Shipping is higher than expected
What you see
A method's price at checkout is higher than you expect from its rule or from the carrier's own website.
Before you start, run the same cart in the Shipping Estimator. It shows the packages and the price for each method. See Read Shipping Estimator results.
Most likely causes
1. The cart was packed into several boxes
Real-time and table rules price each packed box and add them up.
- Confirm: the Shipping Estimator shows more than one package. For a table, the price is an exact multiple of a row's charge.
- Fix: see My table rate is charged two or three times.
2. Markups are added
Every markup on the Markups page that matches the method and destination is added. Several matching markups all add up.
- Confirm: go to Markups and search for the method's name. Check each card that's On.
- Fix: switch off or edit the extra markups. See How markups work.
3. Product charges are added
A product's Markup or Flat ship rates adds to the method's price.
- Confirm: open each product in the cart and check those fields.
- Fix: see Add a shipping markup to a product.
4. A minimum charge raised it
- Confirm: the rule card shows "Minimum charge".
- Fix: see Set a minimum or maximum shipping charge.
5. Extra weight from packaging
Packaging weight markups add weight to each box before it's rated, which raises weight-based prices.
- Confirm: look for a markup card with "Package weight / Weight added".
- Fix: see Add packing-material weight to packages.
6. A residential surcharge or packaging option
Carriers often charge more for residential addresses, and some packaging types cost more.
- Confirm: check how the address was classified, and the rule's Packaging override.
- Fix: see Residential vs. commercial addresses.
7. HazMat charge
With the HazMat add-on, a rule's HazMat charge is added when the cart has hazmat items.
8. More than one rule of the method matches
Rules of one method should be set up so that any one cart matches only one of them (apart from rules for other origins). If two overlap, the price can be hard to predict.
- Confirm: check the method's rules for overlapping states, ZIP codes, weights or order values.
- Fix: make the ranges or areas not overlap.
Still stuck?
Contact support at support@advancedshippingmanager.com or 1-888-546-4932 (Mon–Fri 9AM–5PM EST). Send:
- the method name and number
- the products, quantities and the full destination address
- the price you expected, and the price you see