Carrier calculated shipping

Calculate the shipping cost at checkout based on a product's size and weight, and the real-time rates for major carriers.

Last updated February 3, 2025

Use carrier calculated shipping, also called “real-time rates,” to automatically calculate shipping fees based on the retail rates for popular carriers in your country. It uses package weight, dimensions, and addresses to determine accurate shipping prices and group orders into the best-fitting packages. 

When you enable a carrier service through this integration, your customers’ shipping data will be shared with the carrier to enable the carrier to calculate the cost of shipping your products to your customers.

Accessing this feature

Carrier calculated shipping is available in the Core, Plus, Advanced, and Commerce Advanced plans, and certain legacy billing plans. To learn more, visit Choosing the right Squarespace plan. It is available for domestic shipping within certain countries.

Where is carrier calculated shipping available?

You can use carrier calculated shipping if you ship within these countries:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • France
  • Germany
  • The Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • The United Kingdom
  • The United States (excluding Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands)

It's not possible to use carrier calculated shipping to send items to different countries.

Supported carriers

Here are the shipping carriers you can use with this integration.

Country Carriers
Australia Allied Express, CouriersPlease, Hubbed, Sendle, TNT, UPS
Canada Canada Post, Canpar, Purolator, Sendle, UPS
France Chronopost, Colis Privé, Colissimo, DHL Express, UPS
Germany  DHL Express, DPD
The Netherlands DHL Express, PostNL
New Zealand Aramex, NZ Post
Singapore Aramex, NinjaVan, Qxpress, SingPost, SimplyPost
The United Kingdom DPD, Evri, Parcelforce, UPS
The United States FedEx, UPS, USPS

Step 1 - Add dimensions and weights to all products

Add dimensions and weights to all products based on how they're shipped. When all products have accurate dimensions, customers’ orders group into the best-fitting packages with the best rates.

To add dimensions and weight to a product:

  1. Open the product.
  2. Click Weight and dimensions.
  3. Add measurements to the Length, Width, Height, and Weight fields. Use measurements that cover how the products are boxed for shipping, including any wrapping and packing materials—not the item’s dimensions as-is.

Tip

For example, a poster is 24" x 36" laid flat. When shipped in a poster tube, its dimensions are 3" x 36". Use the tube dimensions, not the flat dimensions, since it ships in the tube.

  1. Repeat these steps for all products already in your store. When you add new products in the future, complete these steps too.

Fit your products in fewer containers

For large orders, our system groups products into the fewest number of containers. If several products should fit in one container but get placed in two separate containers, decrease your product's length, width, and height slightly. This way, you'll account for package padding and ship your products in fewer containers.

Find products with missing weights and dimensions

The best way to ensure all products have weights and dimensions is to review products in the Products panel. If a product has variants, click the arrow beside the product image to show all variants. After you add a carrier calculated shipping option, products with missing weights and dimensions will display Missing weight and Missing dimensions in red beside each variant missing these details. Double-click the product or variant to edit it.

Add dimensions to product descriptions (optional)

Dimensions and weights added in the Advanced shipping section aren’t visible to customers. To display products’ dimensions as-is (for example, a poster’s flat dimensions), add them to products' descriptions instead.

Step 2 - Select services

Next, set up a carrier calculated shipping option:

  1. Open the Shipping panel. You can also use the ? key while any panel is open and search shipping.
  2. Click Add Shipping Option.
  3. If you're in the United States, select UPS, FedEx, or USPS.
  4. If you're in a supported country outside the US, click Carrier calculated shipping, enter the shipping option name, enter your ship-from address, then select a shipping carrier.
  5. All available services for the carrier you selected will display. Use the checkboxes to select the services you want to use. You don't need to use every service the carrier offers.
  6. If you're in the United States, enter the Ship From Zip Code based on where you ship orders from. Shipping rates will be calculated based on distance from this postal code.

Step 3 - Add containers

Next, add containers, which are the boxes, envelopes, or packages you use to ship orders. We’ll estimate the best shipping rates for orders based on the fewest number of packages and smallest containers possible. You can choose from:

Carrier containers

FedEx, UPS, and USPS offer carrier containers for some shipping services in certain countries. If the service you selected supports carrier containers in your country, they'll display. To use carrier containers, check the box beside Use carrier containers

If the service you selected doesn't support carrier containers in your country, none will display, and you'll need to add custom containers.

For a list of supported FedEx, UPS, and USPS services and container types in the US, visit Supported shipping services and containers.

Custom containers

Add custom containers if you use generic boxes/envelopes. You'll need to use custom containers for most non-US carrier services.

To add custom containers:

  1. Under Custom Containers, click Add custom container.
  2. Enter the container name and its dimensions.
  3. Click the + icon to add more containers.
  4. When you're done, add a markup, then click Save to save the shipping option.

Ensure the custom containers you use are supported by your carrier. If they're not, customers won't be able to check out. For tips on shipping oversized items, visit Selling large or heavy products.

Tip

If you're not sure what's best, choose slightly bigger containers than you think you'll need. If containers can only fit one product at a time, the integration will group large orders into multiple packages, which could significantly increase shipping costs.

Step 4 - Add a markup (optional)

To add a markup, enter a percentage or flat amount markup to charge more than the estimated cost. This is a useful way to cover the price of packaging, handling, time spent, potential margins of error, or other costs. To access the markup field, click the Formula tab, or scroll to the bottom of the carrier calculated shipping panel.

Screenshot 2024-12-16 at 12.50.36 PM.png

Supported shipping services and containers

These services are available for FedEx, UPS, and USPS shipping within the United States. To view the available containers, select a service that supports carrier containers in the carrier calculated shipping panel.

Carrier Service Carrier Containers

FedEx

Use of the FedEx carrier calculated shipping integration is subject to the FedEx End User License Agreement and the FedEx Privacy Notice.

  • FedEx Ground Home Delivery

No

  • FedEx Priority Overnight
  • FedEx Standard Overnight
  • FedEx 2Day
  • FedEx Express Saver
  • FedEx First Overnight

Yes

UPS

Use of the UPS carrier calculated shipping integration is subject to the UPS End User Rights (part of the UPS Technology Agreement) and the UPS Privacy Notice.

  • UPS Ground
  • UPS 3 Day Select

No

  • UPS Next Day Air
  • UPS Next Day Air Saver
  • UPS 2nd Day Air

Yes

USPS

Use of the USPS carrier calculated shipping integration is subject to the USPS Privacy Policy

  • USPS Priority Mail Express
  • USPS Ground Advantage

No

  • USPS Priority Mail

Yes

To view the available services and containers for carriers outside the US, enter your shipping address, select a carrier, and review the options that display in the carrier calculated shipping panel. All available options will display. Most services require custom containers.

How rates appear at checkout

On the checkout page, shipping options appear after a customer enters their address. If there are multiple options, customers can compare and choose from them. To test how rates for different product combinations are calculated and placed in containers, run test orders.

Shipping_Options.png

When carrier calculated shipping is enabled, shopping carts have a 150-item limit to keep shipping estimates accurate. Without carrier calculated shipping, the limit is 500 items.

How rates are calculated

The carrier calculated shipping rates offered to your customers depend on several factors, including how items in their order will be packaged (based on weight and dimensions) and their shipping address. Carrier calculated shipping rates may not always match the cost of the shipping labels you buy.

In the United States, carrier calculated shipping uses the FedEx, UPS, and USPS retail rates. Outside the US, carrier calculated shipping rates are discounted to match the discounted shipping label rate available through the EasyShip extension.

If carrier calculated rates are higher than you expected:

  • You can often lower the price by adding custom containers or reducing products’ packing dimensions so they better fit your containers.
  • You can offer partial refunds to account for the difference in cost.

If carrier calculated rates are lower than you expected:

If you have questions about how a shipping price was calculated in a test or live order, contact us. Include the order number(s) so we can help. We don’t support custom-negotiated rates with carriers.

Shipping oversized items

To ship items that exceed your carrier's package sizes or weight limits, using a different shipping option, like Depending on weight or Flat rate is usually the best solution. For more tips, visit Selling large or heavy products.

 

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