This guide outlines how to use the new shipping templates. 

We know that buyers want transparency across shipping time and costs. Our buyers have told us that surfacing this info offers a better experience and we are confident that this should lead to a higher conversion rate for you.

By updating your shipping templates, you’ll be able to provide buyers with clarity about the delivery time and total cost of purchase, throughout the buying journey.

You can use a shipping template on multiple listings, which will make it easier to manage your shipping options if you have lots of products.

To use updated shipping templates, your listings need to meet the following criteria:

• It must be a Buy now only listing (i.e. no auctions)
• The selected Trade Me categories must be Marketplace categories, and not any others such as Motors.
• The item must be sent via courier (i.e. no freight or bulky items or items heavier than 25kg). 

Creating an updated shipping template

There are 2 ways to create a shipping template

1. Within the new ‘Payment and Shipping’ section under ‘Trade Me settings’
2. When you create or edit products

In the Trade Me Settings

1. Open Tradevine & go to Settings > Trade Me Settings
2. Expand the ‘Payment and Shipping’ Shipping section. 
3. Select ‘Use Shipping template’ under ‘Shipping section’ and Click on ‘Add New’ button – you will then be presented with a form to create your template
4. Alternatively, you can update an existing shipping template by clicking the ‘Edit’ button. You will then be presented with a prompt asking if you want to update. Click ‘Update’ to convert your old shipping template to the new one. Once you save the new template, it will replace the old one. Any listings that are currently live on Trade Me will use the new template as soon as they are updated or relisted.

When you Add a product (simple)

Shipping templates are available under the ‘Shipping options’ section when you create or edit your products. Just choose ‘Use shipping template’ and then select ‘Edit’, or ‘Add’ a new template button.

When Adding or Editing Products (Advanced)

1. Go to the Trade Me tab, select the Rule you want to edit & scroll to ‘Payment and Shipping section’
2. Turn On ‘Override default settings’
3. Click ‘Edit’ or ‘Add new’ button

How to set up a new shipping template – Free shipping

A Free shipping template is used when you offer nationwide free shipping on your item. 

1. Give your template a name (e.g. ‘Free Shipping’) and then select ‘Free shipping’ 
2. Provide the carrier product and handling times so that we can display time estimates for buyers.
3. Select your handling time in business days. This is the amount of time it takes from the customer order to you giving the package to your carrier, in business days. Note that your handling time is added to the shipping option days to give the customer an estimate of the total number of days the item will take to arrive after purchase.
4. Select your order cut off time
5. Select  ‘Save & apply template’ 

How to set up a new shipping template – Using Book a Courier rates

You can use Trade Me’s Book a Courier service to generate your shipping options for your template. To use this feature click on Book a Courier and then fill out the form. You will need to provide the dimensions and details for the courier. This will pre populate the shipping options for your template. You can follow the shipping costs by destination guide below to complete your template.

How to set up a new shipping template – Shipping costs by destination 

A template to specify shipping costs by destination is used when you offer paid shipping either nationwide or by destination. You will need to provide the carrier products, costs and handling times for your shipping options so that we can display time estimates for buyers.

1. Give your template a name (e.g. ‘Small Items Courier’) and then select ‘Shipping costs by destination’.
2. Create at least one option.
   1. Enter the cost (e.g. 6.99)
   2. Select the carrier you’re using. Note that the carrier name doesn’t currently display to buyers. If the carrier you prefer isn’t listed, or you use multiple carriers, you can use the Generic option and select the product that best matches your delivery times.
   3. Select the shipping destination. Destinations are based on a location tree/hierarchy. Buyers will see the shipping rates relevant to their location when they search – it is a good idea to have one nationwide option so that as many buyers as possible can see your shipping estimates in search.
   4. Choose the carrier product (e.g. Standard (1-2 days))
   5. For rural shipping options these are available as products (e.g. Rural Standard)
   6. Repeat steps above if you want to add more than one option.

3. If you would like to offer combined shipping (free or cheaper shipping for a second or subsequent item) then select the combined shipping option
   1. Similar to shipping options, set the price (enter $0 if you want it to be free)
   2. The combined shipping option will display on your listing page as “Combine with another item you’ve paid shipping on.”
4. Select your handling time in business days. This is the amount of time it takes from the customer order to you giving the package to your carrier, in business days. Note that your handling time is added to the shipping option days to give the customer an estimate of the total number of days the item will take to arrive after purchase.
5. Select your order cut off time
6. Select  ‘Save & apply template’ 

Quick Guide to the Templates

Template Name:	Give the template an easily identifiable name. Can be alphabetical or numbers, no special characters.
For each shipping option (one or more)
Cost:	Enter the cost for that particular shipping option.
Carrier:	Most NZ courier companies will be shown here. If you can’t find the courier you use, select ‘Generic’. Carrier is not shown on the listing page currently.
Destination:	You can specify that this option is only for a specific region. If the buyer is outside the specified region, then they will be shown Nationwide cost. Make sure you have at least one option with Nationwide cost.
Product:	Choose the carrier product, e.g. Standard (1-3 days). We will add the handling time to the days when displaying delivery times to buyers.
Signature:	If you select the With the Signature option, the customer will see two shipping options on the listing – the price without signature and the price with signature, and they will be able to choose between the two.
For this template:
Combined Shipping:	If you would like to offer free or reduced shipping for additional items, select ‘Add combined shipping option’.Similar to shipping options, set the price (enter $0 if you want it to be free)This will display to buyers as “Combine with another item you’ve paid shipping on.”Shopping-cart combined shipping rules will not be affected by this template.
Handling Time:	Handling time is the time between when the buyer places the order until you hand the order over to your carrier. This is added when showing estimated delivery time to buyers. Total Delivery Time = Handling Time + Courier Transit Time If you go on a holiday or if there’s a delay in courier picking up the items, simply change this, and it will be reflected in estimated delivery times as soon as your products are relisted.
Order cut-off:	Let customers know when an order needs to be placed for processing to begin on the same day.

Editing Product: Go to your product, go to ‘Trade Me’ tab, and scroll to the ‘Payment & Shipping’ section, Override settings, choose ‘Use shipping template’ and choose the new template. Save the product.

Using CSV Import: In your CSV, set the ‘Trade Me Shipping Options’ field to ‘Template Shipping Costs’ and ‘Trade Me Shipping Template’ field with the name of the new shipping template (e.g. Small Items Courier) Import the updated CSV to Tradevine. You can read more about CSV import here.

Keep in mind that once you’ve added this template to your product, you’ll need to update your live listing for buyers to see this immediately. If you don’t, no worries, it will just appear when the listing is relisted.

How will the shipping template display on your listings?

We’ll use the info from your new shipping template to calculate and display the most appropriate shipping info to the buyer, alongside the full cost of purchase. This can be seen throughout the full buying process.

Once you’ve set up your new templates and updated your products, your listings will be updated with the new shipping information as soon as they are edited or relisted.

Here are some examples of how your listing page will look with the new shipping options: