Get your shipping cost matrix

1. Set your maximum sign dimensions

First, set a maximum width and a maximum height for your signs. If a sign is the same size as or larger than either limit, the customer sees a size limit popup, unless you select Disable size limit popup in General Settings. If you do not know the limits, ask your supplier.

1. Go to Customiser Menu → Core Setup → Sizes.

2. In Custom Sizing, select Enable Custom Sizing. The Size Settings section shows.

3. In Maximum sign dimensions, go to Maximum Sign Width. Select Width limit and enter a value.

4. Do the same for Maximum Sign Height. Select Height limit and enter a value.

5. Click Save.

For more information, see Sizing - Advanced model.

2. Working with a shipping cost matrix

Do the steps in the correct order.

2.1 Choose your shipping locations

Decide where you ship your signs from. Decide where you ship your signs to. You need this information to get the correct cost values from your supplier.

The app supports shipping cost calculations for a single location for each sign customiser. To use different shipping prices for different destinations, create a new sign customiser for each destination.

2.2 Request a shipping cost matrix from your supplier or freight company

Ask your supplier or freight company for a shipping cost matrix. Give them the maximum dimensions from step 1.

The image below shows a sample matrix layout. Send the layout to your supplier to complete. You can also send the Shipping tab of the Essential information sheet. See Request essential information - Advanced model.

2.3 Enter the costs from the matrix

This method is for Flat parcel shipping. For Flat parcel, the cost depends on the sign area (width x height). When you have the matrix, do these steps.

1. Read the matrix in steps of equal size. For example, use 50cm by 50cm, then 75cm by 75cm, then 100cm by 100cm.

2. Record the shipping cost for each step.

3. Go to Customiser Menu → Core Setup → Pricing. Open your pricing.

4. Scroll to Sign Dimension Pricing - (Shipping Unit Pricing). Make sure Flat parcel is selected.

5. Scroll to Size Boundaries. For each step in your matrix, click Add size boundary.

6. In each size boundary, set Maximum Width and Maximum Height to the size of that matrix step. The app locks these two fields when the pricing has only one size boundary.

7. In Sign Dimension Price - (Shipping Unit Price), enter the cost for that step in Parcel Cost.

8. The app calculates Price per cm². You can also enter Price per cm². Then the app calculates Parcel Cost. If your Store uses inches, the field is Price per in².

9. Click Save.

You can check the result by hand. Divide the cost by width x height. For example, a cost of 98 for a 75cm by 75cm sign gives 98 / (75 x 75). The result is 0.017422 for each cm². See Manually calculate shipping cost value.

For more information, see Pricing - Advanced letter model.

If your carrier gives you a volumetric divisor, select Volumetric parcel instead of Flat parcel. Then enter the Volumetric divisor. The same guide explains this option.

What about when no shipping cost matrix is supplied?

If you can, use the Simple Letter model. Your supplier may not share this information. Without it, the Advanced Letter model is difficult to use.

If you want to use the Advanced Letter model, use the process below. The process takes time. You ask your supplier to quote many sign sizes. Then you have enough information for your shipping costs.

1. On your Advanced Letter customiser, go to Core Setup → Sizes. Make sure the smallest size has a Size Scale Multiplier of 1. See Sizing - Advanced model.

2. Test the accuracy of the font that you use.

3. In Sizes, make sure Enable Custom Sizing is selected.

4. Open the customer-facing customiser. Enter sample text that fills the width and the height as equally as possible. If the custom size panel is not shown in the size step (Choose a size by default), select the custom size option (Custom by default). The custom size panel and the sign then show the width and height. The image below shows an example.

   

5. Use the custom size input to scale the sign until the width is a round number, for example 50cm.

   

6. Take a screenshot. Make sure the width and height show in the screenshot.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for more sizes. For example, use 50cm, 75cm, 100cm, 150cm, and 200cm.

8. Send the screenshots to your supplier. Ask for a quote for each sample.

   • Ask for the shipping price as a separate item from the total quote price.

   • Ask for quotes with no acrylic backing.

You now have enough information to price your sign customiser. Do the steps in section 2.3 to enter the costs.