Whether you’re a Fulfilling and Shipping your own Prints or an Artist using Automated Fulfillment to sell things like Originals or Standard Products, you’re going to need to set up shipping methods on your website. Charging for shipping is a standard practice in the online market space and as such Art Storefronts offers several different options regarding shipping. We suggest opening a business account with UPS or FedEx because the business rates are much cheaper than the public rates.
Additionally, you can set up local pickup or free shipping options for self-fulfilled products. For instance, you can create a local pickup method that applies only within your state or offer free shipping for specific regions or products.
In this article, we’ll give you a brief overview of the options we offer as well as a few insights into the platform and how to complete specific shipping tasks.
Topics include setting up international shipping, creating local pickup or free shipping options, and understanding the impact of disabling certain shipping methods.
Disabling certain shipping methods, such as the 'International' shipping option, has specific implications. For self-fulfilled products, turning off the 'International' shipping method means these products will no longer be available for international shipping. However, products shipped by third-party vendors are not affected, as these vendors manage their own shipping processes.
If you find that you are unable to follow any of the articles or you encounter any confusion, please e-mail cs@artstorefronts.com. One of our Technical Support Agents will reach out to you as soon as possible.
Before you get started on creating shipping methods, you’ll need to make the decision about whether you want to ship packages internationally.
Because this is such an important decision, Art Storefronts has an entire article dedicated to the topic. | |
After you’ve decided about shipping internationally, you may want to look in to setting up shipping zones.
Shipping Zones are an easy way to divide out countries and charge different amounts for shipping. For instance, if you live in California, it will cost you more to ship to the East Coast than to someone in California. | |
Now, it’s time to start setting up your shipping methods! There are several different options you can choose from (though we only recommend using one at a time).
The first is Shipping by Weight. This allows you to calculate shipping cost by the weight of the order.
The second is Shipping by Cart Subtotal. This allows you to create a flat rate for shipping costs based on the cost of the customers’ cart.
The third way is an In-Store Pick-Up. This should only apply to people who live in the same state for you (if that state isn’t huge like Texas or California). This option should be used with extreme caution. | |
Finally, you can also offer free shipping options on your website if you want to remove the shipping costs in specific instances. This should also be used with extreme caution. |
|To create a local pickup option or offer free shipping, refer to the relevant guides.|- How To: Create An In-Store Pick-Up Option| |For estimating international shipping costs, use tools like the FedEx Shipping Calculator.|- FedEx Shipping Calculator|