    (@fullcolor)

    2 weeks, 3 days ago

    Hi shahzeen,

    Thanks for your answer. I haven’t looked at your options, but have another question.
    There are 2 calculation types: Per Order and Per Class.
    Is there maybe a third type available, namely Per Product?
    That will probably mean that the costumer initially will pay to much, but I can warn them (by adding some text) and refund the excess shipping costs paid.

    Kind regards,
    Bianca

    Plugin Support shahzeen(woo-hc)

    (@shahzeenfarooq)

    2 weeks, 3 days ago

    Hi @fullcolor!

    Thanks for your follow-up question.

    WooCommerce’s built-in Flat Rate shipping method only provides the Per Order and Per Class calculation types. There isn’t a built-in Per Product calculation type.

    If you’d like to charge shipping on a per-product basis, this would require either:

    • A shipping extension that supports this type of calculation, if it meets your requirements, or
    • A custom solution, as WooCommerce core doesn’t provide this functionality.

    If you think a Per Product calculation type would be a valuable addition to WooCommerce, we’d encourage you to submit it as a feature request. Our development team regularly reviews feature requests when planning future improvements:

    https://woocommerce.com/feature-requests/

    I hope this helps.

    Plugin Support Kay U a11n

    (@kingsleyinfo)

    1 week, 2 days ago

    Hi @fullcolor fullcolor,

    I’m going to mark this as resolved, as we haven’t heard back from you in a while. Please open a new thread if you need further assistance.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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