Troubleshooting and testing shipping rates

For your shipping rates to display to customers at checkout, the checkout details must match the conditions of the shipping rates that you set. There are many factors that can affect whether the checkout matches a shipping rate, such as product details, market settings, locations, shipping profiles, packaging, and carrier accounts.

If checkout details don't match the conditions of the shipping rates that you set, then an error message might display, including the following examples or variations of them:

• Your order cannot be shipped to the selected address. Enter a different address
• Shipping not available. Your order cannot be shipped to the selected address. Review your address to ensure it's correct and try again, or select a different address

On this page, you can find some of the common things to check so that you can test why your shipping rates might not display as you expect.

General troubleshooting checklist

To resolve some of the most common shipping rate issues, confirm that the following settings are correct:

• Products are in the appropriate shipping profiles. For example, if you have two custom shipping profiles called Heavy and Fragile, then make sure that heavy products are in the Heavy profile and fragile products are in the Fragile profile.
• The shipping profiles have the appropriate shipping origin locations and zones set for fulfillment.
• There are shipping rates assigned for the shipping zone that includes the customer's shipping address.
• There are shipping rates set up that should apply to the checkout, based on all the items in the cart.
  • If using manual rates, then check that there is at least one rate for the total weight, price, or flat rate conditions of the customer's cart.
  • If using carrier-calculated rates, then check that there is at least one rate for the fulfillment location address, customer shipping address, and default box size.
• If you've made recent changes to any settings, then confirm that those changes have been saved successfully. If your changes haven't saved, then make your changes again and click Save.

Check your product settings

Products in the cart affect which shipping rates display during checkout. The checkout won't return shipping rates for products marked as digital products or services because they don't require physical shipment.

In your Shopify admin, go to Products and check your products to confirm the following settings are correct for the products in the customer's cart:

• Physical products have been set as Physical product.
• Physical products have an assigned Shipping weight, and the weight units (lb, oz, kg) are correct.
• Products have available inventory stocked at locations that fulfill the product (unless the option to Continue selling when out of stock is checked).
• If you're using shipping labels to display rates at checkout, then there must be available stock at a physical location, not an app or custom fulfillment location.

Check your locations settings

Your checkout uses the locations that you've set up for your store as shipping origins for fulfillment. This can impact which shipping rates display in your checkout.

In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Locations and then confirm that the following settings are correct for each location:

• The location is active and has a valid address. App locations don't have a physical address, so carrier-calculated shipping rates can't use them to calculate shipping rates.
• In the Fulfillment section, the Inventory at this location is available to fulfill online orders option is activated.

Troubleshoot dropshipping app location shipping rates

If you're using a dropshipping app and products are displaying as out of stock on your online store, then your app location might be missing shipping rates. Some dropshipping apps create an app location when you install them, but don't automatically configure shipping rates for that location.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.

2. In the Shipping section, click the shipping profile that you want to update.

3. In the Not shipping from this location section, find your dropshipping app location.

4. Click Add rates.

5. Choose one of the following rates options for your dropshipping app location:

• To create custom shipping rates when you know the shipping costs that your dropshipping supplier charges, click Create new rate, and then configure rates for your app location.
• To apply your existing shipping rates from another location, click Use rates from another location. If you select this option, then review your supplier's shipping costs to confirm that your rates are accurate.

6. Click Save.

After you add shipping rates to your dropshipping app's location, verify that your products display as in stock on your online store.

Check your market settings

Market settings affect how shipping rates display for customers based on the country that the order is shipping to. You can only add shipping and delivery settings when a country belongs to a market. Learn more about Shipping zones and markets.

In your Shopify admin, go to Markets and then confirm the following settings are correct:

• The customer's country is included in an existing market.
• Click Manage > Shipping for the customer's market, and then confirm that their country has rates assigned in the shipping profiles it's included in.

Check your shipping settings

If your shipping strategy includes multiple types of shipping rates, then review your shipping settings to confirm that everything has been set up correctly.

Check your shipping profiles

If you've updated to the latest version of shipping settings, then you might have multiple custom shipping profiles to consider when shipping rates are generated during checkout.

In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery and then confirm that the following settings are correct for each shipping profile:

• Products are assigned to the correct shipping profile.
• Shipping origins are assigned to the correct shipping profiles.
• Shipping zones are assigned to the correct shipping origins within the shipping profile.
• Shipping rates are assigned to the correct shipping zones within each shipping origin.

Considerations for weight-based rates

If you use weight-based shipping rates, then ensure that there's a weight-based rate that applies to the total weight of the cart. To determine the total weight of the cart, add the weight of all the products in the cart and the weight of the default package.

Considerations for price-based rates

The checkout determines shipping rates based on the total value of the cart after applying discounts, but before applying taxes. If you use price-based shipping rates, then ensure that there's a price-based rate that includes that cart value.

Confirm the currency of the shipping rates is correct. When creating shipping rates, the checkout bases the shipping rate currency on the store currency, and it doesn't automatically update if you change your store currency. To update the shipping currency to the store currency, delete the affected shipping rates and then recreate them.

Considerations for carrier-calculated rates

If the carrier-calculated service isn't calculating the rates you expect for a cart, then check that the weights and package dimensions are correct for the products that are in the cart.

Additionally, you should confirm the following information:

• All addresses are valid addresses in the carrier service, including both your shipping origin location and the customer's shipping destination. You can verify the addresses with Google.
• The default package being used to generate rates must be within the minimum and maximum requirements for the carrier services you're offering. Make sure that the package isn't too large or too heavy for the correct rates to generate. Each carrier and service type has different requirements.
• If the default box is set to a carrier package, then only that carrier's rates display. For example, the USPS Priority Mail flat rate box will only work for Priority Mail options, so if Priority Mail rates aren't active, then no rates will display during checkout.

Considerations for third-party app rates

Third-party shipping apps that display shipping rates at checkout rely on the app or carrier to provide a rate during checkout. Backup shipping rates apply by default for your store, so that customers can still complete checkout when all app or carrier rates for a shipment fail and no other eligible shipping rate is available.

If you can add a shipping app as a rate provider in Settings > Shipping and delivery but no rates are displayed at checkout, then verify the following items before contacting the app developer:

• If the app uses carrier-calculated shipping to provide rates, then verify that third-party carrier-calculated shipping is available and activated for your store.
• The test checkout address matches a shipping zone where the app rate provider is active.
• When the app uses carrier-calculated shipping, the Shopify-side checks in Considerations for carrier-calculated rates, such as accurate product weights and dimensions and a valid physical origin address, also apply.

If your Shopify configuration is correct but the app still doesn't provide a rate, then contact the app developer for help. The app developer or carrier can investigate the rate-quote request, account credentials, and service coverage.

Troubleshoot third-party app shipping profiles