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 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 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 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 |
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 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.
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:
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.
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.