Setting Up And Managing Shipping Costs In Sellerboard For Shopify - Tutorial

If you’re running a Shopify store, you know that shipping costs can be one of those tricky variables that directly affect your profit margins.

You’re not just moving products; you’re balancing expenses, customer expectations, and seasonal shipping fluctuations.

That’s why Sellerboard for Shopify gives you powerful tools to manage these costs with precision.

One of the key features here is the Shipping Costs tab, which lets you

1. Create multiple shipping profiles,

2. Configure custom cost calculation rules, and even

3. Take return shipping into account.

This flexibility means you can make your profit and loss calculations far more accurate; regardless of what you sell or how you ship it.

In a recent YouTube video on my channel, I walked through this feature and explained how to set it up step by step.

In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know about managing shipping costs in Sellerboard, including what I covered in that video.

Try Sellerboard for free:

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Why Shipping Costs Matter

Let’s be honest: shipping costs can make or break your profits.

If they’re underestimated, you could end up with razor-thin margins (or even losses).

If they’re overestimated, you might overprice your products and drive away potential customers.

This is why having accurate, adaptable shipping calculations in your dashboard is so valuable.

Sellerboard doesn’t just track these numbers; it lets you create rules and profiles so they align with your actual shipping practices.

Understanding Shipping Profiles

When you open the Shipping Costs tab, you’ll notice there’s a default shipping profile already set up.

This acts as a general rule for how Sellerboard calculates shipping costs across your store.

But here’s where it gets interesting: you’re not limited to just one profile.

You can create multiple shipping profiles for different types of products, shipping methods, or even time periods.

For example:

1. You might have one profile for small, lightweight items like accessories.

2. Another for heavier products that cost more to ship.

3. And a special one for international orders with separate rates.

Each profile can be fine-tuned with its own rules, making your cost tracking incredibly precise.

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Here's also a quick article on the Products page of Sellerboard for Shopify, there we discuss Cost Of Goods & Shipping Costs. Read here: Sellerboard For Shopify - Products Page Tutorial.

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Configuring Shipping Cost Calculation Rules

When you create or edit a profile, you’ll set up a shipping cost calculation rule.

This determines how Sellerboard calculates the shipping cost for that profile.

Here are the main options:

1. Use the customer’s paid shipping amount: If your customer paid $5 for shipping, Sellerboard uses that exact amount for profit calculations.

2. Grid-based calculations: This is where you can get detailed. A grid lets you create shipping costs based on:

1. Package weight

2. Order price

3. Number of units

Let’s break down a weight-based example:

1. For packages up to 500g, you might charge $1 for domestic orders and $2 for international orders.

2. For packages between 500g and 1kg, you could increase that to $2 domestic and $3 international.

3. For anything above 1kg, you might set even higher rates.

This grid setup mirrors real-world shipping practices, helping your calculations stay as accurate as possible.

Time-Based Profiles

One of the more recent and helpful features in Sellerboard is the ability to make profiles active only during specific time periods.

Why is this useful?

Because shipping costs don’t stay the same year-round.

For instance:

1. During Q4, shipping companies often raise their rates due to high demand.

2. In quieter months, rates can drop.

With time-based profiles, you can create seasonal shipping rules, like increasing shipping costs during the holiday rush and reducing them in off-peak periods, without constantly editing your default profile.

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By the way, if you need Sellerboard's support and help, this article explains how to contact hem: How to get in touch with Sellerboard.

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Applying Shipping Profiles to Products

Once your profiles are ready, you can apply them to:

1. All products (as a blanket rule)

2. Specific products (for cases where shipping varies a lot between items)

You can also link profiles to specific shipping methods available in Shopify.

For example, you might create one profile for standard shipping and another for expedited shipping, each with its own calculation model.

This means you’re not just tracking shipping costs at a store-wide level, you’re aligning them with the actual options your customers select at checkout.

Don’t Forget Return Shipping

Returns are a part of doing business, especially on Shopify, where you manage them yourself.

Ignoring return shipping costs can leave you underestimating your expenses.

That’s why Sellerboard lets you set up return shipping cost rules as well.

You can:

1. Set a fixed cost for each return (e.g., $5 per returned item).

2. Or choose not to include returns in your cost calculations.

This ensures your profitability calculations reflect the reality of your operations.

Practical Example

Imagine you run a Shopify store selling jewelry boxes and larger decorative items.

Your lightweight boxes cost about $1 to ship domestically but $3 internationally.

Meanwhile, your heavier items cost $5 domestic and $10 international.

Here’s how you’d set it up:

1. Create two shipping profiles, one for light items and one for heavy items.

2. Use a grid-based calculation based on weight for each profile.

3. Add international rates for the second column in your grid.

4. Create a Q4 profile that bumps up shipping costs to match seasonal increases.

5. Set a fixed $5 return shipping cost so returns are accounted for in your profit calculations.

With this setup, every order’s shipping cost is accurately reflected in Sellerboard, giving you clear visibility into your true profitability.

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Oh, and also, a question that I saw pop up many times: Selling on Amazon Vs Selling on Shopify. Discover the difference in this article!

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Final Thoughts

Managing shipping costs isn’t just about numbers, it’s about creating a system that reflects how you actually operate.

Sellerboard’s Shipping Costs tab for Shopify gives you that system.

Whether you’re creating custom profiles, building pricing grids, or accounting for returns, it’s all designed to help you keep your profit calculations accurate and actionable.

If you haven’t tried Sellerboard yet, here’s your chance:

Get a 2-month Free Trial for Sellerboard for Shopify

Get a 2-month Free Trial for Sellerboard for Amazon

Read next: Learn How to Use Sellerboard for Shopify - Full Tutorial & Review.

And for more tutorials, check out my playlist below.

Dive into My Playlist of Sellerboard For Shopify Tutorials