Shipping must charge a primary cost for the first item and a lower secondary cost for each additional item, similar to Etsy’s “incremental” shipping rates (e.g., Item A: $34 + $7 per extra; Item B: $10 + $2 per extra; combined order uses the higher primary plus the other item’s secondary). Shopify’s native flat-rate shipping does not support quantity-based or per-additional-unit pricing.
Options discussed:
Third‑party app: ShipMagic supports incremental rates with product-specific pricing; the developer confirms it can implement the exact combined shipping logic described.
Workarounds: Weight-based rates and multiple shipping profiles per product type can approximate quantity effects but lack true incremental pricing.
Carrier-calculated rates: Automatically compute costs from origin, destination, and package weight, reducing manual scenarios but not replicating the Etsy-style primary/secondary scheme.
Recent updates: The app developer confirmed ShipMagic solves the OP’s examples. A follow-up request asks for alternative apps offering a free plan; this remains unanswered.
No images or code are central. The discussion is ongoing without a finalized selection beyond ShipMagic’s confirmation.
I need to set the shipping rate as per item quantity, type and quantities like it works on Etsy.
For Example:
One item price: This is the cost of shipping the item alone.
Additional item price: This is the additional cost of shipping another purchased item.
The additional item price applies when a buyer purchases multiple, different arrangements within our shop at the same time. This also applies when multiple quantities of the same item are purchased.
If Item A and Item B are purchased together, the total combined shipping cost would equal the greater primary shipping cost of the two items (Item A: $34.00), plus the secondary shipping cost of the remaining item(s) (Item B: $2.00).
If three of Item A are purchased together, the total combined shipping cost to the buyer would equal the primary shipping cost for the first item ($34.00), plus $7.00 each for the two additional items. The total combined shipping cost to the buyer in this situation would be $48.00."
This type of shipping rate setup is called “incremental” shipping rates and is not possible directly with Shopify. You will have to use a third party shipping rate app.
Our app ShipMagic does support incremental shipping rates (with different rates for different products). We also have live chat support present in the app for any assistance.
Shopify’s flat-rate shipping doesn’t support quantity-based pricing or an additional unit price.
The closest approach you can take is to utilize weight-based shipping rates and set up various shipping profiles for different product types.
Alternatively, you can explore the use of apps that offer quantity-based shipping rates.
Another option is to consider carrier-calculated rates. With this option, shipping rates are accurately calculated based on the origin, destination, and package weight. This eliminates the need to configure individual rates for each scenario.
If Item A and Item B are purchased together, the total combined shipping cost would equal the greater primary shipping cost of the two items (Item A: $34.00), plus the secondary shipping cost of the remaining item(s) (Item B: $2.00).
If three of Item A are purchased together, the total combined shipping cost to the buyer would equal the primary shipping cost for the first item ($34.00), plus $7.00 each for the two additional items. The total combined shipping cost to the buyer in this situation would be $48.00."