Shopify Shipping Guide 2023: Run Your Shop Like A Pro

Shopify Shipping is a free shipping suite available to all Shopify users. With Shopify Shipping, merchants gain access to discounted shipping rates through Shopify’s shipping partnerships, free shipping label printing, tracking shipments, and more.

If you have a Shopify store, keep reading to learn more about Shopify Shipping and whether it’s the right shipping solution for your business.

Don’t have time to read through the entire article? That’s understandable. Business owners are busy, after all. Here are the main advantages and disadvantages of Shopify Shipping:

What Is Shopify Shipping?

Shopify Shipping is a built-in shipping suite that gives merchants tools to set up shipping pricing and rules, calculate real-time shipping rates, purchase and print shipping labels, and track shipments. It is available and free for all Shopify users in qualified countries.

Shopify Shipping Features

Shopify Shipping comes with all the features most merchants need to process orders, which include:

• Integrations With Major Carriers: Ship your orders through major carriers such as DHL, USPS, UPS, and Canada Post.
• Batch Label Printing: You can purchase and print up to 20 labels at a time using a regular desktop printer or Shopify-compatible label printer.
• Shipping Insurance: Shipping insurance through Shipsurance is available only to merchants who are shipping from the United States. Buy up to $5,000 of insurance coverage on eligible shipments. Add shipping insurance and even file claims directly from your Shopify admin. Not all commodities and destinations are covered, however.
• Flat Rate Or Calculated Shipping Options: You can choose to set free or flat shipping rates or calculate rates based on weight and dimensions. Shopify Shipping now allows all merchants to list calculated shipping rates to customers at checkout. There’s only one disadvantage to these calculated rates and it is that Shopify Shipping’s calculated rates use only the dimensions that you enter for your default package. If a shipment differs vastly in size from your default package, your calculated rates may be incorrect during your customers’ checkout process. More on this later.
• Better Customer Service Features: Provide customers with real-time updates and tracking information.
• International Features: Print customs forms with your shipping labels. Calculate duties and import taxes. Set custom shipping calculations based on geographical shipping zones and show those shipping rates in your customers’ native currency.

Where Is Shopify Shipping Available?

Shopify Shipping is only available in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Italy, Spain, and France. This is because to use Shopify Shipping, your store needs to have an eligible fulfillment location, and the only eligible locations are in these countries.

How Does Shopify Shipping Work?

Before Shopify Shipping, business owners could list, market, and sell their items online through Shopify, but still had to manage shipping on their own.

Now Shopify partners with major shipping carriers in eligible countries (e.g. USPS, UPS, DHL Express, Canada Post) to offer discounted rates on many shipping services, so that Shopify store owners can manage every part of selling and shipping in one place.

Shopify Shipping allows merchants to:

• Access shipping discounts from major trusted shipping carriers
• Charge precise amounts for shipping, so you don’t underestimate your shipping expenses
• Print labels at home, so you can get orders out faster (and skip the line at the post office)
• Set your own custom shipping rates, rules, and fees
• Let customers choose how quickly they want to receive their package during checkout
• Track packages through Shopify
• Add additional insurance if your shipping carrier can’t cover the loss of an item in full
• Sell internationally with shipping customs forms, import tax settings, and international shipping discounts
• Pay software subscription and shipping fees in one place

Shopify Shipping Discounts: A Noteworthy Benefit

Shopify Shipping offers discounts on shipping from major carriers such as:

• USPS: Save between 5% and 42% on average on USPS shipping, plus get free USPS shipping supplies and shipping insurance.
• UPS: Save between 40% and 70% on average on UPS shipping, plus get free shipping insurance.
• DHL: Save 60% on average on DHL International shipping, plus get free shipping supplies and insurance.

Note: The above estimations are for smaller packages between one and three pounds. Your discount may vary depending on item weight, size, and shipping destination.

These discounts are available for free with your Shopify account, which is a strongly compelling reason to consider Shopify Shipping.

How Much Is Shopify Shipping Software?

Shopify Shipping is built into your Shopify account, and it is totally free to use. You won’t pay any additional monthly fees or per-label fees.

In comparison, pricing for many third-party shipping software apps typically ranges from $0/month to $100/month depending on the number of orders you ship per month and the level of customer support you receive.

One of the main reasons to consider Shopify Shipping is the reduced shipping rates offered through carriers like USPS, UPS, DHL Express, and Canada Post. While all Shopify customers can benefit from this discount, the rate you pay for shipping with some carriers may depend on your Shopify plan level.

Take a look below for a more detailed breakdown of the discounted shipping rates available with these shipping carriers.

USPS Shopify Shipping Rates

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the cheapest shipping service for the majority of business owners, especially for most smaller packages (under seven pounds). USPS’s partnership with Shopify Shipping lets you save up to 88% on your shipments.

When you purchase USPS shipping labels through Shopify Shipping, you can skip the line at the post office and go straight to the drop-off box, or schedule a package pickup. USPS also provides tracking numbers so your customers can track their shipments.

USPS makes the following domestic and international shipping services available through Shopify Shipping, with no minimum shipping volume requirements or hidden fees:

Domestic USPS Services

• First-Class Package Service: 2-3 business days
• First-Class Mail: 2-3 business days
• Priority Mail: 1-3 business days
• Priority Mail Express: 1-2 business days

International USPS Services

• First-Class Package International Service: The delivery timeline varies
• Priority Mail International: 6-10 days
• Priority Mail Express International: 3-5 business days

Pricing for all shipping services depends on a variety of factors, including the shipment’s weight and dimensions, as well as the shipment’s starting point and destination. For this reason, it’s difficult to give representative pricing for all available shipping services.

However, in an effort to demonstrate some of Shopify Shipping’s available discounts, this is a sample pricing for a 15-ounce package shipping from New York City to Chicago (domestic) and from New York City to London (international):

• USPS First-Class Package Service: $5.72 (41% savings)
• USPS Priority Mail: $8.12 (17% savings)
• USPS Priority Mail Express: $34.05 (14% savings)
• USPS First-Class Package International Service: $25.79 (5% savings)

Note: The example pricing above is based on the Shopify subscription plan savings rates. Savings rates vary depending on your Shopify plan.

USPS Cubic Pricing

Cubic pricing is available for users on the Shopify and Advanced Shopify plans. To qualify, packages must weigh less than 20 pounds, measure less than 0.5 cubic feet in volume, and be less than 18 inches in length, width, and height.

If you regularly send small but heavy products, such as coffee beans, you may qualify for cubic pricing that’s lower than the regular Priority Mail price.

If you are on an eligible Shopify subscription plan, Shopify automatically selects the cheaper rate.

UPS Shopify Shipping Rates

Specializing in fast shipments and guaranteed delivery, UPS is often the best option for time-sensitive shipments. UPS offers robust package-tracking features and guaranteed delivery on super fast shipment options like Next Day Air.

When you ship via UPS with Shopify Shipping, you can save up to 74% on UPS rates. You can also schedule UPS package pickups from your workplace (for an extra fee), so you can keep shipping without having to leave your office.

Insurance is included when you purchase a UPS shipping label, for maximum coverage of $100.

Here are the UPS services you can access with Shopify Shipping:

Domestic UPS Services

• UPS Next Day Air: Next business day
• UPS Next Day Air Early: Next business day (morning)
• UPS Next Day Air Saver: Next business day (afternoon)
• UPS 2nd Day Air: Two business days
• UPS 3 Day Select: Three business days
• UPS Ground: 1-5 business days

International UPS Services

• UPS Worldwide Express: 1-3 business days (morning)
• UPS Worldwide Saver: 1-3 business days (end of day)
• UPS Worldwide Expedited: 2-5 business days
• UPS Standard to Canada: Day-definite by date scheduled

Pricing for each shipment depends on the shipment’s weight, dimensions, starting point, and destination. UPS also adds fuel surcharges, residential delivery fees, pickup fees, and delivery area surcharges (rural or remote area delivery.)

To show you the kind of savings you can expect with Shopify Shipping and UPS, the following example represents the cost of shipping a one-pound box via UPS for users on the Shopify plan.

The first two rates represent pricing for shipping domestically from New York City to Chicago, while the last two rates represent international shipments from New York City to the specified destinations:

• UPS Ground: $8.08 (49% savings)
• UPS Next Day Air: $35.27 (56% savings)
• UPS Standard to Canada: $16.53 (44% savings)
• UPS Worldwide Expedited to London: $36.06 (69% savings)

DHL Express Shopify Shipping Rates

If you ship internationally, you should consider DHL for your fulfillment. DHL specializes in fast, global deliveries and ships to more than 220 countries and territories, reaching 95% of the world’s population.

With tools for creating customs forms and guaranteed international delivery (often within 2-3 business days), DHL makes a lot of sense for international shipments. And when you purchase shipping labels through Shopify Shipping, you can save up to 74% on DHL rates.

DHL only offers one service through Shopify Shipping.

International DHL Service

• DHL Express Worldwide: 2-3 business days for most international destinations

As expected, pricing for individual shipments varies dramatically depending on package weight, dimensions, origin, and destination. In addition, DHL’s discount rate varies depending on what level of Shopify service you subscribe to.

This example shipment of a one-pound box from New York City to various destinations shows the savings you can expect based on the Shopify plan you subscribe to:

Canada Post Shopify Shipping Rates

For Shopify sellers based in Canada, Canada Post is the only national shipping carrier available through Shopify Shipping. It is available exclusively to sellers who ship from Canada.

When you use Shopify Shipping to purchase shipping labels from Canada Post, you can save up to 53%. Canada Post shipments come with tracking capabilities, so you can give customers notifications on the status of their orders.

Note: You cannot use Canada Post for envelope-type packages.

Canada Post offers a number of different services with Shopify Shipping, including:

Domestic Canada Post Services

• Expedited Parcel: 1-7 business days
• Xpresspost: 1-2 business days
• Priority: Next business day

International Canada Post Services: USA

• Small Packet USA – Air: 5-8 business days
• Tracked Packet – USA: 4-7 business days
• Expedited Parcel – USA: 4-7 business days
• Xpresspost – USA: 2-3 business days

International Canada Post Services: The Rest of the World

• Small Packet International: Surface (1-3 months) or Air (6-10 business days)
• International Parcel: Surface (1-3 months) or Air (12+ business days)
• Tracked Packet – International: 6-10 business days
• Xpresspost – International: 4-7 business days

Pricing for shipments with Canada Post varies depending on package weight, dimensions, origin, and destination. Take a look below for just one comparison of the rates available at the post office and Shopify Shipping’s discounted rates on the Shopify plan.

For an example of the savings you can get when shipping through Shopify, the following example represents the cost of shipping a one-kilogram package from Toronto to Calgary, Canada for users on the Shopify plan:

How To Set Up Shipping On Shopify

Since the Shopify Shipping suite is already built into every Shopify account, it doesn’t take much work to start using the program. This is how to set up Shopify Shipping.

Step 1: Add Your Shipping Address

You probably already entered your business address when you signed up for a Shopify account. If you ship from your business, double-check that it is correct before moving on.

If you ship from a location that is different than your business’s primary location (for example, a warehouse), add that address to the “Locations” section on your settings page.

Step 2: Choose Your Shipping Carriers & Services

Your shipping carriers and services depend on your business’s location.

Choose which of your available options you’d like to use for your shipments, and click the checkbox to make those services available on your order processing page.

Step 3: Add All Product Weights

In order to calculate accurate real-time rates, your store must include weights for all your products. If you haven’t taken this step already, now is the time!

You can set weights in pounds, ounces, kilograms, or grams.

Step 4: Set A “Default Package” Weight & Dimensions

Shopify Shipping calculates the weight of your shipments by adding product weight to the weight of your packaging materials.

You can set the weight and dimensions of your packaging materials by setting up a “default package.” Shopify will use the dimensions and packaging weight that you enter here to calculate real-time shipping rates to display on a customer’s checkout page.

Unfortunately, you can set only one default package, which means that if you have products that vary dramatically in size, you may end up charging incorrect amounts for shipping. You are able to select another package size during the order processing step, but the rates Shopify displays at checkout are only based on this one default package.

If this doesn’t work for you, Shopify recommends that you use a third-party shipping app to calculate rates at checkout.

Step 5: Set Up Your Printer

Shopify Shipping lets you print labels on a regular desktop printer or on a supported label printer.

Desktop printers create regular paper labels, which you can attach to your shipment using packing tape or plastic sleeves, while label printers create sticker labels.

Shopify Shipping is compatible with these label printers:

• Dymo LabelWriter 4XL
• Rollo label printer
• Brother QL-1110NWB label printer
• Bixolon label printer
• Zebra label printer

Your hardware setup process will vary depending on what type of printer you use. You can find more specific directions in the shipping section of the Shopify manual, which is available online.

When you purchase a label, you download the file to your computer. From there, you can choose which printer you’d like to send the label to.

Print out a free test label by going to Settings, then Shipping and delivery.

In the shipping labels section, click Test print label. If the label downloads to your desktop, find it and send it to the right destination. If the label appears in a new browser tab, open the tab and print from there.

Step 6: Adjust Settings For Specific Shipping Zones

When you set up Shopify Shipping, you’ll find default shipping settings for Shopify Shipping carriers.

However, some sellers choose to offer certain shipping services only within specific shipping zones. For example, you might want to offer expedited shipping only to customers near your warehouse. Or you might want to offer international shipping only to a few select countries.

Shopify Shipping allows you to adjust your settings to offer certain shipping services only to some shipping zones. Be sure to look into these features before you launch.

Once you have everything set up — you’ve chosen a few shipping services, added product weights, set a default package, and tested your printer — you can begin fulfilling orders. Head over to your orders page to start processing shipments.

How To Set Up Shopify Shipping Rates

This is how to set up Shopify Shipping rates in five steps (or six, if you have custom product shipping needs.)

Step 1: Create A Shipping Zone

This is arguably the most important part of setting up shipping rates.

To create a shipping zone, start by clicking on Settings in the left side panel in your Shopify admin dashboard. From there, click on Shipping and delivery

You may see default shipping rates listed in your general shipping rates. You may delete them to start from scratch. Then click Manage rates.

You should land on your “General profile”. The shipping settings you create in a general profile apply to all of your products.

If you have products that require different shipping rates, such as fragile items that you need to charge a handling fee on, then you will need to create more shipping profiles for those specific products.

From the General profile screen, make sure your “Shipping from” address is correct. If you have one fulfillment location, it’s set by default. If you have multiple locations, you can click Manage and add a new location.

Beneath the “Shipping from” section, there is a “Shipping to” section. Within that section, click Create shipping zone.

Type in your zone name. Make it something straightforward and memorable, such as “Continental United States” or “United States 48”, like in the following example.

From there, you can use the search box to find the countries and regions you’d like to include in your shipping zone.

Most countries have dropdown arrows that will show you different regions within the country. Check which ones you’d like to include.

For example, the United States includes all states plus territories, Washington D.C., and Armed Forces locations. If you want to choose only the Continental United States, you would uncheck every place that is not in the Continental United States.

Then, click Done.

You can create several shipping zones for other places, such as Alaska and Hawaii, which cost more to ship to.

Step 2: Choose Your Method Of Calculating Rates

You can either set your own rates or use a carrier-calculated rate.

To choose which method you’d like to use, click Add rate under your shipping zone.

From the popup window, you can choose to set up your own rates or use carrier/app shipping calculators to calculate rates.

Carrier-calculated rates are from Shopify Shipping partners (in the US, this includes USPS, UPS, and DHL).

Apps are shipping apps that you may install from the Shopify app marketplace.

Step 3: Choose Which Services Or Speeds You Want To Offer

If you want to set your own shipping rates, you will set your shipping speed using the dropdown menu bar. In general, there are three speeds: express, standard, and economy. Naturally, the faster a product arrives to a customer, the higher the shipping price is.

If you use carrier-calculated rates to calculate shipping rates, choose which carrier you’d like to work with.

Step 4: Customize Your Shipping Conditions

Your shipping conditions vary widely depending on whether you set your own rates or use a rate third-party rate calculator. Let’s break down what custom settings you have for each rate-setting scenario.

Third-Party Carrier Calculated Rates

Each carrier offers different services with different shipping times. These services are listed earlier in this article, and you can read up on them before choosing which services are relevant to your business.

Check which services you want to offer.

If you want to show new shipping services (such as a new service for a specific sized package) to customers automatically, click on the “Future Services” checkbox.

If the products in this shipping profile are fragile, they will require more packaging material to protect them. You can cover this added cost by charging a handling fee. If you want to charge a handling fee, you can choose whether you want to charge a flat fee or a percentage of the cost of the fragile item(s).

Then, click Done.

You should now see your carrier name and services listed under your shipping zone.

You can add rates for each carrier you work with, and those shipping options will be made available to shoppers during checkout.

Your Own Custom Rates

You can choose which price to set your shipping rate at, as well as conditions that shoppers need to meet to get a custom rate (like $0 shipping.)

Choose your shipping speed and enter a price. If you’d like to create custom conditions, click Add conditions under the price.

You may choose flat-rate shipping based on an item’s weight (great for carriers that offer flat-rate shipping based on weight) or an order amount.

With these shipping conditions, you can offer free shipping to incentivize shoppers to spend a certain amount. You can also use flat-rate shipping conditions to keep your shipping costs simple.

You can add a number of custom shipping rates based on weight and price.

Step 5 (Optional): Setting Up Shipping Profiles

If you know that some of your products are always going to cost more to ship than others, such as fragile products or really large products, you can create new shipping profiles for each special product type.

To create a new Shopify shipping profile, click Shipping and delivery on the left side panel in your Shopify admin dashboard (if you’re not already on the Shipping and delivery settings page.)

In the “Custom shipping rates” section, click Create new profile.

Next, name your shipping profile. Then, click Add products.

Check which products from your store you would like to include in your new shipping profile. After that, click Done.

The shipping rate setup process is the same no matter which shipping profile you’re working on, so simply repeat steps 1-4 to create shipping rates for all your products.

How To Set Up Free Shipping On Shopify

For many small online businesses, free shipping is a necessity these days, if you want to remain competitive. You may be able to absorb the costs with increased sales, offer free shipping only after a certain price threshold is reached per order, or adjust prices slightly upward to offset the added expense.

Here are three ways to adjust your Shopify Shipping setting to make free shipping available to customers.

Free Shipping As Default Option

If you want to make free shipping available on all the products you sell, you can choose Free as your default shipping option.

• Step 1: Get to the Shipping and delivery settings page in your Shopify admin dashboard.
• Step 2: Next to “General shipping rates” click Manage rates. This will take you to your general shipping profile. If you modify shipping settings in your general profile, it will apply to all your products.
• Step 3: Click Add rate (this is Step 2 listed in the above tutorial) and make sure you have selected “Set up your own rates”.
• Step 4: Choose your shipping speed. By default, the price is set to $0, which shows up as “free” for shoppers. Do not add any conditions.
• Step 5: Click Done.

How To Set Up Free Shipping With Minimum Purchase

You may want to make free shipping available only when a customer orders a certain dollar amount of products, such as $50. That’s a good strategy for encouraging customers to keep shopping, so you increase your average order value and recoup some of the money you’ll be spending on free shipping.

If you want to set up free shipping on a minimum order total:

• Step 1: Click Manage rates in your general shipping profile.
• Step 2: Click Add rate. Make sure you have selected “Set up your own shipping rates”.
• Step 3: Choose your shipping speed.
• Step 4: The default shipping price is set to $0. To add a minimum purchase amount requirement, click Add conditions under the price (this is step 4 listed in the “setting up Shopify Shipping rates” section above).
• Step 5: Select Based on order price, and enter a minimum purchase amount.
• Step 6: Click Done.

To offer free shipping on certain products, you must create new shipping profiles for those specific products (step 5 in the”setting up Shopify Shipping rates” section above). Then, you’ll add free shipping rates for your new shipping profiles.

How To Set Up Free Shipping For Some Customers

Maybe you want to reward loyal customers — or entice former buyers to come back and shop again. Whatever your plans, you can adjust your Shopify Shipping free offer to fit your needs by creating a free shipping discount.

• Step 1: From your Shopify Admin dashboard, click Discounts in the left side panel.
• Step 2: Click Create discount and choose “Discount code”.
• Step 3: Enter a discount code name. Customers will use this code to get free shipping at checkout, so make it something related to free shipping.

• Step 4: Choose which countries you’d like to include and if you’d like to exclude a free shipping offering for shipping rates over a designated amount.
• Step 5: Choose your “Minimum requirements”. You may choose “none”, enter a minimum purchase amount, or a minimum quantity of items they need to purchase to get free shipping.
• Step 6: Choose which customers you’d like to include in the “Customer eligibility” section. You can select everyone. Or, you may select certain customers and customer groups, which you have to create in the “Customers” section of your Shopify admin dashboard.

• Step 7: Decide how often a customer can use their free shipping coupon code.
• Step 8: Set start and end dates under the “Active dates” section.
• Step 9: Click Save discount.

You can also juice sales on a specific product or category of product, by creating a shipping profile that contains the products and offering free shipping on them. You might also want to tie a free shipping offer for orders that hit a certain weight threshold, like 10 pounds.

You can either announce your free shipping discount code to customers via email or send a  shareable link.

Integrate With Shopify Shipping Apps

For most users, Shopify Shipping is worth looking into. However, if you’re not quite sure it’s the right choice for your business, you can find many alternative shipping solutions in the Shopify app store.

Keep in mind, however, that in order to take advantage of these apps, you may have to pay a monthly fee, typically between $0/month and $100/month, depending on how many orders you ship monthly.

Here are some of the best shipping software apps in the Shopify app store that are definitely worth the price tag:

ShippingEasy

Easy to learn and easy to use, ShippingEasy lives up to its name. It’s an affordable option for vendors who want a tried-and-true shipping integration for their Shopify store.

ShipStation

A complete shipping solution, ShipStation integrates completely with Shopify stores as well as USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL. A Stamps.com account is included, and users can access USPS discounts.

ShipRush

For sellers shipping a lot of freight, ShipRush can be an affordable shipping solution. You’ll see rates from multiple carriers displayed together, letting you easily choose the most cost-effective option. And the software comes with a free 60-day trial.

OrderCup

The more sales channels you’re operating on, the more complicated your shipping needs can become. That’s where shipping software like OrderCup comes in. All paid plans include unlimited channels in addition to discounted USPS shipping rates, discounted insurance, returns processing, and address verification.

Pirate Ship

Good for sellers who ship primarily with USPS, Pirate Ship lets you save up to 89% off USPS rates. You’ll also gain access to USPS cubic pricing, meaning you could save if you regularly ship small but heavy packages. Connect Pirate Ship to your Shopify account to print shipping labels and generate end-of-day forms. Pirate Ship works well for vendors shipping identical packages.

Advanced Shipping Rules

If you sell a variety of products online, with varying weights and package sizes, Advanced Shipping Rules might be a good choice for you. You can set unique rates using many variables and conditions, including advanced package dimension settings, free shipping rules, special shipping rules by ZIP Code, and restricted ground rates for perishable items. Ship via UPS and FedEx.

Shipping Rates By ZipCode

Do your customers expect delivery in a variety of ways? If you want to offer shipping plus store pickup and local delivery, this app might work well for you. It uses buyers’ ZIP codes to calculate shipping prices at checkout. You can set conditions such as order price, item weight or quantity, product selection, and so on, and add ZIP codes with shipping prices based on the day of the week. This app works in all the countries Shopify supports, so it’s a good choice for international sellers.

Shipping Rates Calculator Plus

Fight back against abandoned carts by using this app’s geolocation tools to display shipping costs to customers up front. As long as you have your Shopify store configured to display real-time shipping rates, your customers can see accurate delivery information and pricing.

Advanced Shipping Manager

Complicated shipping rules? Multiple carriers? No problem, if you add Advanced Shipping Manager to your Shopify store. You can set unlimited rules, unlimited origins, and unlimited options, with more than 70 supported parcel and freight couriers. Use dimensional weight, item origin postal codes, and block shipping to restrict inappropriate shipping options from special items like perishable products, heavy items, or items restricted in different states.

If your business model involves dropshipping, you have some additional shipping challenges. Fortunately, you also have access to some great shipping solutions aimed at dropshippers, in addition to a wealth of dropshipping apps for Shopify stores.

Whatever your shipping challenges, you can find what you need in the Shopify app store.

FAQs: Shopify Shipping