A single flat shipping fee works until you start sending heavy items abroad, or light ones next door. Then you either overcharge local buyers or lose money on distant ones. Shipping rates by country and weight fix that: you group countries into zones, and each zone has its own prices by weight. This guide covers how shipping works in PrizeX and BidKing, the Advanced Shipping add-on for the shop, how multi-vendor stores fit in, and what it deliberately doesn't do.
Without the add-on: a flat fee per product
- Every shop product has a shipping fee, set on the product form by the admin or, on a multi-vendor store, by the seller. Zero means free delivery.
- Buyers see it on the product page as "Free delivery" or the delivery fee, and again in the cart and at payment.
- Auctions have their own flat fee with the Auction Shipping feature: one shipping fee per auction, charged when the lot is bought with Buy Now or claimed by the winner.
Advanced Shipping: zones and weight
Advanced Shipping is an add-on for the shop. It's included in PrizeX. It adds a Shipping zones & rates screen under Shop in the admin.
Zones are groups of countries
- A zone is a list of countries, such as "UK" or "European Union". Each country can be in only one zone.
- A "Rest of world" zone catches every country you haven't listed.
- Zones can be switched off and put in order.
Rates go by weight
- Each zone has weight brackets, such as 0 to 1, 1 to 5 and 5 to 20, each with its own rate. Brackets can't overlap.
- A rate of 0 makes a bracket free, which is how you offer free delivery within a zone.
- Pick one weight unit and stick to it. The add-on doesn't have a unit setting, so use kilograms or pounds everywhere, in brackets and on products alike.
Products get a weight
- Each product gets a "Shipping weight" field: the weight of one unit.
- A product without a weight keeps using its flat fee.
- If a buyer's country isn't in any zone and there's no "Rest of world" zone, or no bracket fits the weight, the product's flat fee is used too. Nobody is left unable to check out.
What buyers see
- On the product page: for a product with a weight, "Delivery cost is worked out at checkout from your address".
- In the cart: the shipping total is worked out again when the buyer picks a delivery address.
- At payment and on the order page: shipping is shown as its own line.
Multi-vendor stores
- Sellers set a weight for each of their products. Their listing form shows a preview of what buyers pay to ship one unit.
- Zones for one seller are set by the admin per seller. On the zone form, choose "One seller only" and pick the seller. A seller's own zones are used first for their products, then the store's zones.
- A cart with products from several sellers adds up each product's shipping.
What it doesn't do
- No state, region or postcode zones. Zones are by country only.
- No free-shipping coupons, and no free shipping over a set order value. Coupons take money off the goods, not shipping.
- No carrier connections. There's no live rate lookup, label printing or automatic tracking. When you mark an order shipped, you can type the carrier and tracking number yourself.
- One currency. Rates are in your store currency.
Setting rates that work
- Start from your carrier's price list. Copy its weight steps into your brackets, then add your packing costs.
- Keep zones few. Home, nearby countries and rest of world covers most stores.
- Weigh products packed. The box and padding count.
- Test a checkout to each zone before launch, with a light and a heavy product.
- Check whether tax applies to shipping in the places you sell. Shipping isn't taxed by the store's tax rules, so ask an accountant if you need it to be.
Common questions
Can I charge different shipping by country?
Yes, with Advanced Shipping. Group countries into zones, give each zone its own rates by weight, and add a "Rest of world" zone for everywhere else.
Can I set shipping rates by state or postcode?
No. Zones are by country only.
Can I offer free shipping?
Yes. Set a product's shipping fee to 0, or set a zone's weight bracket rate to 0. There are no free-shipping coupons or order-value thresholds.
Can sellers on my marketplace set their own shipping?
Sellers set each product's weight and flat fee. Zones for a single seller are set up by the admin, per seller.