How can I add a handling fee to each transaction?

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A merchant seeks to add a handling fee to transactions without using paid apps. Shopify staff explains there’s no native handling fee option in the admin, recommending alternatives like increasing product prices, adjusting shipping rates, or using product variants to reflect different handling costs. The concern is that additional checkout fees increase cart abandonment.

Workarounds discussed:

  • Add handling fee to carrier-calculated shipping rates (available under Settings > Shipping and Delivery when using carrier/app rates, not custom flat rates)
  • Create a dummy “handling” product that customers add at checkout
  • Increase flat shipping rates and rename to “Shipping and Handling”
  • Use third-party apps like “Order and Product Fees” or “Canteen”

Ongoing frustrations:

  • Users criticize Shopify for dictating business practices rather than providing flexible tools
  • Many need per-order fees (not per-item) that current solutions don’t accommodate
  • Specific use cases remain unsolved: percentage-based fees on total order value, separate line items for insurance purposes, POS credit card processing fees
  • Percentage handling fees reportedly don’t work in shipping settings (only flat fees apply)
  • Multiple users express dissatisfaction with lack of native functionality, with some considering switching platforms

The discussion remains open with no comprehensive native solution available as of 2025.

Summarized with AI on October 28. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
2

Hi, @aarleomal .

Morgan here from the Social Team at Shopify.

Thanks for reaching out to discuss the idea of charging a handling fee on your shop. Although natively you are correct, there isn’t a way to add this, there are a few things that can be done. Whether that is to make up those funds elsewhere, or possibly manipulate your settings to add it.

However, before diving into some options I want to double check the reason for adding a handling fee? The main reason we don’t offer this in the admin by default is generally the more additional charges added on to an order at checkout, the more likely the checkout will be abandoned. In turn, lowering conversion rates.

Have you considered increasing your product cost directly, or even increasing shipping rates if you need to include your operating costs there? If you have the option to do either, I recommend adding to your product price. The reason being, it is easier to build value in the price someone is paying for a product they already want and they likely won’t think twice about a few dollars here or there on a products actual cost.

If a customer thinks the product they are buying is $20 and then get to the checkout and have added shipping, handling and taxes, that $20 product can easily come out to $35+. Which generally could result in them abandoning the order entirely. This is also likely for higher ticket items as well, but with higher ticket items it is ever easier to hide those extra costs in the product price.

Ultimately, if you want to add this extra cost at the checkout level, and can’t just change your flat rate shipping prices (if you use carrier calculated shipping rates) you just need to add a flat $ value on top of the estimated rates at checkout. This way the customer will just see the one total which includes the shipping and handling fees. Here’s a bit more on how to do that.

Lastly, the only other solution I can think of is adding the handling fee at the variant level of the product pages. Ie. Customer choose a “4 drawer nightstand” the variant drop down could be (+$10.00), but if they add a “2 drawer nightstand” the variant dropdown could be (+$5.00). This would work if the handling fee differs based on product.

Feel free to let me know if there’s another reason for wanting to add a handling fee and we can look at other options. However, as of now, these are the main ways to regain that operating cost.

All the best,

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