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We had another great turnout during our “A New User’s Guide to WooCommerce Webinar,” where we covered all the functions of creating an online store. Whether you are selling a digital or virtual product/service WooCommerce has all the capabilities for you to customize an eCommerce store, your way. Happiness Engineer Melinda from WooCommerce helped guide our users through setting up their WooCommerce website, customizing their storefront, and selecting a payment gateway.

Melinda demoed many functions of the WooCommerce plugin such as creating a simple product, variable product, and how to fulfill orders. Our attendees asked some fantastic questions that ranged from virtual services to the sales tax and shipping in other states. We also got insight into the many WooCommerce extensions that users can add to their site for more complex store functions.

In case you were unable to catch the webinar live, we compiled some of the most popular questions attendees asked during the duration of the webinar. If you have any additional questions, please let us know in the comments below!

I’m unable to get my tax code to show up for other states except for the one I’m currently located in, what do you recommend so when a customer in another state purchases from my site they get charged the correct tax?

Generally speaking, taxes are only charged in the state your business has a nexus (location). You’ll want to reach out to the developer of the tax plugin you are using for additional help.

Can extensions be added to the admin? such as functions in an order?

Extensions can be added to enhance the store’s features which can help with specialized features within an order.  

How can we sell the product for customers with only a login?

If people have the pre-approval to purchase, you can use WooCommerce Memberships to restrict purchasing to members only.

If you’d like users to have to sign up for a free account on your site in order to be able to purchase, then you’ll want to go to WooCommerce > Settings > Accounts & Privacy tab and make sure to NOT click “allow customers to place an order without an account”.

This will force every customer to create and/or log into their account.

Is it possible to change the currency?

Yes, but WooCommerce only allows for one base currency at a time. If you want to convert multiple currencies at one time, WooCommerce recommends researching their “Currency Converter Widget.”

Are sales taxes collected and taken care of or are we responsible for them?

WooCommerce will collect the sales tax as part of the order. You can either enter the tax rates manually or use a plugin to pull them in dynamically. The sales tax money goes into your bank account along with your sales and you are responsible for sending that into your local taxing authority.

Would a membership be considered a virtual product or some other type?

This would be defined as “other type.” We recommend checking out the WooCommerce Memberships plugin. It allows you to sell memberships at different prizes and labels and it would give you access to different parts of the site. 

Are donations treated as virtual products?

Yes, you can make products for this. WooCommerce can accept donations by taking the donation as Variable Product or the One Page Checkout or Name Your Price extension. You can create preset donations or allow the user to create their own amount.

Does WooCommerce integrate with Print on Demand services to be able to sell posters and photos without physically having to stock them?

There is a plugin called Printful you can install from the WordPress directory that works for things like that.

Do I need to set up Jetpack to activate Woocommerce?

Yes, Jetpack is required to activate certain WooCommerce features. WooCommerce services are powered by Jetpack and also helps WooCommerce authenticate and set up new users services.

What is the recommended product image size when creating our jpegs?

You can locate the product image settings at WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Display > Product Images where images will be resized to match the values you input.

Is it free to print shipping labels?

Yes, it is free to print the shipping labels, but you do pay for shipping.

Can you also use WooCommerce Bookings to pay for conferences and events? Or just the standard plugin?

WooCommerce Bookings is great for recurring events that happen on a regular basis, but WooCommerce Box Office is better for selling tickets to a concert, fundraiser, or conference.


Check out the slide deck for the presentation here.

Join us for our next webinar

One of the most important aspects of creating a website is selecting a domain. In this webinar, we will discuss how to select a domain that can help customers relate product or content on your site. Join us for our next webinar, “The Perfect Website Starts with a Domain” starting on August 14, 2019.

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8 Comments

  1. Is it possible to automatically send a copy of the new order mail to the supplier?

    • Desiree Johnson, Content Specialist Reply

      Greetings,
      That’s a great question, in the “Advanced Notification,” extension on WooCommerce you can set up notifications for other users. Here is the accompanying link for further instructions, https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/advanced-notifications/

  2. Jude Hibler Reply

    I thought I’d be able to print out Melinda’s script. Is that coming, I hope, i hope!! She was FABULOUS!! Thanks so very might, Melinda. Sincerely, Jude Hibler

    • Desiree Johnson, Content Specialist Reply

      Greetings Jude,
      We don’t have a transcript of Melinda’s webinar, but you can access the webinar presentation and slides within this blog, have a great day!

  3. Malcolm Gran Reply

    Can an email automatically be generated and sent to a third party indicating donations, purchase of memberships, joining conferences, etc…?

    • Desiree Johnson, Content Specialist Reply

      Greetings Malcolm,
      The WooCommerce “Follow-Ups,” extension could be a great tool to help you to generate these custom emails. Here is the link with additional information, https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/automated-follow-up-emails-docs/

  4. Sharon Renee PA Reply

    I can’t access the slides. I would like to download & print them so I don’t have to go back & forth while setting up.

    • Desiree Johnson, Content Specialist Reply

      Greetings Sharon,
      Here is the link to the slides, let us know if you have any other issues: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13V59Au6xvrF4MhiG-tpDBgHaJVF8I9wCqpO1_FC8eho/edit?usp=sharing

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