Select a shipping profile for your listing Select a shipping profile for your listing
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Select a shipping profile for your listing

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A shipping profile tells Whatnot the packed weight of your item, which determines what buyers pay for shipping and how your item ships. 

Choose the closest weight when listing, or create a custom profile if you need more control.

In this article: 

About shipping profiles

Whenever you list a product on Whatnot, you’ll choose a shipping profile.

A shipping profile tells Whatnot the packed weight of your item (the item, box or mailer, and any packaging materials). In some countries, shipping profiles also include the size (dimensions) of the shipment.

Whatnot uses shipping profiles to: 

  • Calculate what buyers pay for shipping
  • Determine which shipping services are available
  • Generate the shipping label after a sale
  • Combine items into shipments using Smart Bundling™

The weight should be accurate:

  • If it’s too low, the shipping label may be underpaid. You might need to adjust the shipment after the sale, cover the difference, or risk the package being refused. 
  • If it’s too high, buyers may pay more for shipping than necessary, which can make your listing less competitive.

Example calculating packed weight: 

  • Item weight: 12 oz

  • Packaging weight: 8 oz
  • Total packed weight: 20 oz
  • Shipping profile: 1–2 lb

Suggested vs. custom shipping profiles

For most listings, go with a suggested shipping profile. If your item needs special handling or you want more control, you can create a custom profile.

If you're unsure, start with one question:
Does this item need special handling or specific bundling rules?

Use a suggested profile if:

  • The item is a standard size and weight
  • It can ship easily with other items
  • You don’t need to limit bundling

Create a custom profile if:

  • The item is oversized, bulky, or heavy
  • It’s fragile and should ship on its own
  • You want to limit how many items fit in one box
  • You need to set incremental weight for bundled items

Tip: Incremental weight adds a small extra weight for each additional item in a bundle, instead of charging full weight every time.

For example, if one art print is 2 oz and the mailer is 3 oz, the first item ships at 5 oz. Each additional print adds only 2 oz, so two prints ship at 7 oz, not 10 oz.

How bundling works with shipping profiles

When the same buyer purchases multiple items from you, Whatnot may combine them into one shipment. This is called Smart Bundling™.

For most sellers, you don’t need to do anything special—bundling happens automatically to help reduce the number of shipments you send lower shipping costs for buyers.

Bundling behavior only changes if:

  • You’re using a custom shipping profile, and
  • You set a maximum bundle size

If you set a max bundle size:

  • Items only bundle with others using the same custom profile
  • Bundling stops once the limit is reached

Example: If you set a max bundle size of 3 for an item and a buyer orders 4 → 3 ship together, 1 ships separately.

If no max bundle size is set, Smart Bundling™ continues automatically, even across different listing and shipping profiles.

Choose a suggested shipping profile 

When you list a product, Whatnot will ask you to choose a shipping profile and show suggested options based on the item’s category. 

To list an item and choose a shipping profile:

  1. From the app or whatnot.com, open Seller Hub.
  2. (On web) Go to your Inventory.
  3. Select Create a Product.
  4. Under Shipping Profile or Weight, choose a suggested or custom profile. 

Tip: Use a scale to weigh your item and packaging materials so you can choose the right shipping profile.

You can update the shipping profile for active listings at any time.

Create a custom shipping profile 

Custom profiles let you set specific shipping details for your items, like weight, size, and bundling rules, and reuse them across listings.

Create a custom profile in the app
  1. Tap Seller Hub at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Tap the menu (≡) in the top right.
  3. Scroll down and select Shipping.
  4. Tap Shipping Profiles.
  5. Tap the + icon.
  6. Fill out the profile details.
  7. Tap Save.
Create a custom profile on web
  1. Open Seller Hub.
  2. In the left menu, click the ▼ icon next to Shipments.
  3. Select Shipping Profiles.
  4. Click Create Shipping Profile.
  5. Fill out the profile details.
  6. Click Publish.

To edit or delete a custom profile, follow the same steps and select the profile you want to update.

Custom shipping profile fields

When creating a custom profile, you’ll complete:

Field What it means Example
Name (required)

Choose something you’ll recognize easily.

Label by item type, weight, or size.

“Skateboard deck,” “Heavy gowns,” “4-inch Funko”
Weight and scale (required) Enter the total weight of one item including packaging, and choose the unit of measurement. 20 ounces
Bundling options – Set max number of items in one package (optional)*

Limits how many of this item can ship together.

Useful for fragile, bulky, or boxed items.

You can also:

  • Enter custom box dimensions (optional), or
  • Select a Flat-Rate box (US sellers only)
 Set max bundle size to 1 for a fragile vase so it never bundles
Bundling options – Set a fixed weight for additional items (optional)* If the first item includes packaging and additional items won’t when bundled, enter a lower, incremental weight for each additional item. First item = 20 oz (includes packaging), each additional = 15 oz (just the item)
Update active listings (only appears when editing)

When editing a profile, you can apply changes to active listings that use it.

Sold listings aren’t affected.

 ✅ = updates listings in your shop

*Note: Bundling options aren’t supported in Germany, the UK, or the Netherlands.

When to set a max bundle size

You may want to limit bundling if you're shipping: 

  • Fragile items that shouldn’t combine
  • Heavy or bulky items that don’t fit together
  • Pre-packaged or boxed items you don’t want shipped together

Example: If you’re shipping shoes and know only two pairs fit in a box, create a custom shipping profile and set the maximum bundle size to two.

Leave it off for small or lightweight items. Smart Bundling™  usually helps reduce the number of shipments and keeps shipping costs lower.

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