Flat rate shipping (or "flat shipping") is when the seller specifies a fixed shipping rate that the buyer is to pay, regardless of package dimensions or weight, and regardless of distance. The seller can offer various shipping services to the buyer and decides how much the buyer would have to pay for each service, regardless of the actual cost of such shipping to the seller. The seller can also tack on a surcharge in certain circumstances.

Specify flat rate shipping

Set Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingType to Flat.

Specify the domestic and international shipping services. If any international shipping services are specified, at least one domestic shipping service must be specified. The seller can specify up to four domestic shipping services and up to five international shipping services from which the buyer may choose.

Important! Only sellers on the eBay US, UK, AU, CA, and CAFR marketplaces can offer flat rate freight shipping to domestic buyers of heavy and bulky items.

To offer Flat Rate Freight, set Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingService to FreightFlat.

Refer to Freight for more information about freight shipping services.

The Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServicePriority field allows sellers to control the sequence of display of the specified shipping services. If the value of Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServicePriority is set to 1 for a shipping service, this shipping service will appear at the top of the list of available shipping service options.

The base shipping cost for each available domestic or international shipping service should be set in the Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceCost and Item.ShippingDetails.InternationalShippingServiceOption.ShippingServiceCost fields (respectively).

If multiple quantities of the item in the listing are available to buyers, the Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceAdditionalCost and Item.ShippingDetails.InternationalShippingServiceOption.ShippingServiceAdditionalCost fields (for domestic and international shipping, respectively,) can also be set if the seller wishes to offer buyers discounted shipping if they purchase multiple quantities of an item. If the Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceAdditionalCost field is not set, and the buyer does purchase multiple quantities of the item, that buyer is subject to pay the shipping cost specified in the corresponding domestic or international Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceCost field multiplied by the quantity purchased.

Determine costs

There are multiple components that can comprise the total shipping cost. The following equation can be used to calculate the total shipping costs, but in many cases, an order and shipment will not involve multiple quantity purchase or a shipping surcharge.

For example, domestic shipping would be calculated as follows:

Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceCost + (Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceAdditionalCost * (Item.SellingStatus.QuantitySold - 1)) + ShippingSurcharge [specified through rate table (if applicable)]

Note: If the buyer selects an international shipping service, use the international shipping version of each of these fields.

For example, assume a multiple-quantity, fixed-price listing where:

If a buyer buys a quantity of 4 from the listing, the total shipping cost is:

$8 + ($2 * 3) + $0 = $14

Note: The order line item-based calls (i.e., GetItemTransactions, GetSellerTransactions, and GetOrderTransactions) reflect the selection of the buyer whether the selection was of a domestic shipping service with its associated costs or an international shipping service with its associated costs.

For information about individual fields, refer to the eBay Trading API Reference (e.g., GetItem).

The base shipping cost for each available domestic or international shipping service should be set in the applicable Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceCost field. If multiple quantities of the item in the listing are available to buyers, the appropriate Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceAdditionalCost field can also be set if the seller wishes to offer buyers discounted shipping if they purchase multiple quantities of an item. If the Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceAdditionalCost field is not set, and the buyer does purchase multiple quantities of the item, that buyer is subject to pay the shipping cost specified in the appropriate Item.ShippingDetails.ShippingServiceOptions.ShippingServiceCost field multiplied by the quantity purchased.

Maximum cost

Some eBay categories impose a maximum flat rate shipping cost that a seller can specify for a domestic flat rate shipping service option.

To see which eBay categories impose limits, call GetCategoryFeatures periodically with FeatureID = MaxFlatRateShippingCost. You can retrieve the maximum flat rate shipping costs for numerous or all categories, or you might just want the maximum value for one eBay category.

A Category node will be returned for each category that:

  • Matches the input criteria
  • Has a maximum flat rate shipping cost

Each Category node will include:

Regardless of what domestic shipping service options are offere by the seller for the listing, the shipping service cost cannot exceed the value returned in the Category.MaxFlatShippingCost field.

Change shipping address

If an application enables the buyer to change the shipping address outside of eBay, the application should call eBay to determine the shipping cost since a ShippingSurcharge (as defined through a shipping table) may apply.