UPS Shipping rates wrong at checkout + increase in rates?

[Tim_Akers]

Hello all,

Has anyone seen a pretty drastic increase in UPS shipping rates? We are seeing our rates increase 30-50% over the last two weeks with UPS specifically. 

Additionally, we are seeing issues where the rate at Checkout shown to customer is one rate, but when we print the label it is substantially more, sometimes double. 

We are shipping skis. But to see the customer being charged $40 and when we print the label it is jumping to $80 is a big hit for us. I wanted to see if others were having similar issues or if it is isolated just to us.

Thanks!

[Mugsense]

I am having the same issue! Customer pays a lower price and the label cost way more. Can anyone help?

[Vonda_Youngkin]

I'm seeing the opposite. For example, Shopify is offering UPS 2nd Day Air at $26 to my customer for a small < 2LB box from FL to CA, but when I enter dimensions and weight to create label, it charges me only $15. (I am using accurate weights AND dimensions on all my products).  I would LOVE to pass that savings onto my customers.... OH, and 2nd Day Air is cheaper than 3 Day Select.  Figure that one out.

[dpd11]

Yep, just saw this today... It looks mainly like long items. 2 to 3x the past amount just last week. I see nothing about rate increases at UPS until Dec. This better be a mistake, because this would be unsustainable for us.

[dpd11]

I spent an hour in chat and didn't get anywhere. They said they would email me after they look into it. It looks like there's been some sort of error in how the API handles the packages over 48". Packages below that seem to be priced correctly. I think maybe the discount is not being applied to the over 48" length packages? Unfortunately it only seems to be happening with long items, so of course they're not going to take it that seriously, since it only affects a small amount of people. I just realized there is literally no phone support whatsoever now, which for a 100 billion $ company is absurd. This is a very serious issue that needs to be resolved, not just get canned responses from a 3rd party chat op.

[dpd11]

I'm looking at other calculators and the UPS site, and they're returning the same massive increased prices on long items. As far as I can tell though, there is zero announcement of this. I have no idea what's going on. I'll have to call them in the morning.

[bsbechtel]

Hi, did you have any luck on this when you called? I am seeing the same thing. Even worse, it increased last week and is looking even higher this week. Across the board it was over a 5% hit to our margin, which I imagine will put many small stores out of business if it's sustained. I suspect it has something to do with this change, but the lack of transparency here is frustrating: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/updates-to-ups-shipping-rates-when-buying-labels

[Tim_Akers]

I talked to a few brands who are selling skis or tent poles, all have seen the increase on the longer packages. 

It does look like the rates are increasing even outside of Shopify. If anyone gets ahold of their UPS rep, let me know what they sa

[dpd11]

I finally found one obscure article that mentioned UPS would be stealthily adding this increase during 24. The best part is that they still plan on adding another increase across the board next month. Right now the only affordable option left for long light items is postal. FedEx is slightly less than UPS. But if you're selling items for $100 or less, you're going to be looking at shipping costs as much as the item. The other down side of this is... I have realized support on this platform has become a joke. No phone number, no email, and a chat where they just basically lie to you and wait for you to give up and go away. They've also taken away the email contact for shipping claims. We can call UPS and complain, but... I've checked some of the shipping apps and they also show these increases. So if none of these big players can get those fees removed, I doubt they'll take them away for us. There should be a class action suit, because why should people be penalized 4x the normal rate or more, just because something is a little longer. I've done tests where you have something 48x4x4 3 pounds CA to NY for $13. Just change that to 50" length and it goes to $78. I'm going to try and talk to UPS and will report back. What we will probably do is raise shipping across the board, and then not give people a choice. Hopefully it will all come out in the wash at the end of the year. But if postal follows their lead, it will almost be impossible to ship long items at an affordable rate. It's insane that they can just do stuff like this and you have no recourse.

[patrickcreque]

I'm struggling with this, too, and cannot find out why.  We use a USP API for quoting, and there is such a price difference that we have to use WorldShip to make our labels, which is too inefficient.  I spoke with Eniture (our UPS API), and they said you just have to adjust the markup to get closer to the Shopify rates.   But it's hard to hit a moving target.  We are close to being fed up and going a different route via ship station or equivalent.  I was just hoping somebody had an update.  Thanks

[dpd11]

I discovered a long time ago that approaching shipping fees/costs on a yearly basis, is best. I periodically check to make sure I'm hitting the goal, and just go with that. Some are individually over, some are under, but... If you try to make each individual charge perfect, you'll make yourself insane. Plus, there's also physiological benefits to that from the customer side, because their thinking is not always totally logical about what they think they should be charged. They aren't always going to agree with reality, because they don't understand the details. If you look at it as a sort of combined co-op and meet your cost, then it's good enough. You're getting your money back.

[Clay_Impress]

We're having literal opposite issue: customers are being shown rates at checkout that are two to three times higher than the rates actually are. So they'll be shown UPS rates like $60 at checkout, but then it's only $20 to ship the order. We're not losing money on shipping, but we're definitely losing orders because the shipping rates are so high.

I reached out to support for help and they told us there was an issue that they were working on resolving. We were then told about 24 hours later that it was resolved, but it's not. There's still a HUGE difference between what customers are being charged vs. the cost of purchasing the label. 

[Vonda_Youngkin]

DITTO.. mostly for UPS 2nd Day Air. I'm not sure if it's an issue at UPS, because Pirate Ship also has super cheap 2nd Day Air. 

[veggiepeach]

We have been experiencing the same issue.  We don't ship long items, the box we use to calculate shipping is 14 x 14 x 14 inch, and Shopify is only charging the customers shipping cost much smaller box.  I have checked my shipping settings and I am sure the default box to calculate rates are 14 x 14 x 14.

Chatted with customer service, took me almost an hour, they told me they cannot resolve this issue over the chat and had to escalate to another level and email me back.

We waited a few days and this is what we got from email this past Wednesday:

"It appears that the differences you are experiencing may be due to recent changes with UPS live rates, which have been enabled for stores on all Shopify plans since November 6th, 2024. This update can result in discrepancies between the shipping rates displayed on the checkout page and the rates shown when you create a shipping label in your admin.

To help better cover the shipping costs for your orders, you may consider adding a handling fee at checkout. This can be implemented as either a fixed dollar value or a percentage of the order total."

I think I am going to try with chat again and see if there is any way to get a different result.

[Clay_Impress]

What an odd thing to say! Why would the rates shown to the customer be any different than the rates available when purchasing the shipping label? We rarely change the weight or box size when shipping. This definitely seems like an issue with Shopify. 

[dpd11]

The lack of support has become ridiculous. There just isn't any. They'll say anything to just get rid of you.

[bsbechtel]

Cross posting another thread I opened here. You all may find it informative and concerning: https://community.shopify.com/c/payments-shipping-and/shopify-shipping-discount-dropping-over-time/m...

[Thomas_Mains]

We've seen a substantial increase in rates for any of our shipping box sizes starting in November. As an example, an order today required a 10" x 6" x 6" box, customer was charged $7.33 for shipping, while we're being charged $8.94. Shopify support says they're looking into it. 

[DinDrones]

Anybody has any updates? 

I was offered to add a negative handling fee to align with the wrong live rates.

My customers see 80$ shipping while I buy the label for 35$

[dpd11]

I have no idea why it would do that. Only thing I can think of is for you to set it up and do your own manual calculating based on weight for each product or something.

[Robert70]

We are experiencing the same issue. Our default box size is 12" x 12" x8" with a weight of 8 oz. We add a S&H of $2.00 to cover the cost of the box, packing material and label. Never had an issue in the past.

Sent an order out today using a box measuring 10" x 10" x 8". The customer paid $12.82 (which includes the $2.00 handling fee) and the actual cost was $13.44. Box was shipped from Las Vegas, NV to Northern California.

Seems someone at Shopify needs to discover the issue and correct it ASAP.

[AgnB]

I had the same issue today and 10 days ago. Still no answer. I lost 2 hours on chat with them. If everyone has them on chat for one hour or 2 they will fix it...

[kppetsupply]

Been having this same issue for months just random orders here and there.

have talked to Shopify several times and after they tell me several times that I must not have the package size or weight right. I finally show them a laundry list of proof that I have followed their list of instructions 100 times and have double checked everything. 
well they finally tell me they have a back end issue with ups integration and they have no idea when it’s going to be fixed (or if it will ever be fixed). It’s been 3/4 months and still no fix. They just tell me not to use UPS or set up manual rates. 
We all pay for the Shopify service which includes the calculated rates and so they tell me not to use a service I pay for is so frustrating. 

[dpd11]

Until somebody who cares buys them out, or somebody comes along to give them competition, this is the way it will be.

[Don_Blackwell]

What is going on with Shopify USP rates?
I just filled an order where the customer was charged $8.12 and the label cost me $32.28!!
I checked my UPS account which doesn't have very good negotiated discounts and the cost was $27.90.
Is Shopify now screwing us on shipping cost.