Setting Up Shipping on Shopify, and How It’s Different Than Your Etsy Shop

One of the topics I get asked about most frequently from Etsy sellers who are setting up a website on Shopify is about the shipping settings.

Setting up shipping rates for your store is very different on Shopify than it is on Etsy.

On Etsy – you enter a shipping charge for each product within your shop – whether it’s calculated shipping based on the size, weight and location of the package and where it’s shipping to, or flat rate shipping, or even free shipping.

But on Shopify, you need to specify one of three types (well, kind of one of four types) of shipping and then those shipping settings apply to ALL products within your store.

Let’s look at a comparison…

Shipping Settings on Etsy

Here are some important key points for setting up shipping for your Etsy shop:

• Each product can have a different shipping setting. For example, some products can be set to free shipping, some to a flat rate charge, and some to calculated shipping. The choice is yours.
• The shipping settings on Etsy allow you to specify a time frame for shipping. For example, you can have some products set to ship within 1 day, some to ship within 5 days, etc.
• Item listings on Etsy have an area for you to enter the weight and the size of that items package.
  

Shipping Rates at Checkout Settings on Shopify

Here are some important things about shipping from your Shopify website:

• On Shopify, you do not set the shipping settings per product. Instead, you choose from four different shipping methods, and that method applies to your entire store.  The four shipping settings are:
  • Weight Based Rate Table – Weight Based shipping is based on the total weight of all items in an order, regardless of size of the package and where it is shipping to. For example, you could have a shipping table set up for orders based on weight where packages that weigh 0-5 pounds cost $6.00 to ship; packages that weigh 6-10 pounds cost $10.00 to ship, packages that weigh 10-15 pounds cost $15.00 to ship, and packages 16 pounds and up cost $25.00 pounds to ship. With Weight Based shipping, you are not able to specify different shipping methods – for example, you cannot offer USPS First Class, USPS Priority Mail, UPS Ground, etc. You are only offering one flat rate based on weight. Here’s an example of a Weight Based Rate Table:
    
  • Price Based Rate Table – Price Based shipping is based on the total dollar amount of all items in an order, regardless of weight and size of the package, as well as where it is shipping to. For example, you could have a shipping table set up for orders based on total dollar amount where orders from 0-$10 cost $4.00 to ship; orders from $10.01-$15 cost $6.00 to ship; orders from $15.01- $20 cost $8.00 to ship; etc.  With Price Based shipping, you are not able to specify different shipping methods, just like with Weight Based shipping (see note above). Here’s an example of a Price Based Rate Table:
    
  • Calculated Shipping – Calculated Shipping is based on the total weight and size of the package, as well as where the package is shipping to. Calculated Shipping is the most accurate type of shipping setting. With Calculated Shipping, you enter the package weight of each item within your store (directly on the Product Listing Page) and you set a default package size and weight. When a customer places an order, their shipping is calculated based on the total weight of the order and their location. With Calculated Shipping you can also specify which shipping services you want to offer, such as USPS First Class Mail, USPS Priority Mail, etc.
    
  • Real-Time Rates – There is a fourth shipping category for Real-Time Rates through your own shipping carriers. The shipping charges in this category are based on the total weight and size of the package, where it is shipping to, and which carrier you have set up as a shipping partner. For example, if you ship via UPS and have negotiated discount rates through your own UPS account, you can set up Real-Time Rate shipping in your Shopify store. When a customer places an order and chooses UPS as the shipping carrier, your customer will see your real-time negotiated shipping rate.
    NOTE: In order to have Real-Time Rates activated in your Shopify store, you either have to be on the Shopify plan at $79 a month, OR you must prepay the Shopify Basic plan for one year.
    

Shipping Zones

When you’re setting up shipping for your Shopify store, you’ll also need to determine where you plan to ship to – this is called your Shipping Zones. For example, if you’re located within the USA, you can have one zone called “Domestic” for shipping within the USA; and another zone called “Rest of the World” for shipping internationally. You can be very selective in the countries you want to include in your shipping zones, and you can also determine which shipping carriers you’ll use within each shipping zone.

I ship within the entire USA using UPS and USPS, and all service types from these two carriers. I also ship to all 241 countries around the world using DHL Express and USPS, as shown below. From this image, you can also see that I use Calculated Shipping for both shipping zones for all carriers. This is just an example of what you can do for your settings.

When you first set up your Shipping Zones, you’ll initially click on the “Add Shipping Zone” link and then name your zone and choose the states and/or countries you want to use. For more information on setting up Shipping Zones, please see “Shipping Zones” in the Shopify Help manual.

Important Notes About Shipping

Etsy Commission on Shipping

• As of July 16, 2018, Etsy now charges a 5% commission on your shipping charges. Let’s say you have an order that is going to cost you $14.00 to ship – Etsy will be taking their cut of 70-cents of that shipping charge. If you charge your customer $14 to ship, that package ends up costing you $14.70 to ship. While this may not seem like a huge amount on a per-order basis, over time, that 5% commission adds up! For example, let’s say you typically pay around $12,000 a year in shipping charges to USPS and UPS. Now that Etsy is taking a 5% commission of the total shipping, that’s $600 that you’d be paying to Etsy.
• Shopify does NOT charge a percentage of your shipping fee. So in the example above, if you pay $12,000 a year to USPS and UPS for shipping on Shopify, your actual charge is just $12,000.

Default Box Size and Weight on Shopify

• If you’re going to use Calculated Shipping (or Real-Time Rates), you’ll want to make sure to set a default box size and weight. I recommend you choose the box size you use the most for your shipping, or smaller. Whatever you add for a default box size and weight will be used to calculate the shipping cost for your customer.
  TIP: I use a default box size of 8″ x 6″ x 3″ with a weight of 1-ounce. I actually don’t use this size box all that often for actual shipping, but I find that the size and weight do not add too much to the calculated shipping charge a customer will pay, so as long as I am entering accurate weights on the item listing page, the shipping charges come out very close to actual.
  
• You can add many different box sizes, envelopes, and soft packs that you use most often in your shipping settings. By doing this, when you actually go to ship a package using Shopify Shipping, you’ll be able to select the accurate box at that time to ensure that you are paying the shipping carrier the proper amount for the shipping label. The package sizes you enter in the shipping settings (other than the default box) are only for your use when buying a shipping label through Shopify. For example, if you use the default box size that I mentioned above – that default box weight is added to the calculated shipping that a customer pays you. Let’s say a customer places an order and the calculated shipping comes out to be $15.73. That is what the customer paid at checkout, and that charge was based on the total weight of their order and their location. Now let’s say you go to ship that order. At the time of shipping, you will need to enter the exact size of the package you are using to ship the order, in order to pay the shipping carrier the actual shipping charge. If that particular order can’t ship in your default box, and you need to choose a larger box, you might end up paying a little more for shipping than what your customer paid you. That’s why it’s important to really pay attention to the default box size and weight you are using. You may have to guess at this for your first couple of orders until you find a default box size that works best for you. In case this helps – I ship items that weigh anywhere from 1-ounce to 50-pounds. Using the default box size and weight of 8″ x 6″ x 3″ and 1-ounce weight, my shipping almost always comes out either accurate or very close to accurate of what I pay. Sometimes I pay a little less than what the customer paid me, and sometimes I pay a little more than what the customer paid me – but it all evens out in the long run.
• For more information about saved box sizes, please see the Shopify Help article “Packages and Shipment Weights“.

Dimensional Weight

• If you’re using the Calculated Shipping option, make sure you enter the Dimensional Weight on each product listing page to ensure accurate shipping charges. For example, I sell vintage globes. The globes themselves when packaged in a 16″ x 16″ x 16″ box weigh around 10 pounds. BUT… because a 16″ x 16″ x 16″ box is considered over-sized, I have to enter the weight as the Dimensional Weight – which is around 30 pounds. That’s a HUGE difference between actual weight and dimensional weight. But by entering the dimensional weight, my customers are being charged only the actual shipping charges and there are no surprises when I go to purchase the shipping labels.
  NOTE: Shopify doesn’t have a space to enter the package size on the product listing page (like you can with Etsy), that is why it is so important to enter the dimensional weight for all over-sized items directly on the product listing page, as shown below.
  
• For more information about dimensional weight, please see “Just One Less Inch Can Make All The Difference“, it’s an article I wrote for my shop blog explaining dimensional weight. There are also links there to dimensional weight calculators that you can use to help determine the dimensional weight of a package.

How to Set Up Shipping for Your Shopify Store

Shopify has several Help Manuals and Video Tutorials that show you how to set up your shipping. Hopefully with all the notes and information above, you’ll be able to get your shipping set up and working in no time! Here are some additional resources that you will find helpful.

• Video Tutorials – If you prefer learning with videos, here are several video tutorials from Shopify – Shopify Video Tutorials – Shipping
• Understanding Shipping – Here is a link to a Help Manual called “Understanding Shipping“. This manual goes over the basics of getting started, and also provides information to help you plan your shipping strategy.
• Initial Setup – This link to “Initial Setup” will guide you through the process of setting up shipping on Shopify, it covers all the basic information you need.
• Manual Shipping Rates – The Help article “Manual Shipping Rates” walks you through setting up Weight Based Rates and Price Based Rates for your store.

Do you have a shipping setting question? Post it in a comment below and I’ll be happy to help!