Setting Up Shipping with the Square Online Basic Plan

[philabrewers]

We have a basic plan and would like to set up shipping for merch like t-shirts. We don't anticipate being a lot of shipping but it would be nice. 

Basic plan does not let you use real time shipping, so wondering how we price this.

Our preference would be to use USPS and a flat rate by weight. But how are people doing this normally? How does it work with Shippo?

TIA

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[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

Hello @philabrewers !

You're correct that you can't use real time shipping rates in the basic plan. What I did was to figure out what the shipping rate would be within my city. Most of my orders are right around one pound, so that's what I figured the rate for. That rate, $6, is what I set as the flat rate. For a while I added in additional rates for larger orders, but I found that the majority of my orders were for one pound, so I just stuck with the $6 flat rate.

I also put a note on the order confirmation email that if I was able to get a lower rate I'd refund the difference.

When a customer orders, they are charged the flat $6. That $6 plus the cost of the item shows in my bank account (less fees of course). When I create the shipping label, I see an alert box saying that the customer paid $6 along with the options available through Shippo. Once I choose what way to ship--usually USPS first class--Shippo charges my card on file.

Do I lose money on larger orders? Yes. Those happen so infrequently though that it's usually not a big deal. Most of my shipping charges are between $6 and $6.75 so I feel I'm in a relatively good spot.

Hope this helps!