Wix Stores: Backup Shipping Rates for Real Time Shipping Calculations with USPS
2 min
Important:
We're in the process of rolling out new shipping settings. If you have a Create Region button instead of Add Region, then you have the new version. Learn how to set up shipping using the new settings.
When store owners can't receive a USPS Real Time shipping rate for whatever reason, the backup shipping rate is used.
Why would you be unable to receive a USPS Real Time Shipping Rate?
This can happen for a number of reasons:
- Communication with USPS is down (rare).
- You sell a product that is not covered by the shipping services you created (for example, you created only a service which allows a weight of up to 13 oz., but you sell a product that weighs more than that).
- USPS could not provide a rate for some reason (issue on USPS's side).
How can I see that a backup shipping rate was used?
There are two ways to check this. When you preview the checkout process, you can see if a backup rate is used for a sale by the delivery method that appears.
A USPS sale that does not use a backup rate, displays the name of the particular service, such as First-Class Mail, during checkout (see image on left). However, when a backup rate is used, the carrier name (USPS) is displayed during checkout (see right).
In addition, you can click an order in the Orders tab to check the shipping amount and see if your backup shipping rate was used (in the example below, the backup shipping rate is $10).
Note that the shipping method is listed on the right of the order page.
To enter a backup shipping rate:
- Go to the Shipping & fulfillment tab in your site's dashboard.
- Select an option:
- Create a new shipping region for the US and set up shipping with USPS Calculated Rate.
- Edit an existing US shipping region with USPS Calculated Rate.
- Scroll down to the Backup Setting section
- Enter a backup weight per product.
Note: This weight is used for calculations if you have added a product's weight. Learn More - Enter a backup shipping rate.
Note:
This rate is applied per order, not per product.
