View & Select Rates with the Universal Rate Selector
How to view and select rates with the Universal Rate Selector
In This Article
Postsale’s Universal Rate Selector helps you compare available shipping options across carriers by the fastest delivery service or the service with lowest cost, helping you to select the best fit for each shipment. Use the Universal Rate Selector to:
- View the rate for the currently selected shipping carrier and service.
- Compare services and rates across multiple carriers, even if carrier-specific options have already been applied to a shipment. This ensures full visibility into all available choices, helping you confidently select the best option for each shipment.
- Select from a list of available carriers/services/rates based on shipment details.
- View and auto-select rates and services by the fastest shipping method or by the most economical.
In this article, we will explore how to quickly view the rate for the currently selected carrier and service and how to use the Universal Rate Selector to select from a list of available services.
Before We Begin
The rate selector displays rates and available services based on an order's shipment details. If shipment details are incorrect or missing, an error will notify you that rates could not be displayed for one or more carriers. Click the error to view more details.
Required shipment details include:
- A valid Ship To address
- Package weight
- Package dimensions (Length, Width, and Height)
This article assumes that you have at least one order in Postsale with valid shipment details. Learn how to import orders into Postsale.
View & Select Rates
For a Single Shipment
Access the Rate Selector
When using The Universal Rate Selector to view and select rates for a single shipment, it can be accessed:
- From the Orders Grid.
- The Rate column displays the rate for the currently configured shipment. Click the arrow to open the Universal Rate Selector.
- The rate selector in the Orders Grid is used to select from a list of available carriers/services/rates. If you need to modify the shipment further, such as adding a delivery confirmation, selecting residential vs. commercial, or adding insurance, use the Dock to configure the shipment.
- In the Dock
Information in the Rate Selector
To assist you with selecting the best carrier and service for your shipments, the rate selector displays the following details for each of the available carrier/service/rate combinations:
1 - The shipping carrier
2 - The shipping service
3 - The package type
4 - The expected delivery date (days in transit)
5 - Whether the rate is user selected, the most economical rate, or the fastest service
(only shows for the currently selected carrier/service)
6 - The rate for the configured shipment (rate reflects all additional charges such as delivery confirmation, insurance, Saturday delivery, etc.)
Select a Carrier/Service/Rate
The Universal Rate Selector provides three options to help you select the best carrier/service/rate combination for your shipments. Let's take a look at each option:
Fastest
Select Fastest when you want Postsale to select a carrier and service combination that will get the shipment to your customer the fastest, regardless of the rate.
With Fastest selected, all of the available carrier/service/rate combinations are displayed and Postsale selects a suggested, fastest carrier/service. However, we suggest that you review all of the listed carrier/service/rates and select the best option for your specific situation.
Economical
Select Economical when you want Postsale to automatically select the carrier and service combination that will get the shipment to your customer using the service with the lowest rate, regardless of the number of days in transit.
With Economical selected, all of the available carrier/service/rate combinations are displayed in order by rate (lowest to highest rate) with the most economical method selected and highlighted for you.
User Selected
Select User Selected when you want to manually configure the shipment and select the carrier/service/rate combination from the full list of available options.
Real World Example
Our customer has asked that we send the shipment via FedEx Hold at Location so that they can pick up their package at a time that is more convenient for them. We need to configure the shipment to ship with FedEx Ground and to include the Send to Hold at Location option.
All Options Are Available
Notice in the GIF below that even after the FedEx Saturday Delivery option is enabled, the Universal Rate Selector still shows options for USPS and for UPS. Why?
Postsale displays all available carrier/service/rate combinations based upon the package weight and dimensions so that you can make the best possible decision on how to ship your package.
For example, even with Saturday Delivery enabled, you could still decide to ship with other services and options if desired.
With User Selected all of the available carrier/service/rate combinations are displayed in order by rate (lowest to highest rate).
For Multiple Shipments
In this section, we will look at the additional information and features available when utilizing The Universal Rate Selector to view and select rates for multiple shipments at the same time.
Check out our help article for detailed information on bulk editing and shipping multiple shipments.
Access the Rate Selector
When viewing and selecting rates for multiple shipments:
- Select the orders you will be taking action on in the Orders Grid.
- Then, open the Dock and select the Shipments for which you will be viewing and selecting rates for in the Shipments Grid.
The Universal Rate Selector updates to show information for the selected shipments.
Rate Selector in the Orders Grid
When working in the main Orders Grid, you can still access the Universal Rate Selector even if you’ve selected multiple orders or shipments.
However, it’s important to know:
- The Rate Selector only displays rates for one shipment at a time, even if multiple shipments are selected.
- Any rate you choose or change will apply only to that single shipment, not to all selected shipments.
Information in the Rate Selector
When multiple shipments are selected, The Universal Rate Selector displays a breakdown of the cost to create labels for the selected shipments broken down by:
1 - The number of and total cost to create the labels for each carrier
2 - The total cost to create the labels for all carriers
3 - Any additional charges, such as the cost of adding shipment protection
4 - The total cost to create all of the shipping labels.
Unable to Display Rates
The Rate Selector will notify you in the event that any of the selected shipments have an issue causing rates to not be displayed.
Select the Carrier/Service/Rate for Multiple Shipments
The Universal Rate Selector provides three options to help you select the best carrier/service/rate combination for multiple shipments at the same time. Let's take a look at each option:
Fastest
Select Fastest when you want Postsale to select a carrier and service combination that will get the shipments to your customers the fastest, regardless of the rate.
When you select Fastest, Postsale selects a suggested, fastest carrier/service for the selected shipments. However, we suggest that you review all of the listed carrier/service/rates and select the best option for your specific situation.
Economical
Select Economical when you want Postsale to automatically select the carrier and service combination that will get all of the shipments to your customers using the service with the lowest overall rate, regardless of the number of days in transit.
When you select Economical, Postsale selects a suggested, most economical carrier/service for your shipments. However, we suggest that you review all of the listed carrier/service/rates and select the best option for your specific situation.
User Selected
Select User Selected when you want to manually configure the shipment settings for all of the selected shipments and/or select the carrier/service/rate combination from the full list of available options.
With User Selected, all of the available carrier/service/rate combinations are displayed in order by rate (lowest to highest rate).
Unavailable Rates
The rate selector will notify you in the event that any rates are unavailable for any of the selected shipments. This happens when one or more of the selected shipments does not qualify for the carrier/service.
