Using the WP Express Checkout Plugin, a shipping or tax charge can easily be added to any new or previously created product. In this documentation, we will take a look at the simple steps that can be followed to add a shipping and/or a tax amount to a product or service that you will be offering on your website.
The option to add a shipping and tax charge is often an important feature for those who sell tangible items. The WP Express Checkout is a simple and free plugin that allows business owners to sell tangible items with the option to add shipping and tax.
Configuring Shipping and Tax Amounts
Global Shipping and Tax
If you wish to apply a global shipping and tax amount for your products, meaning that it will be included across the entirety of your goods/services this can be achieved from the ‘WP Express Checkout‘ ‘Settings‘ menu. If you decide to set a global amount for shipping and/or tax that same amount/percentage will be applied to all products unless the product in question has its own set amount configured from the individual product page.
To set a global shipping and tax amount complete the following:
- Ensure you have the WP Express Checkout Plugin installed and activated on your WordPress website.
- Click on the ‘WP Express Checkout‘ menu and then on ‘Settings‘.
- From the ‘General Settings‘ tab, locate the section titled ‘Shipping and Tax‘.
- In the ‘Shipping Cost‘ field, enter the ‘amount‘ of shipping you wish to be applied to all products on your website. Use numbers only such as ‘10‘ and do not include the currency symbol (currency can be altered from the ‘Global Settings’ section). If you do not wish to configure a global shipping charge, leave this field empty.
- In the ‘Tax‘ field, add the percentage of tax you wish to be charged. This should only be the percentage number without any symbols. For example, 50% should only be written as ‘50‘. This will add a tax charge of 50% of the product price so a $1.00 item with a 50% tax amount will be $1.50 for the customer to purchase.
- Ensure you click the ‘Save Changes‘ button to implement the global shipping and tax amounts.
Product Shipping and Tax
If you wish to configure a different shipping and tax amount for each of the products or services you offer on your website, you can set this on a per-product basis. Each of your products can have differing shipping and tax.
To set a product specific shipping and tax complete the following:
- Ensure you have the WP Express Checkout Plugin Installed and Activated on your WordPress website.
- Click on ‘WP Express Checkout‘ and then on the ‘Products‘ menu from your dashboard.
- Click the ‘Edit‘ button for the product you wish to add shipping and/or tax amount to.
- Scroll down to the ‘Shipping and Tax‘ section.
- Enter an amount in the shipping field and a percentage (numerals only) in the tax field.
- Ensure you click the ‘Update’ button to implement the changes to the product.
- The shipping and tax amount set on a per-product basis will override the global amounts set. Once you view the product from the front end of your website, you will see the shipping and tax amounts being displayed under the product price.
Considerations When Adding Shipping and Tax to Your WP Express Checkout Products
- You can choose to add both shipping and tax or just one of the two options. If you wish to only add shipping leave the tax field blank. If you wish to only add tax, leave the shipping field empty.
How Will my Express Checkout with Shipping and Tax be Displayed to Customers?
Once you add the shortcode of a product with shipping and tax to a post or page, the amounts will be displayed above the product price. The screenshot below displays how a product using the template 1 format will display shipping and tax costs to a customer. It is clear and concise and allows the customer to see how much they would need to purchase an item.
