Why isn't the correct USPS rate being charged at checkout?

[BSubBlanks]

Why doesnt shopify charge the correct USPS rate during checkout.  I have adjusted my weights to include packaging but nothing seems to correct the problem.  I am loosing money because, it doesnt charge the customer nearly enough. It charge this customer $8.27 at checkout.  Now its time to ship and the cost for shipping is $12.47. Ugh.  I have another other thats 15lbs and they only paid $8.35, but it cost $30 via USPS

[Shay]

Hi @BSubBlanks 

Thank you for sharing that screenshot and the additional information about your shipping rate issue. i can definitely understand your concern about your shipping rates when you are having to pay additional fees out of pocket. 

In this situation I would recommend connecting with our live support so that our shipping team can review the account and help provide some insight into this. Generally speaking, I do see the USPS rates matching up appropriately as long as the checkout weights of the package are matching. From your screenshot, it does look like that is setup properly. 

The only other thing I can think of is that the USPS rates themselves are fluctuating between when the customer is placing the order and when you are going through to buy the shipping label. 

To contact our live support please follow this link: Shopify Help Center - Contact Support, sign into your store account, search for "incorrect shipping rate calculations" and use the contact support button at the bottom of the search results to see all our live support options. 

[TanglewoodSue]

This just happened to me too and I spent most of the day on a live Shopify chat. I am not happy with the answer. Shopify is no longer aligning with USPS rates. They are aligning with their discounted rates forcing you to use Shopify for your shipping method if you don’t want to lose money. I was told that if u use a third party (like shipping easy) Shopify will not honor usps rates per weight and package size. I will be forced to create flat rates which will be impossible as I sell paint and every order is different. This feels like a major scam to me and I may have to move my entire shop to another provider after 5 years. If there is a support person here who will please tell me I’m wrong I will gladly listen. This is a real blow. 
basically the usps rate for my package was 15.95. Shopify gave my customer the option for 9.95 shipping. Shopify then offered me a discount bringing my shipping rate BACK to what the customer paid so I had no choice but to use Shopify instead of dropshipping  this order.  

[BSubBlanks]

I am in the same boat. 1 hour on the phone and my issue with shipping was
not fixed. Even after I looked at the shipping Shopify offered, it didnt
match with what the rates shopify offered. Lost over $100 in excess money I
had to pay to ship. One Customer paid $8.35 and the shipping was $32.50.
When I looked on shopify and put the box size in it jumped to $32, well
that was to late, the customer already paid $8. So fustrated. My store is
new and I have lost so much money. Im about to disable the site until I can
figure it out or find another solution.

[Heidi1970]

I am having the same issue.  Spent over 2 hours on a live chat with customer support and they tell me that a shipping rate is different than a shipping label.  ??  I had an order this morning that I actually had no choice but to cancel.  Customer paid $9.77 (I have calculated shipping) package weight that this calculated from was 18 lbs.  I go and put in the dimensions and the weight (which was only 12 lbs so you would figure it would be in my favor….). The rate to ship via Shopify with their discount rate was $46.62, I’m not kidding.  The total of the entire order that the customer paid, including shipping was $52.  Last time I checked, I’m using Shopify to make money — not loose it.  

I am very frustrated and not sure what to do about this because, as a new store owner, I’m afraid to get orders!

[BSubBlanks]

Im sorry we are losing money with this issue. Shopify really needs to
figure this out. I am about to find another venue to have my store. I'm
still taking orders but not really making money because of this shipping
situation. If I adjust the shipping in my favor, it charges too much
shipping and the customer abandon the cart..smh

[golddustgifts]

Hey, I am a new Shopify store owner, I have this same problem.

Did you find a solution? 

[golddustgifts]

Did you find a solution?

[MirusToys]

Did anyone figure out the solution? Every order the shipping is $10-$35 different, it is ridiculous. I contacted support only to be told over and over again that this is "adjustment fee" and I need to dispute it with the carrier by submitting a picture of the box. There is no box as I haven't even printed the shipping label yet. This is an order just received, it charged the customer $15.02 for priority mail and charging me $47.55 to print the label with the exact same information.

[Shay · Accepted solution]

Hi @MirusToys 

Thank you for sharing your experience and feedback on this as well. I understand from your post that your support advisor may not have understood the issue entirely and based on what you shared I definitely want our shipping team to review this order more closely. I also want to say that you are correct that this is not a shipping label adjustment fee, as that can only apply after a package has been shipped and reviewed by the carrier. 

To assist any other merchants who may be experiencing this issue, I want to share some of the best things to review before reaching out to support for a closer look. If you can confirm on your end that none of these are the cause of your label price discrepancies please continue to use the steps below to contact support and have this reviewed by our Shipping support team. 

• All rates will include the default package size at the checkout as specified in the merchant’s shipping settings. If you are selecting a different package size or weight when purchasing the label, price discrepancies are to be expected.
• Using a third party app to provide rates at the checkout but buying the labels through Shopify Shipping. 
• Currency conversion, example: Customer pays for their order in USD but merchant pays for labels in CAD. The resulting currency exchange makes it appear that the merchant is paying more than the customer. 

If that does not resolve the problem for you, please reach out to our live support chat team and use this prompt in your live chat for assistance with this:

Hi, I am reaching out from the community forums (https://bit.ly/422xFwD) as directed by Shay. I need to ask that an order be reviewed by your shipping team for an issue with the calculated rates at checkout being very different from the rates I am being charged at time of label purchase. I have confirmed that none of these issues are the problem:

* Package size and weight have not changed.

* I am not using a third party app to calculate my shipping rates. 

* There is no currency conversion happening. 

Link to customer order: 

Price customer paid vs price I am being asked to pay: 

[Parlor_Dice]

Everyone, I think I figured it out. In the "shipping and delivery" tab of "settings," there's a section called "shipping zones"

In my domestic US zone, there were a bunch of flat rate shipping options that didn't line up with anything. Customers were all choosing the cheapest $4.90 option, even though that has nothing to do with the actual price it costs me to ship. I deleted all of the options in that "shipping zone" section, and was able to add one that says it's "calculated" (I did UPS).

Hopefully now it'll work right, but I won't be able to tell until I sell another order. Also, I went in and edited the custom 'backup rate' to make sure that it doesn't ever drop below the $8 that is usually my cheapest shipping option. I tried to attach a picture to show everyone here, but the form won't let me. Hope this helps someone!

Shopify - this is incredibly stupid default behavior, and should absolutely be changed so that your default shipping is CALCULATED. 

[ckirkley]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the info. I am having this same issue but wanted to check with you to see if your change actually worked.  please let me know so that I can follow suit....thanks!

[Parlor_Dice]

Hi! 

I actually contacted support and they let me know the proper way to do things, which is to have multiple options for shipping (even with one provider, I'm using UPS) I'll add screenshots below, but if you go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery > General Shipping Rates, you can scroll down to "Shipping Zones," and then click "Add Rate" (or, if you already have a provider like UPS chosen, click the three dots next to the provider itself, and "Edit rate." Once you're in there, choose your provider and then make sure to choose multiple options (I have UPS Ground, Ground Saver, and Standard selected). I think you should also check the box that says "Automatically show new shipping options," too, because I was getting feedback from customers that it was sometimes saying shipping wasn't available to their location. I think that was because I only had "Ground Saver" selected, and sometimes it wasn't available to their area. Since setting it up like this I haven't had any issues.

Let me know if that makes sense!

 

 

[ckirkley]

I just changed and seems to be working now!  Thank you for your quick reply!

[RoyalPetBox]

This worked, Phil! Thank you SO much!