Shipping

Set up zones for the countries you serve and flat rates for the charges you offer. A zone can also allow eligible live carrier quotes when that service is available and configured for your store.

Create a shipping zone

Confirm the selected store, then open Shipping → + New zone.
Enter a Name to identify the zone in Admin, such as “US shipping”.
Add the Countries you can deliver to, then select Create zone.
Open the zone to add flat rates or review Live carrier rates.

Each country can belong to only one active zone. If another zone already covers it, resolve the overlap before saving. A zone with no countries matches no delivery address.

Use Move up and Move down to order active zones. Set a rate's Sort order in its form to order the rates. Archive a zone or rate to remove it from new shipping choices without deleting its setup. Use View → Archived to find a zone you want to restore; restoring it can require resolving a country overlap first.

Add a flat rate

Inside the zone, find Flat-rate shipping and select + Add rate.

Enter a customer-facing Name, such as “Standard delivery”.
Enter Price ($) for the shipping charge. Use 0 for a free rate.
Leave Minimum subtotal ($) blank for a rate that covers smaller carts, or enter the merchandise subtotal needed to show this rate.
Optionally add Estimated delivery text, then select Add rate. When editing an existing rate, use Save rate.

The minimum uses current merchandise prices, including an active sale price, before coupon or automatic discounts. Shipping and tax do not count toward it. It hides this rate below the threshold; it does not set an order minimum.

For example, offer a $6 Standard rate with no minimum and a $0 rate with a $50 minimum. A $40 merchandise cart can choose Standard; a $50 cart can also choose the free rate. If you create only the free rate, smaller carts in that served country may still complete ordinary checkout with $0 shipping if no other rate applies and live quoting is disabled or cannot be attempted. A zone's live-rate toggle alone does not prevent this. Keep a rate covering smaller carts if you intend to charge them.

Set up eligible live carrier rates

Connecting the provider requires an Owner or Admin. Owners, Admins, and Staff with the Settings permission group can manage the zone toggle, ship-from origin, and live rate presentation. Staff may see the provider connection as unknown because its status is restricted to Owners and Admins.

As an Owner or Admin, open Settings → Shipping → ShipStation API (ShipEngine). Enter your own provider API key, complete Why are you changing this?, and select Connect. If connecting is unavailable, follow the displayed message and contact support.
Complete Ship-from origin, then select Save ship-from origin.
Check that every physical item in the cart has a usable weight. For products with variants, check the purchased variant's measurements and the parent item's measurements it inherits.
Return to Shipping, open the serving zone, enable Live carrier rates, and select Save live-rate setting.
In Settings → Shipping → Live rate presentation, choose a Strategy and review Max options and Service filtering. Select Save presentation after making changes.

Strategies include All options (up to the cap), Cheapest N, and Cheapest + fastest. Offer only these services… needs at least one allowed service that the carrier actually quotes; an empty allowed list offers no live rates. Service filtering and these limits apply to live quotes; eligible flat rates remain separate choices.

Live quoting needs a complete delivery address, a serving zone with live rates enabled, a saved origin, usable weights for every physical cart line, and an active provider connection with available carrier services. Saving settings or enabling the zone alone does not guarantee a quote. A zone can offer live quotes without flat rates when these prerequisites are met. If live quoting cannot be attempted—for example, the origin is missing, a physical item has no usable weight, or the provider connection is missing or disabled—ordinary checkout can still complete at $0 shipping when the country is served and no flat rate applies. Keep a covering flat rate if these orders should pay for delivery.

Check the customer's shipping choices

The delivery country selects the active zone. Checkout lists eligible flat rates and any available live options. For a cart requiring shipping, the customer must select a method before payment when options are available. The selected method and charge are recorded with the order.

A zero-priced rate shows as Free. A free-shipping discount waives the cheapest available option; a more expensive upgrade keeps its full charge. For example, with a $5 Standard rate and an $11 Express option, the discount makes Standard free while Express still costs $11.

Before sending shoppers to checkout, have your storefront team check supported destinations and carts above and below any rate minimum using test orders. Review the displayed charge before payment. Shipping setup does not connect a storefront's cart or complete tax setup.

When no shipping choice appears

No active zone, or country not covered: carts requiring shipping cannot proceed to payment. Add the destination to the appropriate active zone.
No eligible flat rate, and live quoting disabled or unable to start: a served-country cart can complete ordinary checkout at $0 shipping. This includes a missing origin, an unweighed physical item, or a missing/disabled provider connection, even when the zone's live-rate toggle is on. Add a suitable flat rate without a minimum if smaller carts should pay for delivery.
Live rates missing: check the complete address, zone toggle, origin, product weights, provider connection, and allowed services. An Owner or Admin can use Refresh balance & test connection on the provider card.
A quote fails or returns no usable service: eligible flat rates may still be offered. Without a usable option, checkout stops instead of treating that failed quote as free delivery. Follow the address, retry, or contact-store message. Other configuration errors can also stop checkout; read the actual result rather than assuming every missing quote has the same outcome.
Unknown or failed loading state: refresh or ask support. Unknown provider status does not mean disconnected.

These $0 fallback cases describe ordinary checkout. Subscription checkout requires a shipping option and stops when none is available.

Who can do this

Owners and Admins, and Staff granted the Settings permission group, can configure zones and rates. Other members can inspect the zones but cannot change them. Connecting, testing, or changing the shipping provider remains Owner/Admin-only. See Team & permissions.