Solved

Can I add a handling fee per transaction in Shopify without using apps?

aarleomal
Visitor
2 0 0

Hi,

 

I'd like to add a handling fee per transaction but can't find the ability to do so within the Shopify back-end. I'd also not like to pay for the Order & Product Fees app, as that would null the necessity of the handling fee. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Best,

Aaron

Accepted Solution (1)

Morgan
Shopify Staff
246 9 69

This is an accepted solution.

Hi, @aarleomal.

Morgan here from the Social Team at Shopify.

Thanks for reaching out to discuss the idea of charging a handling fee on your shop. Although natively you are correct, there isn't a way to add this, there are a few things that can be done. Whether that is to make up those funds elsewhere, or possibly manipulate your settings to add it.

However, before diving into some options I want to double check the reason for adding a handling fee? The main reason we don't offer this in the admin by default is generally the more additional charges added on to an order at checkout, the more likely the checkout will be abandoned. In turn, lowering conversion rates.

Have you considered increasing your product cost directly, or even increasing shipping rates if you need to include your operating costs there? If you have the option to do either, I recommend adding to your product price. The reason being, it is easier to build value in the price someone is paying for a product they already want and they likely won't think twice about a few dollars here or there on a products actual cost.

If a customer thinks the product they are buying is $20 and then get to the checkout and have added shipping, handling and taxes, that $20 product can easily come out to $35+. Which generally could result in them abandoning the order entirely. This is also likely for higher ticket items as well, but with higher ticket items it is ever easier to hide those extra costs in the product price. 

Ultimately, if you want to add this extra cost at the checkout level, and can't just change your flat rate shipping prices (if you use carrier calculated shipping rates) you just need to add a flat $ value on top of the estimated rates at checkout. This way the customer will just see the one total which includes the shipping and handling fees. Here's a bit more on how to do that.

Lastly, the only other solution I can think of is adding the handling fee at the variant level of the product pages. Ie. Customer choose a "4 drawer nightstand" the variant drop down could be (+$10.00), but if they add a "2 drawer nightstand" the variant dropdown could be (+$5.00). This would work if the handling fee differs based on product. 

Feel free to let me know if there's another reason for wanting to add a handling fee and we can look at other options. However, as of now, these are the main ways to regain that operating cost.

All the best,

Morgan | Social Care @ Shopify
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

View solution in original post

Replies 32 (32)

Morgan
Shopify Staff
246 9 69

This is an accepted solution.

Hi, @aarleomal.

Morgan here from the Social Team at Shopify.

Thanks for reaching out to discuss the idea of charging a handling fee on your shop. Although natively you are correct, there isn't a way to add this, there are a few things that can be done. Whether that is to make up those funds elsewhere, or possibly manipulate your settings to add it.

However, before diving into some options I want to double check the reason for adding a handling fee? The main reason we don't offer this in the admin by default is generally the more additional charges added on to an order at checkout, the more likely the checkout will be abandoned. In turn, lowering conversion rates.

Have you considered increasing your product cost directly, or even increasing shipping rates if you need to include your operating costs there? If you have the option to do either, I recommend adding to your product price. The reason being, it is easier to build value in the price someone is paying for a product they already want and they likely won't think twice about a few dollars here or there on a products actual cost.

If a customer thinks the product they are buying is $20 and then get to the checkout and have added shipping, handling and taxes, that $20 product can easily come out to $35+. Which generally could result in them abandoning the order entirely. This is also likely for higher ticket items as well, but with higher ticket items it is ever easier to hide those extra costs in the product price. 

Ultimately, if you want to add this extra cost at the checkout level, and can't just change your flat rate shipping prices (if you use carrier calculated shipping rates) you just need to add a flat $ value on top of the estimated rates at checkout. This way the customer will just see the one total which includes the shipping and handling fees. Here's a bit more on how to do that.

Lastly, the only other solution I can think of is adding the handling fee at the variant level of the product pages. Ie. Customer choose a "4 drawer nightstand" the variant drop down could be (+$10.00), but if they add a "2 drawer nightstand" the variant dropdown could be (+$5.00). This would work if the handling fee differs based on product. 

Feel free to let me know if there's another reason for wanting to add a handling fee and we can look at other options. However, as of now, these are the main ways to regain that operating cost.

All the best,

Morgan | Social Care @ Shopify
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

aarleomal
Visitor
2 0 0
Hi Morgan,

Thanks for your prompt and thoughtful reply, and I have added a $1 S&H
fee under our Calculated Rates. We aim for transparency about our costs
and do not want to charge more online than we do in our cafe, thus why
we'd like to keep prices the same across all platforms and not increase
product cost on the website. Thanks again for all your help!

Best,

Aaron

Morgan
Shopify Staff
246 9 69

Not a problem, @aarleomal . Happy to help! 

That makes sense! Aligning prices with your B&M store and online shop is a very good reason to not absorb the cost within your product pricing, for continuity sake. Thanks for replying back to share what worked out for you. 

All the best,

Morgan | Social Care @ Shopify
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

hamitch
Tourist
4 1 2
Is it possible to assign a handling fee to a particular collection, product or customer group? If so, how?
eCommSpec
Visitor
1 0 22

This is one of the things that bothers me about Shopify, they're always trying to insert themselves into dictating how you should run your business instead of just being a tool that your business uses. Who are they to decide "generally the more additional charges added on to an order at checkout, the more likely the checkout will be abandoned" and tell us to how to set our pricing.

RumiM
Excursionist
14 1 16

It's more of a cop-out answer. The reality is it takes extra design, logic validation, business model validation, dev, QA, support, etc. in multiple cycles to add more functionality. Lots of features, and not enough man-power to get it all done. Life as usual for any dev house. So it becomes someone's job to get impatient customers to simply accept the current limits.

 

While much of the accepted answer's limitations do apply to many use cases, it does not apply to all. For example, we're trying the "just markup the products" approach, which we can't continue if we're expected to price match other vendors online. For some items, Shopify has actually disabled the items because it violates price gouging policies, when all we're doing is exactly what the accepted answer suggested! (Damned if you do, damned if you don't, sigh). We also can't use the "just use a flat shipping rate" approach, because we already use that for another purpose.

 

The only correct way for our business model to handle this is to leave the product price exactly as it is on other sites, leave the shipping rate as it is, and add a variable service fee (which is basically a % applied to selected products). However, Shopify does not offer the mechanics (or at least none I've found yet on my plan) to do this. Per the API, /cart/update is limited to "note, attributes, or line item quantities", /cart/change is limited to qty, and /cart/add requires an existing variant_id. So there is absolutely no way I can add a custom item on the fly with my precise unit_price, or adjust an existing variant_id to update the unit_price for a cart.

 

It's possible I've just outlined an edge case, aka "low priority", aka "will never get done".

euri_23
Excursionist
10 0 6

Right.. im already paying you $29 now you're also telling me how to run my business yh what a joke.

WildHoney
Visitor
2 0 4

So, how can I add a flat $2.00 for handling if I'm not charging for shipping? That is a terrible flaw Shopify doesn't allow for a handling fee. So basically I can increase all my prices to cover for the $2.00 but I don't know which items or how many when all I need is $2.00.  Most people will not bail on a $2.00 handling fee especially when they are getting free shipping. 

EddyChung
Shopify Partner
65 1 28

To add a handling fee:

  1. Go to Shopify admin and then navigate to Settings > Shipping and Delivery
  2. Click Manage Rates in the shipping section
  3. Scroll down to a shipping rate, click the three dots then click Edit rate. Or add a click Add Rate.
  4. On the bottom of the edit popup, you will see a handling fee section. You can set it to a percentage or a flat amount

Another option, which might work in your case, is to simply set a flat rate "$2.00" shipping and just rename it to "Shipping and Handling". 

Check out the screenshots here if you're still stuck. 

Best of luck with your store! 

Picabol
Tourist
6 0 2

I want to add a $5 handling fee to the entire order.  It's a convenience fee to order the product ahead and be able to pickup the product without having to wait in line.  So, I don't want a shipping fee that charges per item, because item is not being shipped.  I just want a fee of $5 that is added to the entire order, no matter if they order 1 item or 20 items. Any idea what the best approach to this might be?

rnrmediagrp
Shopify Partner
25 0 8

Use an app called order and product fees. Should do the trick.

Picabol
Tourist
6 0 2

Is there a way to do this without buying an app?  Or is there a free app that would work?  We're a very small business and summer is not great for sales.

Daniel_Stack
Visitor
1 0 0

That app does not work if your theme uses an Ajax cart.

sasquatchstudio
Shopify Expert
69 0 2

Hi,

Yes - it works with AJAX carts. Some themes we need to make a couple quick updates on our end. Shoot us a note and we can always have a look support@sasquatchstudio.co

We test over 30 shopify themes looking for patterns; however, we do not catch everything. We do have a simple way to update and make theme specific tweaks. So best just to reach out to us. 

Thanks!

Propero
Shopify Partner
895 101 160

@Picabol is all your items are pick-up only?

You may add a dummy product called priority pickup and give an option at cart page to user to add priority pickup, either through checkbox or through a click on banner/ button etc. This can be achieved with cart page customisation

- Was my reply helpful? Click Like or Click Accept as Solution
To hire: email us at shopify@propero.in
checkout our app https://apps.shopify.com/picamaze
Picabol
Tourist
6 0 2

Thank you!!  Sounds like a good plan. I saw this solution somewhere else too, I’ll try it and see if it will work for us. I appreciate your suggestion. 

euri_23
Excursionist
10 0 6

Right same I wanna add a $5 fee like damn, $5 barely gets you a McDonalds meal so yh I also don't think customers will leave their cart for that. -sighs-

sasquatchstudio
Shopify Expert
69 0 2

Hi all,

Just wanted to throw out one potential approach. We have built an app that adds mandatory fees to the carts that cannot be removed. Our rule builder allows you to pick the products and the cost etc that gets added to the cart. Lots of our clients use the app for environmental fees or deposits. Thought it was worth mentioning:

https://apps.shopify.com/canteen

Let me know if you have any questions - support@sasquatchstudio.co

Cheers!

klsports
New Member
4 0 0

I am waiting on a reply through support - when I used this app there was a fee for each product. I want to add a one time for the order no matter how small or big this order is. I want this fee on my shipping and in store pick up to cover cost of bags, printing, and employee to pick and put orders together.

Reynaldo_Zabala
Excursionist
11 0 9

Did you find a solution? I have the same problem, need to add a fee that is a percentage on the total product price + shipping + taxes....because that's what shopify will charge their percentages on. We basically want to recoup our lost margin from using Shopify Payments

klsports
New Member
4 0 0
I did not find a solution. I just upped my shipping fee and have to eat it on the instore pick ups.
WSLU
Shopify Partner
5 0 1

did you EVER find a solution to this.... im alsmost ready to move on from shopify now...... ive given it a year and still no usefull updates

 

rnrmediagrp
Shopify Partner
25 0 8

The solution was given. If you need assistance feel free to email me info@rnrmediagrp.com

49thstate
Visitor
1 0 0

@Morgan 
Does Shopify charge 2.9% on the handling fees or just the products in the cart?

reluctant
Shopify Partner
1 0 0

Hi, Morgan, Unfortunately not helpful,  not solved. 

The vendor's direct shipping works this way for us, (technically not drop shipping because we must collect and provide accurate fee collection for them (no embedded solution) :   This was solved easily  on squarespace which includes both ability to create flat fee zones and a slot for a one time "per order fee" with no coding no workaround solution needed. In our case the vendor will be shipping direct for us as follows: 1. The first product in the order flat shipping fee of $30, every other item individually in that same customer order will be only 22.  Secondly,  the vendor charges more for certain states ($38 first in the order,  $30 each after respectively) . So if squarespace can do it simply with "per order fee and zones,  what can shopify do? I'd  love to do it here if I can! The solution you provided does not allow us to charge as little as possible for shipping of multiple items (regardless of being built into the  product price or not). We need a one-time fee applied to the order, not the products, to pull that off. This way the first product pays the increase of 8, the rest are 22, or 30 respectively depending upon the zone. 

Hannahrose
Excursionist
16 1 5

I also would like to add a handling fee.  The problem is persay offering free shipping for an item with net profit of $20.  The shipping costs are $6.00 and you also have to consider packaging costs, time preparing and shipping.  Your profit can quickly go to "0" being your actual profit.  You can't raise prices because of competitive pricing.  My thought was to offer $6.00 free shipping then add a $5.00 handling fee and hope it go unnoticed because customer is so estactic about receiving free shipping.  Does this make sense?  Would love some insight. 

jumbi
Visitor
1 0 0

I want to add handling fee at checkout and when add a percentage for handling fee in the shipping section below the carrier rates, it does not apply to the order. It only applies when I add a flat fee. Is there a reason the percentage doesn't work?

RevGenOne
Shopify Partner
2 0 0

Morgan, insurance companies will cover handling if its on a seperate line item, they will never cover it if its part of the "shipping" line item. Why? Because they will ask for the proof of the actual cost of the postage. When that is presented, they disregard everything else as too much paid for shipping (even though it was paid for by the customer and we inform them that it was for handling). The insurance companies claim that the handling was not on the final invoice. Hence the need for a line item showing the handling split apart from the shipping line item.

DanKan
Visitor
1 0 0

I found that you can add a handling fee to your shipping rate

Go to shipping setting in setting and edit the rate

DanKan_1-1597337351410.png

 

 

RumiM
Excursionist
14 1 16

Note the handling fee (% of order or flat fee) is only available when choosing "Use carrier or app to calculate rates". It is not available when choosing "Set up your own rates".

rnrmediagrp
Shopify Partner
25 0 8

You would think that if Shopify truly wanted to help their customers they would just simply have their developers add the option just as easy to Flat Custom Rates. I mean all I want to do is add a simple box fee..

rebelbones
New Member
4 0 0

Does anyone know how to add a percentage fee to the Shopify POS? I want to add a 3.5% processing fee for credit cards when we’re at events.