Guide

How to charge prepaid satchel prices at the WooCommerce checkout

Prepaid satchels have one price per size, wherever in Australia they go. That makes them easy to charge for, as long as your checkout knows which satchel an order fits in. Here is how to set it up.

Why satchels are a special case

A standard Australia Post parcel is priced on weight, size and the distance between zones. A prepaid satchel is priced once, by its size band, and goes anywhere in the country for that price. If your store charges a live calculated rate for an order you then post in a satchel, you are quoting a Sydney-to-Perth parcel price for something that costs you the same as Sydney-to-Sydney. Customers in distant states pay too much and some of them leave.

The official WooCommerce Australia Post extension's product page says it "does not support Prepaid Parcel Post satchels", so if you ship satchels you need a different approach.

Step 1: Know your satchel sizes and prices

Write down the satchel sizes you buy and what each costs you. Australia Post sells prepaid satchels in several weight bands; the exact sizes and prices change from time to time, so take them from your last purchase or the current Australia Post site rather than from memory. Decide whether you charge the customer your cost, a round number near it, or a little more to cover the mailer and tape.

Step 2: Give every product a weight

Satchel bands are by weight, so the checkout has to know what the order weighs. Edit each product, open the Shipping tab and enter its weight. Include the packaging if you can; a 480 g item in a 40 g mailer is a 1 kg satchel, not a 500 g one. For variable products set the weight on each variation.

If an order could exceed your largest satchel, you also need a rule for what to charge then. Usually that is a calculated parcel rate or a flat "large order" rate.

Step 3, the manual way: weight-based flat rates

WooCommerce cannot do weight bands on its own, but you can get close with shipping classes if your products fall into a few clear groups. Assign a shipping class to products by their typical satchel (for example "Small satchel", "Medium satchel"), then in a single Flat rate method set a cost per class. WooCommerce charges per class present in the cart, which works until a customer buys two small items that together need a medium satchel.

For true weight bands you need a table rate or satchel plugin that reads the cart's total weight and picks the band.

Step 3, the plugin way: a satchel pricing table

A plugin with a satchel table lets you enter each satchel size with its maximum weight and the price you charge. At checkout it adds up the cart weight, finds the smallest satchel that fits, and shows that price. Carts that exceed the largest satchel fall through to a calculated parcel rate or a fallback flat rate, so nothing is ever unquotable.

The points to get right:

• Weight includes packaging. Either add the mailer weight to each product or set a packaging allowance in the plugin if it offers one.
• Express satchels. If you offer both Parcel Post and Express Post satchels, enter both tables so the customer can choose, and label them clearly.
• Signature and Extra Cover. These are extras on top of the satchel price. Decide whether to offer them as options or build them in.
• Mixed carts. A satchel plus a bulky item is two parcels. Most plugins handle this by letting you flag products that never go in a satchel; those orders get the calculated rate.

Step 4: Test it

Add one light product and check the smallest satchel shows. Add quantity until the weight crosses a band and confirm the price steps up. Put a heavy product in and confirm the fallback appears. Try a postcode in another state and check the satchel price does not change, because it should not. Then place a real order on a staging copy if you have one.

Keeping it accurate

Australia Post adjusts prices, generally once a year. Put a reminder in your calendar to update the table when you next buy satchels. A table that is a dollar out across every order adds up.

Ratehaul is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Australia Post.