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Set up shipping rates

Shipping rates decide what a customer pays to have an order shipped. They live on the Rates tab of Shipments at /admin/shipments (the tab's own address is /admin/shipments?tab=rates). Until rates are set up, Avero refuses every order that needs shipping. It does not ship for free and it does not guess a price.

No rate means no sale

An order that has to be shipped is refused when Avero cannot price the shipping. Pickup orders and orders that contain only gift cards are not affected. Set rates up before you sell anything shippable online.

Who can use it​

  • View and change rates — shipping.rates.read and shipping.rates.manage: Manager and Admin only.
  • Other roles that can open Shipments see the Rates tab but cannot load or save rates.
  • Set the ship-from location — locations.update: Manager and Admin.

Check whether shipping is ready​

Open Shipments and choose Rates. The top of the tab tells you where you stand:

  • "Shipping is configured and rateable." — your setup can price an order.
  • "Shipping orders are being refused" — followed by each thing that is missing. See Troubleshooting for every message.

Being ready means your setup is not the problem. An address outside all of your zones is still refused.

How a rate is defined​

A rate is built from three levels, set on the Shipping rates card:

LevelWhat it is
ZoneWhere you ship to: a list of countries and a list of states.
MethodA way of shipping inside a zone, for example Ground.
Weight tierA weight range in grams and the price charged for that range.

Avero adds up the weight of the items being shipped, finds the first zone that matches the address, takes that zone's method, and charges the tier the weight falls into. A product with no weight recorded counts as zero, so it lands in your lowest tier.

Set up your rates​

  1. On the Rates tab, turn on Offer shipping.
  2. With no zones yet you see "No zones yet, so every shipping order is refused." Choose Start from a typical rate card to fill in two zones, Home state and Rest of US. Each has a Ground method with three tiers: 0 to 5500 g at $15.00, 5501 to 11000 g at $25.00, and 11001 to 17000 g at $35.00. Or choose Add zone to start from an empty zone.
  3. For each zone, set its name, Countries (for example US) and States (for example TX, CA). Separate entries with commas. Leaving States empty matches every state in the country.
  4. If you used the starter card, type your own state into States on the Home state zone. Until you do, both zones match every state and the save is refused.
  5. Put the zones in order with the up and down arrows. The badge on each zone shows its position, for example 1 of 2.
  6. In each zone choose Add method, name it, and leave Active on. Turn on Default for the method customers should be charged.
  7. Choose Add tier and fill in From (g), To (g) and Rate ($). Each new tier starts one gram above the heaviest tier you already have.
  8. Pick what happens above your heaviest tier: Too heavy — refuse the order or Too heavy — charge the top rate.
  9. Choose Save rates. The message reads "Shipping rates saved" with "Shipping is ready.", or with the first thing still missing.
Zone order matters

The tab says it plainly: "Zones are matched top to bottom — the first zone that matches a customer's country and state is used." Keep a zone with empty States at the bottom, or it will catch every address before a more specific zone gets a look.

To offer free shipping, add a tier with a rate of 0. A method with no tiers cannot be saved.

Set a ship-from location​

Rates alone are not enough. Avero also needs to know which location ships your orders. Open Settings → Selling → Fulfilment routing (/admin/fulfillment-routing), pick a Default Location on the Web card and choose Save. See Orders & fulfillment.

What the shopper sees​

At online checkout the Delivery Method step offers Ship to address and Pick up (Will Call). A shopper who chooses shipping enters an address. They do not choose a shipping method. Avero uses the zone's active method marked Default, or the first active method if none is marked.

The checkout summary shows Subtotal, Discount when there is one, Tax and Total. There is no separate shipping line during checkout. The shipping charge is included in Total. The order confirmation email lists Shipping on its own line when the charge is more than zero.

When no rate covers the order, the shopper sees "We can't complete this order" with this message: "We can't calculate shipping to this address right now, so we can't complete this order. Try a different shipping address, choose pickup if it's offered, or contact us and we'll help." The shopper is never told the internal reason.

The same rule applies to a register check with items to ship.

Reference​

ControlWhereWhat it does
Offer shippingRates tabTurns shipping on or off without deleting your zones.
Start from a typical rate cardRates tabFills in two starter zones when you have none.
Add zoneRates tabAdds a zone named New zone for the US.
Up and down arrowsEach zoneChanges the order zones are matched in.
Add methodEach zoneAdds a shipping method to the zone.
Active / DefaultEach methodWhether the method is used, and whether it is the one charged.
Add tierEach methodAdds a weight range and its rate.
Save ratesRates tabSaves everything. Nothing changes until you save.

Troubleshooting​

  • "No shipping policy exists for this winery, so every shipping order is refused." — rates have never been saved. Set them up and save.
  • "The shipping policy is turned off, so every shipping order is refused." — turn on Offer shipping and save.
  • "The shipping policy has no zones, so no address can be matched." — add at least one zone.
  • "No zone has an active shipping method, so no address can be rated." — add a method to a zone and leave Active on.
  • "No ship-from location is configured for this winery, so rating fails even with zones set up." — set a Default Location for Web on Fulfilment routing.
  • "Not saved" with "This policy would price some baskets wrongly." — the problems are listed on the tab and under the zone they belong to. Typical causes: a zone that can never be reached because a broader zone is above it, a zone with no active method, a method with no tiers, tiers that overlap, or a gap between two tiers.
  • A customer in one state cannot check out — their address matches no zone. Add the state to a zone, or add a zone with States left empty at the bottom.