The Setup and Configure Tool includes preferences for live shipping modules and related preferences as well as shipping tables that can be created should you lose your Internet connection for any length of time.

The Shipping sub-section of the Setup and Configure Tool includes two sections to be configured to setup your shipping.

Shipping Methods: This will allow you to configure a live shipping module as well as related preferences.

This example shows several existing Shipping methods and individual preferences related to your Shipping Method on the right of the screen view.

Max Amount for Chargeable Shipping - This Preference allows you to provide free shipping for Orders higher than a specific amount. The example above shows that all orders up to $350 will be charged shipping and anything above that amount will be Free Shipping. When this preference is set  all Orders past that amount will not be charged Shipping. This setting will have to be set with all shipping carriers you have setup within your Tradepoint.

Shipping Service - This is the live Shipping Service you have set up within your Shipping Services. When you setup your Account information for the live shipping service (with your login and password) the live shipping Service will pull the live shipping data specific to your Account into each Order and/or Invoice. The drop down menu here will show the live shipping modules available within Tradepoint. Choose the one that corresponds to this Shipping Method you have created.

Service Type - The Service Type include a drop down menu of all of the service types provided by that carrier. Choose one for this Shipping Method that you have created. In the case shown below multiple shipping services are available to you.

If you use multiple shipping services for one carrier you will need to Setup and Configure each Shipping Service within a Shipping Method. In the case shown above all the available shipping services offered by UPS are available within this drop down menu shown in the image above.

Note: If you use UPS Overnight Air, Two Day and Three Day Service you will need to have a Shipping Method configured for each of those Services. The result will be seen in Orders where the customer preference will be picked up automatically within their Orders if the preferred shipping has been specified within their Account or when if they became a customer through the web portal.

Shipping Service Rate Markup - This is a markup that can beaded to your shipping to cover and handling fees. If there is any percentage specified within this field then all Orders for this Shipping Method will automatically have the increase in price added to the overall shipping cost.

Add/Edit Billing Tables - Should you lose your Internet connection and are unable to receive live shipping data you have Billing tables that can be added to provide shipping rates based on weight and destination. Most carriers provide online shipping tables for each of the services they offer. The example shown below is a fictitious example to illustrate the functionality of the Billing Tables.

This table has to be manually entered based on information available from the different carriers. A few things to remember about this table structure:

• The name field designates the weight range. This can be different from a table provided by your shipper for smaller (and as a result more accurate weight ranges) weight ranges. If you choose a different weight range than what your carrier provides you will have to calculate the Min and Max weight. The Location field provides options for destination. The other choices include City, Province/State and International. If the carrier uses ranges(most do) then choose the National setting and one of the higher ranges for more accurate approximation for your tables.
• Weight Min/Weight Max will be the increment of weight for the range in a field. The example above shows Pounds and the Weight Min/Weight Max broken down into ounces for more accuracy. These fields have built in calculators that will allow you to use the mouse or the keypad on a keyboard to perform calculations. 
• The Cost(to you) field in most cases will be blank since shipping is something that is paid for after the fact.
• The Customer Cost field will be the cost to the customer. This will pre-populate in the Order or Invoice based on the weights attached to your Products from your Inventory and will be generated automatically should you not have an Internet connection for live shipping data.

Save your changes when you are done. Otherwise all the data that was just entered will be lost and have to be re-entered again.

Note - Billing Tables are OPTIONAL and not required. It is designed to be a fail safe for automated live Shipping tools or is designed to be a manual shipping process for businesses that are service oriented or who do very little shipping.

Shipping Services

Shipping Services works in conjunction with Shipping Methods. The shipping Services will specify the details of the electronic Shipping Services you require while the Shipping method will include details about your overall Shipping needs and not just the configuration for the electronic component for the live shipping.

 The image below shows an example of one automatic shipping option. Depending on the requirements of the carrier the fields may vary somewhat.

The Carrier's Server information will be pre-configured into some of the fields and you will have to enter in any login and password information necessary to access your specific shipping information for that carrier.

When you have entered your Account login information your changes will be saved automatically. Now whenever this shipper is specified or if this Shipper is the default then the rate will be generated automatically based on your preferences setup within the Setup and Configure Tool.