Shipping is an often forgotten factor of e-commerce, even though it’s a necessity. After all, if you don’t have a shipping plan in place, you won’t have a way to get your products to your customers. Unless you plan on hand-delivering items, you need to learn how to use shipping.
A commonly asked question we hear all the time is, “Who pays for shipping on Shopify?”
When using Shopify your customer will usually pay for the shipping at checkout. The shipping funds will tack on to the order receipt and add to the total price. For shipping labels, Shopify will bill you through your account. You can also buy shipping labels from a 3rd party if you don’t want to use Shopify’s.
So if you want to learn all about shipping on Shopify and who pays for it, you’re in the right place. We’ll be going over everything you need to know to set up shipping for your Shopify store.
Selecting a Shipping Strategy
The first step is to determine what shipping strategy you’d like to use. It’s something that will probably change over time as your store expands. You’ll need to decide on a fair price to charge your customers for shipping. The different methods include:
- Free shipping. If you want to increase your cart conversions, you could go the free shipping route. That is a great way to entice customers to buy from you instead of a competitor. We’ll cover more on how to set up free shipping later on. Also, a clever way to use free shipping is to include shipping in the base product price. That will give the illusion of free shipping without hurting your margins.
- Exact costs. Shopify has a nifty app you can use in the US and Canada for shipping. It’s called Shopify Shipping, and it has a shipping calculator, so you know what to charge. This technique is ideal for new businesses with limited resources. Charging the exact rate for shipping will help you avoid unnecessary costs.
- Flat-rate shipping. Another common shipping strategy is to use a flat rate for all orders. That means you charge a consistent rate that will not change no matter what. When coming up with a flat rate, you should consider the average shipping cost of your area. That will help you avoid overcharging or undercharging for your shipping.
Any one of these strategies is a viable way to charge for Shipping on Shopify. As stated before, charging the exact rate is best for businesses that are getting started. After you gain some success, you can switch to one of the other two methods.
Working with Shipping Carriers
Next, you’ll need to determine which shipping carriers that you want to use. Shopify integrates with some providers by default, while others don’t. Still, even if a carrier doesn’t integrate by default, you can opt to use it. Shopify is pretty flexible when it comes to selecting shipping carriers. Yet, it’s best to stick with the carriers that work with Shopify directly.
In the USA, Shopify integrates with the following carriers:
- USPS (Standard Shopify rates as well as rates that you negotiate
- UPS (Shopify rates and negotiated rates)
- DHL Express (Shopify rates)
- Fed Ex(negotiated rates)
If you want to use another carrier that you don’t see here, you may download their app from the App Store. That way, you can receive their calculated rates at your checkout.
Each integrated carrier has a set of benefits and drawbacks. They are:
- USPS is economical and perfect for lightweight items. There’s domestic and international shipping and tracking information is available. Yet, it’s the slowest carrier option. If you want quicker shipping times, look elsewhere.
- UPS has guaranteed delivery, tracking information, and more. You can even add insurance to your packages. There’s domestic and international shipping, and they offer next-day delivery.
- DHL Express is great for lightweight and heavy items. They’re a premium shipping carrier with the quickest international delivery. They’re an excellent carrier for international orders as a result.
- Fed Ex offers speedy delivery times, next-day air, and much more. They’re swift, but they’re often expensive.
It’s crucial to strategize your shipping options. For example, USPS is best if you sell lightweight items that customers don’t need right away. If you’re selling heavier items internationally, you should go with DHL Express. To find the most success, play to each carrier’s strengths.
Providing Free Shipping for Customers
Okay, so if you want to make shipping free for customers, here’s what you need to do. You’ll have to add free shipping rates to your shipping zone. Here are the steps:
- From your admin page, to go Settings > Shipping
- Select the shipping profile that you want to add free shipping, and hit Manage Rates
- Select Add Rate next to the shipping zone
- Name the rate
- Make sure that the Price field is at 0
- Click Done, and then Save
That’s all it takes to eliminate the shipping charges on your Shopify store. Let’s say that you have free shipping, but you want to get rid of it now. In that case, you’ll need to edit the rate. Here’s what you need to do:
- Go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery
- Click Manage Rates next to the one you want to change
- Click the … button next to the rate
- Select Edit Rate from the drop-down menu
- Edit the rate, and then hit Done
- Select Save
Now you know how to edit any shipping rate on your store. You can offer free shipping, flat rate, exact cost, and more. It’s entirely up to you what you want to charge your customers for shipping.
Using Shippo on Shopify
If you want to make shipping for your store effortless, then you need to get Shippo. The best part? It’s completely free! There’s no risk involved in trying it out on your storefront.
You’ll gain access to the absolute best shipping rates around the globe. You can also split orders into multiple shipments. You can bulk print up to 100 shipping labels at a time, and you can automate your workflow.
Essential features include:
- 95% off USPS, 55% off UPS, 75% off DHL express, and 29% off Fed Ex
- Only pay for labels as you print them
- Bulk print labels
- Automate workflows
- Flawless tracking information
To get access to this awesome shipping app follow this link.
Who Pays for Shipping on Shopify? ( quick video )
Try Shopify for free.
If you are interested in Shopify and want to try it out, Shopify is offering a 14-day free trial here. The free trial is great because you get to see how Shopify works before committing to one of their monthly programs. If you decide to start the free trial, you can pick up right where you left off when you switch to the monthly plan. If you’re looking to grow or start your online business, this is an excellent opportunity to try Shopify.
Concluding Thoughts
Now you should know the answer to, “Who pays for shipping on Shopify?” It’s up to you to decide what you want to charge for shipping. You’ll need to factor in the carrier you’re using and the standard shipping rates in your area. By using Shippo, you can significantly reduce the cost of shipping for your store. If you’d be interested in our guide on how shipping works on Shopify visit this link here.
If you want to see a list of our top recommended Shopify apps visit this link here.
