Understanding shipping options by market
You can set up shipping options for each market that you sell to, instead of in shipping profiles. Your shipping options determine the delivery choices a customer can select at checkout and how much they pay.
Shipping options use multiple levels:
- Markets group the regions that you sell and ship to.
- Shipping options are the delivery choices that are displayed to a customer at checkout, such as Standard or Express.
- Rates set the price and transit time of a shipping option. A shipping option can have more than one rate, and each rate can apply to different products and locations.
You add shipping options to a market, and you add one or more rates to each shipping option.
On this page
Inherited and customized shipping options
Markets can be organized into parent and child markets. A child market inherits its shipping options from its parent market by default, so you can manage shipping for a group of related markets in one place. When you add a new child market, it automatically uses its parent market's shipping options, so you don't need to set up shipping for it separately. For more information about how markets are organized, refer to markets.
A market can inherit from more than one parent market. If a market inherits from two parent markets, then it includes all of the shipping options from both parents. Similarly, if a customer's shipping address is included in more than one of your markets, then the shipping options from all of those markets are displayed at checkout. For example, if you have one market that covers Canada and the United States, and another that covers Canada and Mexico, then a customer in Canada is included in both, and the shipping options from each market are displayed.
To give a market its own shipping, you customize it, and then set up shipping options that apply only to that market. Customizing a market affects that market and any child markets that inherit from it, but not its parent market or unrelated markets. You can customize shipping for different types of markets, such as your regional, B2B, and POS markets. To learn how, refer to setting up shipping options for a market.
Shipping rate types
Each rate has a rate type that determines how its price is calculated.
Flat rates
A flat rate is a single price that you set, charged for every order that the rate applies to. Flat rates give customers a predictable shipping cost.
You can charge a fixed amount for all orders that apply to the rate's product and location conditions, such as $5 USD, or set the price to 0 to offer free shipping. A flat rate is charged one time per order for all items that apply to that shipping option, regardless of how many items are in the cart.
Order amount rates
An order amount rate, also called a price-based rate, changes the shipping price based on the total value of the cart. Use order amount rates to charge more for smaller orders, or to reward larger orders with cheaper or free shipping.
You set a price for each order value range. For example, you can charge full price on small orders, a reduced rate on medium orders, and free shipping on large orders:
| Order value | Shipping rate price |
|---|---|
| $0 USD to $100 USD | $24.99 USD |
| $100.01 USD to $200 USD | $9.99 USD |
| $200.01 USD and above | $0 USD (free) |
Make sure that your ranges cover every order value. If an order's total falls outside your ranges, then no rate applies and the customer can't complete checkout.
Weight-based rates
A weight-based rate changes the shipping price based on the total weight of each shipment. Use weight-based rates when your shipping costs depend mostly on how heavy an order is. If an order is split into more than one shipment, then a weight-based rate is calculated for each shipment and the amounts are added together. For example, if a $5 USD weight-based rate applies to a shipment from one location and to a shipment from another location, then the customer is charged $10 USD.
You set a price for each weight range. For example, you can charge more as an order gets heavier:
| Shipment weight | Shipping rate price |
|---|---|
| 0 lb to 0.99 lb | $4.99 USD |
| 1 lb to 4.99 lb | $9.99 USD |
| 5 lb to 9.99 lb | $19.99 USD |
Weight-based rates need accurate product weight values. If a product is missing a weight, then its rate doesn't calculate correctly at checkout.
Carrier or app calculated rates
A carrier- or app-calculated rate displays live rates from a shipping carrier, such as UPS, FedEx, or USPS, or from a shipping app. The carrier calculates the price at checkout based on the order's weight, dimensions, and destination, so customers pay close to the amount that the carrier charges you for the label.
Built-in carrier rates are available on all plans in some regions, such as USPS in the United States or Canada Post in Canada. To display rates from your own carrier accounts, activate third-party carrier-calculated shipping.
Like weight-based rates, carrier- or app-calculated rates depend on accurate product weights and package sizes to calculate correctly. They're also calculated for each shipment and added together when an order is split into more than one shipment.
App-provided rates
If you use a shipping app or carrier that provides calculated rates, then those rates are displayed in your market's shipping options alongside your own rates. Unlike a carrier- or app-calculated rate that you set up, app-provided rates are managed by the app, so you can activate or deactivate them, but you can't edit their details. For more information, refer to third-party carrier-calculated shipping.
Combined rates at checkout
A shipping option can contain more than one rate, with each rate applying to different products or locations. When a cart matches more than one rate in the same shipping option, the highest matching rate is charged at checkout, instead of the rates being added together. This prevents customers from being overcharged when a cart contains products that have different rates.
Only flat and order amount rates can have more than one rate in a single shipping option. Weight-based and carrier- or app-calculated shipping options can have only one rate, which is always calculated for each shipment and added together when an order is split into more than one shipment.
For example, your Standard shipping option has a $5 USD rate for one collection and a $9 USD rate for another:
| Cart contents | Matching rates in Standard | Customer is charged |
|---|---|---|
| A product from the first collection | Standard, $5 USD | Standard, $5 USD |
| A product from the second collection | Standard, $9 USD | Standard, $9 USD |
| A product from each collection | Standard, $5 USD and Standard, $9 USD | Standard, $9 USD |
At checkout, a customer chooses one shipping option, such as Standard or Express. The highest matching rate applies only within that one option.
When a cart matches more than one shipping option, the prices of those options are added together. For example, your Standard option applies to one collection and your Express option applies to another collection. If a cart contains a product from each collection, then those are two separate shipping options, and their prices are added together at checkout.
The rule for combining rates is to charge the highest price between rates within a shipping option, and to add prices together across shipping options.
Product and location conditions
Within a shipping option, each rate can apply to specific products and locations:
- Product conditions set which products a rate applies to. A rate applies to all products available in the market, or to specific collections. To apply a rate to a specific set of products, group those products in a collection. A collection can apply at the product level or the variant level, so a rate can cover all variants of a product or only specific variants.
- Location conditions set which fulfillment locations a rate ships from, so you can charge a different rate depending on where an order ships from. For example, you can charge a different rate for items shipped from a Canadian location than for items shipped from a United States location. You set a rate's locations with its Ships from condition.
Shipping options at checkout
When a customer enters a shipping address at checkout, only the shipping options that apply to their order and address are displayed, and the cheapest option is selected by default. If a customer's address is in a region that you don't ship to, then they're notified that no shipping option is available.
If a cart meets the free shipping threshold for a shipping option, then the price of that option, including the matching rate within it, becomes free.
To set up your shipping options, refer to Setting up shipping options for a market.