Shipping Pricing Creates Barrier for Small Businesses

[Sheryl89]

Hi Shopify Community,

I'm a small business owner on the Basic plan struggling with a frustrating catch-22 that I think many of you can relate to.

The Problem: Real-time shipping calculations (showing actual Canada Post, UPS rates at checkout) are only available on the Advanced plan at $399/month. For a small business barely making sales, this is completely out of reach.

The Impact:

• My conversion rate is stuck at 0.9% with an 80% bounce rate
• Customers expect to see real shipping costs, not flat rates that feel arbitrary
• I've implemented every workaround: free shipping built into prices, clear shipping policies, bundles for free shipping thresholds
• Despite doing everything "right," the lack of real-time shipping is likely costing me sales

The Catch-22: I need better shipping options to potentially grow my sales, but Shopify wants me to pay $399/month when I'm making minimal revenue. It's like being priced out of the tools I need to actually grow.

My Ask: Could Shopify consider:

• Adding basic shipping calculations to the $79 Shopify plan?
• Offering shipping calculations as a $20-30/month add-on for Basic plan users?
• Creating a "growth tier" between Basic and Advanced?

Shopify built its brand on "empowering entrepreneurs," but this pricing structure actually prevents small businesses from accessing basic e-commerce functionality that could help them succeed.

Anyone else experiencing this? How are you handling shipping on lower-tier plans?

Thanks for listening, 

Sheryl 

This was written by Shopify’s own AI help. Literally its own AI telling them they are not supporting small businesses like they claim to be.

[ChelseySoper]

Hey @Sheryl89 

This can be a common misconception based on how the Shopify bot replies when asking about live calculated rates - since it starts off AI, it will always attempt to upsell (which makes sense), but it is incorrect. 

Any store can receive live calculated rates from a carrier of choice or from a third party rating app on the Shopify Plan level or above. There still is a catch-22, in that if you want those carriers (UPS, USPS, FedEx and others) or an app, there can be a cost of $20USD a month to access them, when you pay your Shopify subscription monthly. If you pay your Shopify subscription annually, you receive a price discount and the $20USD is waived. 

If you have any questions, please do let me know.

Talk soon, 

Chelsey