Learn how to easily add variable shipping charges to your physical products, for anywhere in the world.
First things first, you'll need to create a physical product. Check out our Creating Your First Product Knowledge Base Article to see how to create a physical product! Once you have a physical product, move to the steps below to create your shipping settings.
Global vs. Product Level Shipping Settings
With SamCart you can create shipping settings at the global level or at the product level. Any shipping settings created at the global level will automatically apply to all physical products, while shipping settings created at the product level will only apply to that specific product.
The Global Shipping Settings are located in your general marketplace settings under the Shipping tab.
The Product Level Shipping Settings are located Physical Settings tab within the individual product settings. In order to see the settings on this tab you will need to make sure to toggle on the Override Global Shipping Settings for this product? switch.
The process of setting up shipping fees is exactly the same on the global level vs the product level, the only difference is whether it will apply to all products or only one product!
Preset Shipping Zones
You can create predetermined shipping fees based on preset shipping zones. The following preset shipping zones are currently available:
- Lower 48 (United States)
- Alaska & Hawaii
- Canada
- European Union
- US Territories
If there is an area you would like to see added to our preset shipping zones, please reach out to support@samcart.com!
In order to use a Preset Shipping Zone, simply click on the preset shipping zone you would like to use. When you click on a preset option, you will automatically see it added to the Shipping Zone section directly below. Here you can adjust the Zone Rate, which is the rate that all customers from the selected shipping zone will be charged for shipping on your physical products! 
Note - The Zone Rate will be $0 by default when a preset shipping zone is added. Make sure to click Save Changes when you're done!
If you ever need to delete preset shipping zone you have added, simply click the trash can icon next to the shipping zone.
A window will pop up asking you to confirm you would like to delete the shipping zone, and you can confirm by simply clicking the Delete button in the pop up window!
Custom Shipping Zones
If the preset shipping zones do not work for you, not a problem! You can easily create your own custom shipping zones to ship anywhere. In order to use a Custom Shipping Zone, start by clicking the Add Shipping Zone button.
You will then see a pop up window with options to create your a custom shipping zone!
First, name the shipping zone in the Zone Name section, then you can add regions / countries to your custom shipping zone. You can select an entire region automatically (North America, South America, etc). by checking the box next to it, or you can select specific countries, states, etc. in the dropdown menu next to each region. You can also use the search bar to search for specific countries directly.
You can create highly customized shipping zones using this feature, as the shipping zones can include any mix of countries, regions, or states that you need! You can use any combination of areas in the drop down menus to create highly customized shipping zones for whatever your shipping needs are.
Once you have selected the countries you would like in this shipping zone, click the Save button. You will then see your custom shipping zone on the shipping settings page. 
If you would like to edit or delete a custom shipping zone, you can do this easily! To edit an existing custom shipping zone, click the pencil icon next to the shipping zone. To delete a custom shipping zone, click the trash can icon. 
Free Shipping Threshold
With our shipping costs feature, you also have the ability to grant your customers free shipping if they spend a certain amount of money! In order to do this, you just need to turn on the Free Shipping Threshold toggle in the shipping settings.
Once this setting is turned on, you can enter a threshold amount to grant free shipping for (ex. if you enter "100" then any order for a physical product that was $100 or more would automatically get free shipping). Anything on the product page such as the primary product, order bumps, any bundled products, etc. will contribute to the free shipping threshold, however upsells do not contribute to the free shipping threshold. 
Please note that when this setting is toggled on, by default the threshold amount is "$0."
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I collect shipping information for my customers?
A: When you create a physical product, Shipping Address fields will be automatically included on the sales page. Collecting a Shipping Address is required for physical products and cannot be turned off.
Can I charge shipping for an Upsell product?
A: Yes, you can! As long as your upsell is a physical product, it will follow either the global shipping settings or the product level shipping settings (if there are any) for the upsell product. That shipping cost will automatically be added to a customer's order total if the Upsell is accepted! It is also important to note that if you have the Free Shipping Threshold feature enabled, upsell amounts will not contribute that that free shipping threshold price.
Q: What if I have shipping settings at the global level and the product level?
A: Any shipping settings at the product level will override the global level shipping settings! So if you have shipping settings in both areas, any physical products that have specific shipping settings will follow those rules, and any physical products that do not have specific settings will follow the global shipping settings rules.
Q: If I have taxes enabled, will the shipping cost be taxed as well?
A: At this time, shipping costs will not be factored in when calculating taxes.
Q: What happens if someone enters an address that is not within my shipping zone(s)?
A: Customers that enter an address outside of your shipping zone(s) will be automatically restricted and will not be able to place an order. If an address that does not fall within the shipping zone(s) is entered, the customer will receive the following error: 
Q: What happens to my existing customers if I delete a shipping zone?
A: Your existing customers will not be affected if you delete a shipping zone. That said, deleting a shipping zone will remove all associated rate information and customers in that shipping zone will no longer be able to purchase.