The real-time shipping fee calculators from FedEx, UPS, etc. attempt to estimate the shipping fee for a given eCommerce order based upon the aggregate weight, dimensions, dimensional weight and other factors of a given order.
In some situations, the shipping fee that these calculators provide ends up being a bit lower than the actual shipping fee incurred by the merchant when they actually ship the order to the customer.
Surcharge Options
The Volusion system provides three ways to add a handling fee or surcharge to the calculated shipping fee:
- Add extra weight to the order's aggregate weight for shipping fee calculation purposes, e.g. +3 lbs, +5 lbs, +__ lbs.
- Add an extra dollar amount to the calculated shipping fee, e.g. +$5.00, +$7.50, +$___.
- Add a percentage surcharge to the calculated shipping fee, e.g. +10%, +15%, +__%.
A merchant can specify any one of these surcharge mechanisms, or a combination of multiple mechanisms.
Examples
If a given sample order (10 lbs aggregate weight) generates a shipping fee of $18.41 without any surcharges, then see the below examples from one courier affect on the resulting shipping fee based upon each of the available Volusion surcharge mechanisms for this specific sample order:
- Add 3 lbs of extra weight => $20.62
- Add $5.00 extra dollar amount => $23.41
- Add 15% to shipping fee => $21.17
- Add 3 lbs of extra weight AND add 15% to shipping fee => $23.71
We would caution against using the extra dollar amount as the only surcharge since a flat dollar amount doesn't take into account the overall weight of the order nor the distance that it might need to travel across the country. If you want to use a flat dollar amount then you might want to use it in combination with one of the other surcharges.
Emerge2 Support is available to assist you with configuring a shipping fee surcharge for your courier real-time shipping rate calculations:
support@emerge2.com