Shipping rates are what you charge your customer in addition to the cost of the products that they order. The cost of any shipping rates are added to a customer's order at checkout.
You can set up one or more shipping rates for your customers to choose from.
When you create shipping rates, you can also specify any restrictions or rules around which shipping methods are available based on the contents of the customer's cart.
On this page
- Flat shipping rates
- Free shipping rates
- Calculated shipping rates
- Local delivery method rates
- Customer experience choosing shipping rates
Flat shipping rates
Flat shipping rates are specific shipping amounts that you charge a customer based on their order.
For example, if you want to charge $5 USD for shipping each time a customer places an order, then you would set up a $5 USD flat shipping rate.
The benefit to flat shipping rates is that you have control over precisely what a customer is charged at checkout.
General rates
General rates provide a flat rate shipping cost regardless of what is in the cart.
For example, if you want customers to be able to choose between regular shipping costing $5 USD or expedited shipping costing $15, then you would set up two general flat rates, one for each option.
These two rates then display as options in your checkout for any customer's order.
Price-based rates
Price-based rates let you set minimum and maximum cart values for your flat shipping rates.
For example, suppose that you want to charge different rates for orders below and over $50 USD. Using priced-based rates, you can set a flat shipping rate of $4 USD for orders under $50 USD, and a flat shipping rate of $10 USD for orders over $50 USD.
Using the example above, a customer with a cart valued at $35 USD would have only the $4 USD shipping option displayed at checkout.
Review the following table that displays example price-based rates (all prices are in USD):
| Order value | Shipping rate price |
|---|---|
| $0 USD - $100.00 USD | $24.99 USD |
| $100.01 USD - $200.00 USD | $9.99 USD |
| $200.01 USD and above | $0 USD (free) |
Weight-based rates
Weight-based rates let you set the minimum and maximum weights that qualify an order for your flat shipping rates.
For example, suppose that you want to charge different rates for orders below and over 5 kg. Using weight-based rates, you can set a flat shipping rate of $7 USD for orders under 5 kg, and a flat shipping rate of $15 USD for orders over 5 kg. Using this example, a customer with a cart that has a combined weight of 7 kg gets only the $15 USD shipping option displayed at checkout.
If an order doesn't match any shipping rates defined in Settings > Shipping and Delivery, then the order is assigned to the next higher available weight based shipping rate. For example, if there is a 2 kg order and a shipping rate only for 4 kg orders, then the customer is displayed the 4 kg shipping rate at checkout instead of an error message.
Review the following table that displays example weight-based rates (all prices are in USD):
| Order item weight | Shipping rate price |
|---|---|
| 0 lb - 0.99 lb | $4.99 USD |
| 1 lb - 4.99 lb | $9.99 USD |
| 5 lb - 9.99 lb | $19.99 USD |
Free shipping rates
Any flat shipping rate can be made into a free shipping rate by setting the shipping cost to $0 USD. For example, if you want to offer free shipping on all orders, then you can create a general flat shipping rate with a cost of $0 USD.
Instead, if you wanted to offer free shipping on orders over $100, then set up a priced-based flat rate of $0 USD for orders over $100.
Calculated shipping rates
Calculated shipping rates are shipping costs that are provided by any shipping carriers or apps that you add to your store.
When a customer reaches checkout, their cart information is sent to the shipping carrier or app, and they return what you should charge for shipping.
The benefit of carrier-calculated shipping rates is that you can pass on the exact cost of shipping an order directly to the customer.
Calculated shipping rates from shipping carriers
Depending on your store's Shopify subscription plan and location, there are certain shipping carriers that you might be able to add directly to your shipping settings.
Shipping carriers can use any of the following factors when determining how much to charge for shipping:
- shipping origin
- shipping destination
- weight of the shipment
- value of the shipment
- dimensions of the shipment box
- dimensional weight
- requested speed of delivery
For example, suppose that a customer from Washington D.C., United States reaches the checkout with a 1 kg order. Your store is located in Ottawa, Canada and your default box size is 5" x 7" x 7" weighing 0.375 kg. If you connect your Shopify account with Canada Post, then Canada Post calculates the possible shipping options for your customer based on the order criteria, and provides them at checkout for the customer to choose from.
Calculated shipping rates from apps
Apps can also provide calculated rates when the carrier that you ship through uses an app to integrate with Shopify, or you need a more advanced shipping setup.
To view all available shipping apps, visit the Shopify App Store.
Local delivery method rates
You can set up pickup in store and local delivery options for customers who are close to your business.
Local delivery
If your business offers delivery, then you can create a local delivery method for your customers to choose at checkout. You can set a delivery fee and minimum order amount.
Specify the availability of your delivery by listing postal codes or choosing a radius around your business location. If a customer's address has a listed postal code or is within the radius that you set, then they will have the option to choose local delivery as a shipping option at checkout.
For more information, refer to Setting up local delivery for online orders.
Pickup in store
You can give your customers the option to come to your business to pick up their order. This is a good way to let customers save on shipping costs, and lets you create a more branded experience for your customers. You can provide pickup instructions and let customers know when they can expect their order to be available.
For more information, refer to Setting up pickup for online orders.
Customer experience choosing shipping rates
The shipping settings that you use affect what displays to your customers at checkout.
After you've set up your shipping rates, you can place a test order using your own checkout and view the options that your customers have to make sure that your rates are appearing correctly.
As soon as your customers reach checkout and enter a shipping address, their shipping methods are displayed. Although you can create many shipping options, each customer is offered only those applicable to their order. The cheapest option displays as the default.
If your customer leaves the checkout page to change the contents of their order, then their shipping rates might change. Most shipping rates are calculated based on an order's weight, so any significant changes to an order's contents can make the original shipping rate inaccurate. When your customer returns to the checkout process after changing their order, they're redirected back to the same step of the checkout process. They won't receive the new, recalculated shipping rate until they're ready to complete their purchase.
Customers who enter a shipping address in a region that isn't included in your shipping zones receive a notice that there is no shipping rate available for their region:
Checking out with PayPal Express
If your customers are checking out by using PayPal Express, then they're first taken to the PayPal page to enter their credit card information and billing address. After this step, they’re offered the available shipping methods.
You might want to inform your customers that they will encounter this intermediate step if they’re using PayPal Express. An easy way to do this is to create an information page and link it to the footer of your store.
