How to set up calculated shipping

This topic expands on the concepts covered in the topic How to set up free shipping (seller pays) and covers how to set up multiple shipping services in a single shipping option.

In this example, the buyer pays for the shipping cost and the seller gives them three calculated-shipping services to choose from. By giving the buyer a choice of shipping services, you can offer a them list of alternatives that range from overnight delivery to other more economic options.

This example also uses "calculated" shipping services, where the cost of the shipment varies by the distance of the shipment. This means the actual shipping cost cannot be determined until the buyer supplies a destination (such as a zip code) where they want their order shipped.

It's important that you use shipping services that are supported by eBay when you configure calculated shipping options. With supported shipping services, eBay does the hard work of figuring out the true cost of each shipping service, which gives the buyer hard data that they can use to select a shipping service.

When a buyer pays for a package being sent via a calculated shipping service, the size and weight of the item being shipped is specified by the seller when they describe the item they're selling. Sellers can specify the details of the item either in the packageWeightAndSize settings of an item they create with the Inventory API, or in the ShippingPackageDetails settings of the item as it's defined in the associated AddItem call.

To configure calculated shipping options:

1. Use createFulfillmentPolicy to create the fulfillment policy that will include your shipping policy.
2. In the shippingOptions field, create a ShippingOption element with the following settings:
   • Set optionType to DOMESTIC.
   • Set costType to CALCULATED.
3. Populate the shippingServices container with your variation on what's shown in the following snippet of a fulfillment policy:

{
  "categoryTypes": [
    {
      "name": "ALL_EXCLUDING_MOTORS_VEHICLES"
    }
  ],
  "marketplaceId": "EBAY_US",
  "name": "Domestic buyer-pays calculated shipping",
  "shippingOptions": [
    {
      "costType": "CALCULATED",
      "optionType": "DOMESTIC",
      "shippingServices": [
        {
          "buyerResponsibleForShipping": "true",
          "freeShipping": "false",
          "shippingCarrierCode": "USPS",
          "shippingServiceCode": "USPSExpressMail",
           "sortOrder": "2"
        },
        {
          "buyerResponsibleForShipping": "true",
          "freeShipping": "false",
          "shippingCarrierCode": "USPS",
          "shippingServiceCode": "USPSFirstClass",
          "sortOrder": "1"
        },
        {
          "buyerResponsibleForShipping": "true",
          "freeShipping": "false",
          "shippingCarrierCode": "USPS",
          "shippingServiceCode": "USPSParcel",
          "sortOrder": "3"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

The above example configures three separate calculated shipping services. Each service offers a different level of service where the more the buyer pays, the faster they'll get their order.

The shipping services configured in the above example offer three levels of service. If you review the shipping service details returned by GeteBayDetails, you'll find:

• USPSExpressMail specifies a ShippingTimeMin of 1 and a ShippingTimeMax of 1, meaning the shipment will arrive the day after it is shipped, no matter the destination.
• USPSFirstClass specifies a ShippingTimeMin of 2 and a ShippingTimeMax of 3, meaning the shipment will arrive either two or three days after it is shipped.
• USPSParcel specifies a ShippingTimeMin of 2 and a ShippingTimeMax of 9, meaning the shipment will arrive nine days after it is shipped, at most.

Before completing the purchase of an item that uses this fulfillment policy, the buyer must select the shipping service they want to use from the list of shipping service services displayed on eBay's checkout page. As long as you populate the shippingService list with eBay-approved services, eBay can offer information on the cost of each service once the buyer has indicated the destination where they want their order shipped.