Calculate shipping with UPS on Basic Plan?

Payments + Shipping & Fulfilment

Topic summary

Main issue: setting up accurate UPS shipping rates in Shopify for heavy, variably sized products, potentially limited by plan requirements. The poster believes direct UPS integration may require the Advanced Plan ($3,600/yr), but this remains unconfirmed in the thread.

Update: The poster realized each product needs a “Default Package” (defined dimensions and weight) for Shopify Shipping to calculate rates; item size/weight alone isn’t used. A reply confirms this and notes default packaging may not match real-world packing per order; recommendation is to use your own specific packaging details rather than generic defaults.

Latest development: A test showed a rate discrepancy—UPS Ground via Shopify calculated $44 versus $70 in UPS WorldShip for the same addresses and specs. The poster asks whether Shopify is using Shopify Shipping’s rates (possibly discounted) even if they ship via their own UPS account, and whether using Shopify’s rates might be preferable.

Status: No final resolution yet. Action items include setting per-product default packages and investigating why Shopify’s calculated UPS rates differ from UPS WorldShip. Key questions about plan requirements and rate sources remain open.

Summarized with AI on January 26. AI used: gpt-5.
1

I’m helping a friend set up his Shopify store. His products come in a wide variety of sizes and weights, most of which are somewhat heavy, so he custom-packages them and sends them using his UPS account.

I was attempting to help him set up a direct connection between UPS and Shopify so that his customers can pay the correct shipping amount at checkout based on the weight and size of the product, but if I’m reading the docs correctly that’s not possible unless he’s on the Advanced Plan ($3600/yr). If that’s the case, we’ll probably just disable the shopping cart and have people call to order so the shipping can be figured out manually…

Is this correct or are we missing something?

2

If you can help me, go ahead and do so. I’m not emailing you though.

3

I think I may have figured out my issue. We need to set a “Default Package” on every item in the store. The calculated rates on Shopify Shipping won’t do anything based on the size and weight of the item alone.

4

Hi @arothman ,

Yes, you are correct. In order to accurately calculate shipping rates based on the size and weight of the items, you need to set a “Default Package” for each product in your Shopify store. By specifying the package dimensions and weight, Shopify can calculate the shipping rates more accurately during the checkout process.

When you set a default package for a product, it represents the packaging used to ship that particular item. It allows Shopify to calculate the appropriate shipping costs based on the dimensions and weight of the package, along with the destination.

One potential issue with using default packaging for shipping rate calculations is that it may not always accurately reflect the actual packaging used for each order. The default package represents a standard packaging size and weight for a product, but in reality, the packaging used for each order may vary depending on factors such as the size and quantity of items, additional padding or packaging materials, or any special packaging requirements.

Based on my knowledge, I will suggest you go with your own packaging instead of Shopify’s default packaging. Let me know if you have any queries. I will be happy to help!

5

I have a followup question. We tested out the shipping setup on an item in the shop. When given the same to/from addresses and the same weight/dimensions, the calculated UPS Ground shipping on Shopify was $44 while the UPS WorldShip portal says it should be $70. Is there something we’re missing?

Is the site using the “Shopify Shipping” rates to calculate things even though we’re going to be using our own UPS account to do the actual shipping? I’m wondering if it makes sense to not use our company’s existing UPS account if the rates directly via Shopify are going to be much lower…