Flat shipping fee or weight-based, which to charge?
A flat fee is simple for you and clear to buyers while a weight-based fee tracks your real cost more closely, so test both against a few typical orders.
Shipping is where small sellers quietly lose money. You charge Rs 60, the courier charges you Rs 95 for a heavy parcel, and the gap eats your margin. The choice between a flat fee and one based on weight is about trading simplicity against accuracy.
How a flat fee works
You charge the same amount on every order, or you offer free shipping above a certain order value. Buyers understand it instantly and you never have to explain it. It also keeps checkout short.
The weakness is that your real cost is not flat. Light and heavy parcels cost you different amounts, so a flat fee will overcharge some orders and undercharge others. If your products are similar in weight, the gap stays small and flat works nicely. If your catalogue ranges from a bookmark to a brass lamp, the gap grows.
How weight-based works
You charge according to the parcel's weight band. This follows your real cost more closely, so you lose less on heavy orders and do not overcharge on light ones. The cost is complexity: you need accurate product weights, buyers see a fee that changes with their cart, and it is one more thing to explain.
An illustrative example
Imagine two orders with invented costs. A pack of cards costs you Rs 50 to ship. A set of brass lamps costs you Rs 130. With a flat fee of Rs 80, you gain Rs 30 on the cards but lose Rs 50 on the lamps. If you sell the same number of each, you are down Rs 20 across a pair. With a fee set by weight you would charge about Rs 50 and Rs 130 and break even on shipping for both.
The point is not the numbers but the method. Take three or four typical orders, write down what each really costs to ship, and compare against what you would charge under each model.
What Varchas offers
I checked the Settings screen in Varchas Stores. It has a free-shipping threshold and a single standard shipping fee. I did not find weight-based fee rules in the storefront settings, so assume a flat fee plus a free-shipping threshold is what the store applies at checkout. Shiprocket does use weight and pincode when you book a courier for an order, but that is the cost you pay, not a fee the customer sees by weight. See change the free shipping threshold in settings for the steps.
Making a flat fee work
If you stay flat, protect yourself in these ways.
- Set the free-shipping threshold high enough to cover your cost on heavier baskets, as discussed in free shipping threshold versus average order value.
- Fold part of the cost into product prices, as in fold shipping into product price maths.
- Review the gap regularly using flat shipping fee versus real cost gap.
For catalogues with very mixed weights, the post on flat shipping versus weight-based for a mixed catalogue goes further.
A decision shortcut
Choose flat if your parcels weigh roughly the same and you value a clean checkout. Look for a weight-aware approach only when your heaviest and lightest orders differ so much that a single fee clearly loses money on one side.
Check your numbers each quarter. Courier prices and your own range will change.