Rate Cards
Build, publish, and assign graph-based billing rules for 3PL services.
A tells a how to price for a . Those priced charges are grouped into an .
Rate cards define how operational charges become billable amounts for a merchant. Each rate card contains a billing-rule graph with charge-category triggers, optional conditions, and pricing steps.
Go to ShipOS → Merchants → Rate Cards (opens the Cybership dashboard in a new tab).
How rate cards work
- Create a rate card.
- Build a billing rule for each charge category you want to price.
- Save and publish the rule.
- Assign the rate card to a merchant.
- Recalculate an invoice to run the active published rule against its charges.
A saved draft does not price charges. The rate card needs an active published billing-rule version.
Create a rate card
- Click Create Rate Card.
- Enter a descriptive name and optional description.
- Save the rate card.
- Open it and select Edit Billing Rules.
New rate cards initialize the supported charge-category triggers. The builder also identifies newly supported categories that can be added to an older draft.
Build billing rules
The graph uses three node types:
| Node | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Trigger | Starts pricing for one charge category |
| Condition | Routes a charge by comparing its billing variables |
| Pricing | Calculates the billable amount for a matching path |
Each category is an independent entry point. Connect its trigger to pricing directly for one standard rate, or add conditions when different charges need different pricing.
Charge categories
Billing rules support:
- Picking
- Shipping
- Storage
- Materials
- Return Inspection
- Receiving
- Labor
Ad Hoc charges and Credits are entered with their amount and do not need a pricing graph.
Add conditions
Use a condition when pricing depends on charge data such as:
- Merchant or warehouse context
- Product, carton, or location attributes
- Carrier integration, carrier, or service
- Labor activity or job context
- Quantity and other category-specific values
Conditions can contain groups and multiple comparisons. Connect every outcome that should produce a charge to a valid Pricing node.
Configure pricing
Available fee structures depend on the charge category:
| Fee structure | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Fixed | One fixed amount |
| Variable | Quantity multiplied by a unit rate |
| Variable with Allowance | Base amount or included quantity, then an overage rate |
| Graduated | Different rates for configured quantity tiers |
| Multiplier | Multiplies a base cost, commonly for shipping |
| Mapped | Uses resource-specific overrides with optional default pricing |
Examples of mapped pricing include a shipping default with carrier-integration, carrier, and service overrides; material pricing by carton; storage pricing by location type; and labor pricing by activity.
Save and publish
- Save stores the current draft without changing live invoice calculations.
- Save & Publish stores the draft and creates a new active version.
Publishing validates the graph. Common blockers include:
- A category trigger with no connected pricing path
- An incomplete condition
- A Pricing node with missing or invalid values
- Broken, duplicate, or incompatible links
- A graph path that never reaches pricing
When publishing outside the full-screen builder, choose a patch, minor, or major semantic-version increment. The Active billing rule tab shows the published version; Draft shows unpublished changes.
Assign rate cards to merchants
Assign rate cards in Merchants.
- Go to ShipOS → Merchants (opens the Cybership dashboard in a new tab).
- Open the merchant relationship.
- Open its billing or settings controls.
- Assign the applicable base rate card.
- Add an override rate card when the relationship needs selected exceptions.
An override rate card takes precedence where it supplies applicable pricing. Other categories continue to fall back to the base rate card.
Calculate invoices
When an invoice is calculated or recalculated, ShipOS:
- Finds the applicable rate card for each charge.
- Loads its active published billing-rule version.
- Starts at the trigger for the charge category.
- Evaluates conditions until a Pricing node is reached.
- Stores the calculated amount and pricing trace on the charge.
Open a calculated charge to inspect its pricing trace when the result needs explanation.
Changing a draft does not alter an existing invoice. Publish the change, then recalculate an editable invoice when the new version should apply.
Duplicate or delete a rate card
Duplicating a rate card copies its billing-rule graph into a new editable rate card. Review its merchant assignment and publish the copy before relying on it for billing.
Deleting a rate card removes its draft and published billing-rule artifacts. Reassign affected merchant relationships before deletion.