Setting up shipping rates

Establish shipping rules so you can mail products to customers.

You can create shipping options that automatically apply to physical products at checkout. This guide provides an overview of these options and how to set them up. Shipping options include:

• Flat rate - A flat fee per order, plus an optional per-item fee
• Rates by weight - Fees based on the total order weight
• Carrier calculated (only available on the Commerce Advanced and Premium plans and for domestic shipping within the United States) - Fees based on a carrier’s standard rates
• Free shipping

Tip: Register for our Setting up shipping and taxes for Squarespace Commerce webinar where we’ll show you how to set up tax rates and add shipping and pickup options for physical products.

Before you begin

• To apply shipping rules abroad, or to specific cities, states, and provinces, visit Creating shipping zones.
• Shipping rates don't apply to digital or service products.
• You can also add a local pickup option.

Limitations

• It's not possible to quote a custom amount for shipping after checkout. To calculate the shipping cost at checkout based on a product's size and real-time carrier rates, use carrier calculated shipping.

Choosing the right shipping options for your business

For advice on which shipping options to offer based on the products you sell, visit Choosing the right shipping options.

You can also use your carrier's website to for help calculating rates:

• USPS
• DHL
• FedEx
• UPS

Add a shipping option

To add a new shipping option to your store:

1. Open the Shipping panel. 
2. Click Add Shipping Option.
3. Choose an option, either Flat Rate, Depending on Weight, or Carrier Calculated (on the Commerce Advanced or Premium plans).
4. In the Formula tab, enter a name for the option and add rates. For specific steps, visit Flat rate shipping, Depending on weight shipping, or Carrier calculated shipping.
5. For Flat Rate and Depending on Weight, click Shipping Zones to limit where you ship orders or create shipping fees based on location. To learn more, visit Creating shipping zones.

Create fulfillment profiles

Create fulfillment profiles to limit shipping options to specific products or groups of products. You may want to do this if some of your products require special shipping arrangements, like white-glove delivery, or crating for oversized or fragile items.

To create a fulfillment profile:

1. Open the Shipping panel and click Set up fulfillment profiles.
2. Click Add custom profile.
3. Enter the fulfillment profile name, like Oversized items.
4. Select the shipping and pickup options you want to offer for products with this fulfillment profile. Customers can choose from these options at checkout.
5. Click Save.

After you create a fulfillment profile, assign it to a product.

1. In the product editor, scroll down to Fulfillment.
2. Click the drop-down menu beneath Profiles and select a fulfillment profile.
3. Click Save.

A product can only have one fulfillment profile. The default fulfillment profile shows all shipping options to eligible customers. Keep in mind, the shipping zones you create may also limit the options customers have at checkout. Also, if you have an active free shipping discount, it will apply to all eligible orders regardless of the shipping options in the products’ fulfillment profiles.

Purchases with multiple fulfillment profiles

If customers check out with multiple products that have different fulfillment profiles, their purchase may be split into separate orders, one per shipping option they choose at checkout. If there is no common, least expensive fulfillment option available, they need to select a different shipping option for each product. However, even if there is a common option, they can select different fulfillment options based on their shipping needs. 

If a purchase is split into separate orders, the customer will only check out once, but you’ll fulfill orders from the purchase individually in the orders panel. Customers will receive multiple order confirmation emails, and in sales analytics, your average order value may decrease because your revenue will be divided by more orders.

Edit or delete a fulfillment profile

To edit or delete a fulfillment profile:

1. Open the Shipping panel and click Set up fulfillment profiles.
2. Click the … icon beside the option.
3. Click Edit to change the profile name or assign different shipping options to it.
4. Click Delete, then Delete to remove the option.

When you delete a fulfillment profile, products that were assigned to it will be reassigned to the default fulfillment profile.

Create a free shipping option

You can offer free shipping using the Flat Rate shipping option or by offering a "free shipping" discount. For help with this, visit Free shipping.

Note: It isn't possible to set per-product shipping rates, so a "Free Shipping" Flat Rate option will be available to any customer checking out.

How shipping rates display

Your view

In the Commerce panel, shipping options display in the order you add them.

Your customers' view

On the checkout page, shipping options appear after the customer enters their shipping address. The available options display in ascending order of price, with the least expensive option selected by default. It's up to the customer to choose from the shipping options available to them.

If you offer shipping and pickup options, customers can view the pickup options by clicking Pickup at checkout. Pickup options display in the order you added them.

Troubleshooting missing shipping options at checkout

If one of your carrier calculated shipping options doesn’t appear at checkout, ensure you’ve added a container that will fit the product you’re selling. This is determined by your product’s dimensions. If there isn’t a container big enough, the carrier option won’t display.

Create shipping zones

Create shipping zones to apply a shipping option to specific countries, states, or provinces. For example, you might want to offer a $5 flat rate shipping option to customers in your area, and a $10 flat rate shipping option to the rest of the country. Unless you create a shipping zone, a shipping option will be available to all customers. To learn more visit Creating shipping zones.

If you haven’t set up shipping rates yet, the United States will be the only country that displays at checkout, even if you change the default country for address fields in checkout settings. To resolve this, create a shipping zone. 

Edit a shipping option

To edit a shipping option: 

1. Open the Shipping panel.
2. Click the shipping option you want to edit and adjust the details.
3. Click Save.

Delete a shipping option

You can remove a shipping option at any time to stop offering it to customers. Before you begin, keep in mind:

• If you sell physical products, you have to offer at least one shipping or local pickup option. Otherwise, customers won't be able to place orders.
• Removing a shipping option won't affect existing orders. If you have a pending order that includes the deleted shipping option, the option will still apply to the order.
• Remove carrier calculated shipping before your downgrade from either the Commerce Advanced or Premium plan goes into effect.
• If you ship to multiple countries, ensure your other shipping options cover all countries where you'll ship orders.

To remove a shipping option:

1. Open the Shipping panel.
2. Click a shipping option.
3. Click Remove at the bottom of the window that opens, then click Confirm.

Other shipping options

Shipping with non-US carriers

If you ship with a non-US carrier, create flat rate shipping options instead of using carrier calculated shipping. If you need more information from customers to fulfill their orders through your shipping provider, like their Mondial Relay location, you can collect more information through a custom checkout form.

Import Etsy shipping profiles

If you have an existing Etsy shop, use our Etsy shipping importer to import shipping profiles from Etsy. With this tool, you can import the shipping rates you’ve been using in Etsy to your Squarespace store. To learn more, visit Using Etsy with Squarespace.

Connect to shipping and fulfillment extensions

In addition to our built-in shipping options, we have shipping and fulfillment Extensions, a collection of third-party tools including Shippo and Easyship, to help streamline your shipping. If you connect these extensions, you still need to set up shipping rates in Squarespace. While we work with third-party services to ensure Squarespace Extensions work properly, extensions fall outside our scope of support. We can help with connecting or disconnecting your extensions. For all other questions, contact the extensions provider directly.