Shipping Rates

Shipping rates define what your customers are charged for delivery. Within each shipping zone, you can add one or more rates with different conditions and amounts. The HoopAI platform supports flat rates, free shipping, price-based conditional rates, weight-based rates, and carrier-calculated rates through third-party integrations like Shippo and ShipStation.

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Rate types

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Flat rate

A flat rate charges every qualifying customer a fixed shipping amount regardless of their order total or the weight of their items. This is the simplest rate type and works well for businesses with consistent package sizes. Example: $7.99 flat shipping for all orders in the US zone.

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Free shipping

A free shipping rate charges the customer $0 for delivery. You can offer free shipping unconditionally within a zone, or set a minimum order threshold so free shipping only applies when the cart total exceeds a certain amount. Example: Free shipping on orders over $50;$5.99 shipping on orders under $50. This is set up by creating two rates within the zone: one free shipping rate with a minimum order of$50, and one flat rate of $5.99 for orders below that threshold.

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Price-based (conditional) rates

Price-based rates let you set different shipping costs depending on the total value of the cart. You define price ranges and assign a rate to each range. Example configuration:

• $0–$24.99 cart total: $9.99 shipping
• $25–$49.99 cart total: $5.99 shipping
• $50+ cart total: Free shipping

This encourages customers to increase their order size to reach free shipping thresholds, which is a proven strategy for increasing average order value.

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Weight-based rates

Weight-based rates calculate shipping costs based on the total weight of the items in the cart. This requires that each product or variant has a weight value assigned. You define weight ranges and a rate for each range. Example configuration:

• 0–1 lb: $4.99
• 1–5 lb: $9.99
• 5–20 lb: $14.99
• 20+ lb: $24.99

Weight-based rates are appropriate for businesses selling items of significantly varying weights, where a flat rate would either overcharge customers for light items or undercharge for heavy ones.

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Carrier-calculated rates (app integrations)

For real-time carrier rates, the platform integrates with shipping apps including Shippo and ShipStation. When these integrations are configured, the checkout dynamically fetches live rate quotes from carriers (such as USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL) based on the customer’s address, the package dimensions, and the product weights. To use carrier-calculated rates:

1. Install the Shippo or ShipStation integration from your account integrations settings.
2. Ensure all products have accurate weights and dimensions configured at the variant level.
3. In your shipping zone, select App integration as the rate type and connect your installed shipping app.
4. Customers will see live carrier rates at checkout pulled directly from the carrier API.

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Shipping profiles

Shipping profiles allow you to create product-specific shipping rate sets. Instead of applying the same rates to every product in your store, you can assign different products to different profiles with tailored rates. General profile: The default profile that applies to all products not assigned to a custom profile. Every product uses the General profile’s rates unless a custom profile is explicitly assigned. Custom profiles: Named profiles you create for specific products or product groups. For example:

• “Heavy Items” profile with weight-based rates for products over 10 lb
• “Oversized” profile with higher flat rates for large furniture or equipment
• “Local Pickup” profile for products available for in-person pickup

To create a custom profile:

1. Navigate to Payments > Settings > Shipping & Delivery.
2. Click + Create Profile.
3. Name the profile and assign products to it.
4. Add zones and rates within the profile.

When a customer’s cart contains products from multiple shipping profiles, the rates from each applicable profile are combined and displayed as a single shipping line item at checkout.

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Adding a rate to a zone

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Handling mixed carts

When a customer orders both physical and digital products in the same transaction:

• Shipping rates apply only to the physical items in the cart.
• Digital products are excluded from weight and price calculations used to determine shipping rates.
• The checkout displays shipping options based solely on the physical items being purchased.

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Best practices

• Always test your shipping rates in test mode by placing a sample order from an address in each zone.
• Combine rates strategically: A free-shipping-above-threshold combined with a standard flat rate is one of the most effective combinations for encouraging larger orders.
• Keep rate names clear: Customers see the rate name at checkout. Names like “Standard (3–5 business days)” perform better than generic names like “Rate 1.”
• Use weight-based rates if your products vary significantly in weight — flat rates will either leave money on the table for heavy items or deter customers on lighter ones.