By default, shipping is completely free for the seller for most types of orders. Whatnot will provide you with prepaid shipping labels to ship your items. The shipping label provided should cover the aggregate weight of the items in the package as well as the weight of the packaging.
You can find a general shipping FAQ here. It covers common questions sellers on Whatnot have about shipping. There are however a few nuances to how UK shipping works.
Overview
We have recorded a short video which covers the most important elements of shipping on Whatnot. The video explains the following:
- General overview (0:00-0:50)
- Shipping profiles (0:50-5:00)
- Printing labels & shipment adjustments (5:00-8:00)
- Collections (8:00-9:00)
You can also find a list of all existing standard shipping profiles in the UK here. We recommend using the preset standard shipping profiles where possible. This ensures you will receive the right type of labels and buyers will pay accurate shipping. Custom shipping profiles are helpful when no standard preset exists, but you need to make sure both weight and dimensions make sense if you don't want buyers to be overcharged.
Shipping in the UK
In the UK, Whatnot partners with Royal Mail for most domestic shipments. International shipments are supported by DPD.
Royal Mail bases their pricing on both weight and package dimensions. When you list items, you need to utilise standard shipping profiles which Whatnot has pre-defined for you for ease. These profiles are a best-effort to accurately reflect both the dimensions & weight of commonly shipped items on Whatnot. We will continuously update (and add to) these profiles as appropriate. Note that you do not need to add weight for packaging materials. Our system automatically adds a buffer weight to each package to account for packing materials. You can see a detailed explanation for Royal Mail here.
In case you sell items for which we do not have predefined standard shipping profiles you can create your own. We call these Custom Shipping Profiles. See a detailed explanation here.
Whatnot’s Smart Bundling™ algorithm bundles orders into one package when a buyer purchases multiple items from the same livestream. In the UK bundling logic depends on both weight and dimension. Our algorithm fits as many items as possible into a small-sized letter or package. Once either the weight or dimension limit is exceeded as a result of bundling, the next package size is automatically selected.
Collections and drop off
For domestic shipments, there are two ways to send packages out. You can either drop them off (at the Post Office, Parcel Shop, Delivery Office, etc.) or schedule a collection.
Sellers who do not have an Online Business Account can have up to 25 packages collected per day. Sellers can schedule these collections either through the Royal Mail app or through this webportal. We recommend using the app as it allows sellers to scan the label barcode. The webportal requires manual entry of tracking links and package dimensions.
Sellers who have an Online Business Account with Royal Mail can have an unlimited number of Whatnot packages picked up along with their usual collections. If you do have an OBA please let us know at sellersupport@whatnot.com with details of the business name and postcode associated with your OBA. That way we can ensure all your packages get collected.
Whatnot has also partnered with Royal Mail to offer free collections to sellers who ship a large number of packages. Please see details here.
Add comment
Article is closed for comments.