Setting up shipping zones & rates

Learn how to create shipping zones and set the rates your customers see at checkout in your Shopify store.

Shipping zones tell Shopify where you ship to, and shipping rates tell customers how much it costs. Getting these right means no surprises at checkout — for you or your customers.

Quick summary

You create shipping zones (geographic areas) and then add rates to each zone. Rates can be flat fees, weight-based, price-based, or free over a threshold. Customers see only the rates that apply to their order and delivery address. Set this up in Settings → Shipping and delivery. (Shopify is gradually moving stores to a newer system, "shipping options by market", managed from Markets. If your Shipping and delivery page looks different from this guide, ask us.)

What you'll need

Admin access to your Shopify store
Your shipping carriers or preferred rates ready (flat rate amounts, free shipping thresholds, etc.)
Each country you ship to added to an active market in Markets. Customers in inactive markets can't place orders, even if their country is in a shipping zone.

What is a shipping zone?

A shipping zone is a group of countries or regions that share the same shipping rates. For example:

Domestic — just your home country
North America — United States, Canada, Mexico
International — everywhere else

You can create a zone for each area you ship to. Each zone gets its own set of rates. Within a shipping profile, a country or region can be in only one zone for the same group of locations.

Setting up your first shipping zone

Go to Settings. From your Shopify admin, click Settings.

Open Shipping and delivery. Click Shipping and delivery from the settings menu.

Find your shipping profile. Your store has a "General" shipping profile that covers all your products unless you set up others. In the Shipping profiles section, click the General profile.

Add a zone. In the Shipping zones section, click Add zone. Enter a Zone name (like "United States"), select the countries or regions it covers under Regions, and click Done.

Add rates to the zone. For that zone, click Add shipping option. Enter a Name (customers see this at checkout), choose a Rate type (see below) and enter the Price.

Save. Click Done, then Save to apply your changes.

Types of shipping rates

Shopify offers several rate types (the Rate type menu). Use whichever matches your business:

Rate type	Best for	Example
Flat	Simple stores with consistent packages	"$8 flat rate"
Free shipping (any rate type with a price of 0, or Offer free shipping)	Promotions or always-free	"Free shipping over $75"
Weight	Stores where weight varies a lot	"$5 under 1 lb, $10 over 1 lb"
Order amount (price-based)	Scaling cost by order value	"$5 for orders under $50"
Carrier or app calculated	Real-time rates from carriers such as UPS, USPS, FedEx	Exact carrier rates at checkout

Carrier-calculated rates can depend on your plan

Built-in carrier-calculated rates, such as USPS in the United States or Canada Post in Canada, are available on all plans. Connecting your own carrier account (for example UPS, FedEx or USPS) is included on the Advanced and Plus plans. On the Grow plan it costs an extra monthly fee, or comes with annual billing. It isn't available on the Basic plan. Check your current plan in Shopify plans & billing.

Setting up free shipping over a threshold

Free shipping over a minimum order value is a common way to encourage customers to spend a little more.

Add or edit a shipping option in your zone. Click Add shipping option in your shipping zone. To change an existing option instead, click the ⋯ menu next to it and choose Edit shipping option.

Name it. Customers see this name at checkout, so make it clear, like "Standard shipping."

Set the rate. Choose a Rate type and enter the Price you charge for orders below your threshold.

Turn on free shipping. Select Offer free shipping and enter the minimum order amount (for example, $75). Orders of that amount or more get free shipping.

Save. Click Done, then Save.

Shipping profiles for different products

If some products need different shipping rules — for example, oversized items — you can create additional shipping profiles. Each profile can have its own zones and rates. A product (or variant) can be in only one profile at a time.

To create a new profile, go to Settings → Shipping and delivery and, in the Shipping profiles section, click Add custom profile. Give it a name, add the products, then add zones and rates.

Digital products

If you sell digital products (like PDFs or downloads), no shipping should be charged for them. Open the product and, in its Shipping section, turn off the Physical product setting.

Common questions

Why is my customer being charged shipping when I set free shipping?

Check that the customer's country is included in the zone where you set up free shipping. If their country is not in any zone, or is in a different zone without free shipping, they will see a different rate — or no rates at all. Also check that the order meets your minimum amount, and that the products in the cart belong to the shipping profile where you set up free shipping. When an order has products from different profiles, Shopify combines their shipping rates into one.

What happens if a customer's country is not in any shipping zone?

They will see an error at checkout, which may read something like "Shipping not available. Your order cannot be shipped to the selected address," and they won't be able to complete checkout. Add their country to a zone if you want to ship there, and make sure the country is in an active market.

Can I charge different rates for the same country?

Yes. You can add multiple shipping options to the same zone — for example, a standard rate and an express rate. Customers see the options that apply to their order and choose one. The cheapest option is selected by default.

Can I hide shipping rates from certain customers?

Not with the standard rate settings. They let you limit when a rate appears by order amount or weight, but not by customer. To give specific customers free shipping, Shopify suggests a free shipping discount code. For anything more, such as separate rates for wholesale customers, ask us about the options.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.