Add a per-item fee to cover extra fulfillment costs, like tariffs or shipping insurance.

A handling fee adds a percentage of the price of each item in an order to the overall shipping cost. You can use these extra funds to pay for other fulfillment expenses you have, like Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) costs or insurance premiums.

Add a handling fee

You can add a handling fee to Flat Rate and Weight-based shipping options. 

1. Open the shipping panel. 
2. Add or open a Flat Rate or Weight-based shipping option. 
3. Under Handling fee, set the markup per item.
4. In Shipping zones, select the regions this shipping option is offered to.
5. Click Save.

Charge different handling fees based on the shipping destination

To charge different handling fees based on where the order ships to, create a separate shipping option for each handling fee and add shipping zones to limit the options to certain regions.

Charge different handling fees based on the product

If tariffs or insurance costs vary by product, create multiple shipping options with different handling fees and use fulfillment profiles to limit them to certain products. For example, let’s say Product A is subject to a 10% tariff, and Product B is subject to a 25% tariff.

1. Create two shipping options, Shipping option A and Shipping option B. Add handling fees that match the tariff rates for each product.
2. Create two fulfillment profiles, Fulfillment profile A and Fulfillment profile B. Add the corresponding shipping option to each fulfillment profile.
3. Assign Fulfillment profile A to Product A, and Fulfillment profile B to Product B. When you’re finished, customers who check out with these products will be charged the handling fee for the shipping option included in their fulfillment profile. 

How handling fees are calculated

The handling fee adds a percentage of the cost of each item in an order to the order’s overall shipping cost. If, for example:

• Product A costs $100
• Product B costs $50
• The handling fee is 10%
• The base shipping cost for the order is $20

The handling fee is $15, and adding that to the base shipping cost brings the order’s shipping total up to $35. The handling fee doesn’t display as a separate line item at checkout. 

FAQ

What should I set the handling fee to?

The handling fee should be high enough to cover any extra costs you might have during order fulfillment. You might match the fee to the tariffs where you ship goods, or to the cost of insurance offered by your shipping carrier. 

Do I have to pay taxes on the handling fee?

Possibly. The handling fee is added to the order’s overall shipping cost, not listed as a separate line item, and shipping is sometimes taxable. 

Can I add a handling fee to a carrier calculated shipping option?

No. You can’t add a handling fees to carrier calculated shipping, which uses a shipping markup option instead. The markup raises the shipping total by a percentage or dollar amount based on the shipping cost, not the cost per item in the order.

Can I charge a handling fee on orders with a free shipping discount?

No. A free shipping discount waives an order’s shipping cost. The handling fee is included in the order’s shipping cost, so when the discount is applied, the handling fee is waived too.

You can add a handling fee to a free Flat Rate shipping option, and the fee will appear at checkout as a shipping charge.