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Understanding Your Rate Cards

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    Setting Domestic (US) Shipping Prices

    📦 How to Set Your Shipping Rates in Shopify

    Using your MasonHub rate card and Zone Map, it’s time to decide what to charge your customers for shipping. This guide will walk you through how to set your pricing strategy and configure your shipping options in Shopify.

    🧾 Step 1: Understand Your MasonHub Rate Card

    Your rate card shows what MasonHub charges you to ship orders. Rates are based on:

    • Weight range (e.g., 0–1 lb, 1–2 lbs)
    • Shipping zone (based on distance from our warehouse—Zone 2 is close, Zone 8 is far)
    • Service level (MH Ground, MH 2-Day, MH Overnight, etc.)

    Example:
    Shipping a 1 lb package to Zone 5 via MH Ground might cost $7.50

    This is your cost, not what the customer sees.

    💵 Step 2: Choose Your Customer Pricing Strategy

    You have flexibility in how you price shipping for your customers. Here are the most common approaches:

    ✅ Option 1: Cost-Plus Pricing

    • Add a markup to your MasonHub cost
    • Example: Your cost is $7.50 → You charge $10
    • ✅ Keeps margins consistent
    • ❌ Checkout prices may feel high or inconsistent to customers

    ✅ Option 2: Flat Rate Pricing (Most Popular)

    • Charge a single amount for most orders
    • Example: “$5.99 Shipping” or “Free Shipping over $75”
    • ✅ Cleaner checkout experience and better conversion
    • ❌ You cover the cost difference if actual shipping is higher

    How to set your flat rate:

    1. Look at your average package weight
    2. Review your most common zones (usually Zones 2–5)
    3. Use your rate card to calculate average shipping cost
    4. Add a small margin and round up for simplicity

    ✅ Option 3: Tiered Flat Rates

    Set different rates based on order value or shipping speed

    Example:

    • Orders under $50: $8.99 shipping
    • Orders $50+: Free shipping
    • Express shipping: $19.99

    This lets you offer incentives and control your costs.

    🧮 Free Shipping: Should You Offer It?

    Free shipping increases conversions—but it cuts into your margins. Here's how to decide:

    Example Calculation:

    • Average Order Value (AOV): $75
    • Avg MH Ground shipping cost: $8.50
    • Product margin: 65%
    • Margin after free shipping: ~53.7%
      If that margin works for your business, free shipping might be a good move.

    💡 Many brands offer free shipping at thresholds like $50 or $75 to drive up cart size.

    🔧 Step 3: Set It Up in Shopify

    Once you’ve chosen your pricing strategy:

    1. Go to Shopify → Settings → Shipping and Delivery
    2. Set up your Shipping Zones (U.S., Canada, etc.)
    3. Create your Rate Names (e.g., “Standard Shipping,” “Express Shipping”)
    4. We recommend using flat rates for each shipping option (instead of carrier-calculated rates)

    Why flat rates?

    • More predictable
    • Customers see consistent pricing
    • MasonHub uses rate shops, so Shopify’s calculations won’t match your actual costs
    • Shopify uses your product weights and dimensions and assumes a packaging size--which may not align with how the order is actually packed

    📘 Learn more: Set up flat shipping rates in Shopify →

    🧠 Final Tip: Start Conservative

    Start with rates that give you room to learn and adjust. Once you’re live and shipping, we’ll help you review your actual shipping costs and adjust your strategy to meet your goals.

     

    🌍 Understanding Your International Rate Card and Setting Up International Shipping Rates

    Just like domestic shipping, at checkout, your international customers see options like “International Standard” or “Worldwide Express.” Behind the scenes, MasonHub needs to know which service level you want us to use to fulfill those orders.

    📦 Example:
    Your customer selects “International Standard” at checkout → You map that to Passport Priority DDP

    🔍 Step 1 — Understand Your Cost: 🌍 How to Read Your International Rate Card

    1. Open the Rate Card
      • Each tab = one carrier/service (e.g. Passport Priority DDP, UPS Worldwide Economy DDU).
    2. Find the Destination
      • Tabs with country codes (CA, GB, …) → scan for your country.
      • Tabs with numeric zones (001, 002, …) → open the Zone Map, find your country, note its zone.
    3. Locate the Weight Break
      • Rows usually run 8 oz → 1 lb → 2 lb → 3 lb…
      • If most of your orders weigh 1–2 lb, start there.
    4. Read Your Cost
      • Intersection of destination column × weight row = what MasonHub will bill you.

    ➡️ Keep those numbers handy—you’ll use them to price your customer-facing rates.

    💸 Step 2 Choose a Customer-Facing Pricing Strategy

    Option A — Flat Rate (most brands start here)

    • One simple price that covers most orders (e.g., $14.99).
    • How to ballpark it: average your top three costs from Step 1, add a cushion, round up.

    Option B — Tiered Flat Rates

    • Price changes by cart value or speed.
      • Example: Under $100 → $14.99 • $100 + → Free • Express → $29.99.
    • Use when you want to reward high-value carts or offer a premium speed.

    Option C — Cost-Plus (%)

    • Add a fixed margin (e.g., cost × 1.25).
    • Handy if weights vary a lot and you need predictable profit per shipment.

    Free Shipping?

    • Great for conversion, tough on margin.
    • Quick check: (Average-order-value) × (gross-margin %) ≥ (average ship cost). If yes, you can afford it.

    🎯 Step 3 — Pick Clear Rate Names & Duties Status

    • State the speed and whether duties are collected:
      • “International Standard – Duties Paid (7-14 days)” (DDP)
      • “Worldwide Express – Duties Unpaid (2-5 days)” (DDU)
    • Shoppers hate surprise fees—spell it out in the rate name.

    🛠️ Step 4 — Build the Rates in Shopify

    1. Shopify Admin → Settings → Shipping & Delivery
    2. Create or edit an International shipping zone (e.g. Canada, Europe, Rest of World).
    3. Click Add Rate → Flat Rate (do not select carrier-calculated).
    4. Enter your Rate Name and the price from Step 2.
    5. Repeat for each zone and speed you plan to offer.
    6. Save.

    ✅ Step 5 Test Your Checkout (No Real Card Needed)

    Why test?
    It’s the fastest way to catch typos, missing zones, or mis-priced rates before real customers see them.

    If you use Shopify Payments

    1. Settings → Payments → Manage.
    2. Toggle Enable test mode → Save.

    If you don’t use Shopify Payments

    Activate Shopify’s built-in Bogus Gateway:

    1. Settings → Payments → “See all other providers” → Third-party credit-card provider.
    2. Select Bogus Gateway → Activate → Save.
    3. Deactivate any real credit-card provider first (Shopify requires only one at a time).

    Place a test order

    • Go to your storefront, add a product, and proceed to checkout.
    • Enter an address in a country you just set up (e.g., UK).
    • Confirm the correct rate name and price appear.
    • Use the on-screen test card number to “pay.”
    • Cancel or archive the test order afterwards.
    • Turn off test mode (or deactivate Bogus Gateway) and re-enable your real payment provider.

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