BigCommerce Shipping Rules and Real-Time Rates

Most store owners choose BigCommerce for one of two reasons: they outgrew Shopify's limitations, or they need B2B features without an enterprise price tag. Either way, they usually discover that BigCommerce's shipping system is surprisingly powerful — and surprisingly confusing to set up.

I've configured shipping on BigCommerce for stores doing $500K to $20M annually. The platform can handle complex scenarios that would require three plugins on WooCommerce. But the setup process has some gotchas that catch everyone the first time.

BigCommerce Shipping: The Architecture

BigCommerce thinks about shipping in layers. Understanding these layers saves you hours of trial and error.

Layer 1: Shipping Zones — Geographic regions you ship to Layer 2: Shipping Methods — How you charge within each zone (flat, calculated, table) Layer 3: Shipping Rules — Conditions that override or modify methods Layer 4: Handling Fees — Additional charges on top of shipping

Each layer stacks on top of the previous one. A customer's final shipping cost flows through all four layers.

Setting Up Shipping Zones

Zones in BigCommerce work similarly to other platforms, but with better granularity. You can create zones based on:

• Countries
• States/provinces
• Zip/postal code ranges

That last one is key. Zip code-based zones let you do things like charge different rates for remote areas or exclude zones where you can't deliver economically.

Here's a zone setup that works well for US-based stores:

Go to Store Setup > Shipping to manage zones. Each zone gets its own set of shipping methods, so your rate structure can be completely different for each region.

Real-Time Carrier Rates: The Big Advantage

This is where BigCommerce shines compared to platforms like Squarespace or even basic Shopify. Every BigCommerce plan — including Standard ($39/month) — includes real-time carrier rate calculation for USPS, UPS, FedEx, and more.

No app to install. No monthly add-on fee. Just turn it on.

Supported Carriers (Built-In)

Setting Up Carrier Rates

For each carrier, you'll need:

Carrier API credentials — Sign up for a developer account with the carrier

Package dimensions — Default box sizes or per-product dimensions

Product weights — Must be set on every product (this is non-negotiable)

Shipping origin — Your warehouse address

The setup walks you through credential entry for each carrier. UPS requires an account number plus API key. FedEx needs a developer key and meter number. USPS is the simplest — BigCommerce has a pre-negotiated USPS connection that works without your own account.

Rate Adjustments

Here's a feature I love: BigCommerce lets you adjust carrier rates before showing them to customers.

Set these per carrier, per zone. You might mark up FedEx by 10% (because their quotes tend to be accurate) and mark down UPS by 5% (because you negotiate better than their API rate).

This adjustment layer is how smart stores make money on shipping without customers feeling overcharged. The customer sees "UPS Ground — $8.47" and thinks they're paying the carrier directly. You bought that label for $7.20 and pocketed the difference.

Table Rate Shipping (Shipping by Weight/Price/Quantity)

BigCommerce has table rate shipping built in. No plugin needed. You can set up rates based on:

• Order weight — Most common
• Order subtotal — For price-based tiers
• Item count — Less common but useful for uniform products

You create a table within each shipping zone. The system matches the order to the right tier and charges accordingly.

Example weight-based table for domestic shipping:

Pro tip: make sure your tiers don't have gaps. If one tier ends at 3 lb and the next starts at 3.01 lb, you're fine. But if you accidentally have a gap (tier 1 ends at 3 lb, tier 2 starts at 4 lb), an order weighing 3.5 lb gets no shipping rate at checkout. The customer sees "No shipping methods available" and leaves.

Shipping Rules: Where the Real Power Lives

Shipping rules are BigCommerce's conditional logic layer. They modify shipping behavior based on cart contents, customer groups, or product properties.

Product-Based Rules

• Ship this product for free — Always free shipping on loss leaders
• Ship this product for a fixed rate — Oversized items with known shipping costs
• Exclude this product from rate calculation — Digital add-ons in a physical cart

Cart-Based Rules

• Free shipping over $X — The classic threshold
• Apply handling fee when cart contains [product] — Fragile item surcharge
• Disable certain methods — No expedited for international orders

Customer Group Rules

This is a BigCommerce specialty, especially for B2B:

• Wholesale customers get free shipping on orders over $500
• VIP customers see a 50% shipping discount
• Guest checkout doesn't see certain methods

You layer these rules on top of your zones and methods. The evaluation order matters: BigCommerce processes rules top to bottom, and later rules override earlier ones. Drag and drop to reorder.

Real Example: Setting Up a Handling Fee for Fragile Items

Say you sell wine glasses alongside regular kitchen items. Wine glasses need special packaging that costs you an extra $4.

Create a shipping rule: "If cart contains products from [Fragile] shipping class"

Action: "Add $4 handling fee"

This stacks on top of whatever the regular shipping rate is

The customer sees "Standard Shipping — $12.49" (which is $8.49 base + $4.00 handling). You can choose to show or hide the handling fee as a separate line item.

Free Shipping Strategy on BigCommerce

BigCommerce offers multiple ways to implement free shipping:

The shipping rule approach is what most stores use. Set your threshold, and BigCommerce automatically shows a "Free Shipping" option when the cart qualifies. The standard paid options still appear too, so customers with smaller carts aren't stuck.

A nice touch: you can display a "You're $X away from free shipping!" message in the cart. This isn't built into BigCommerce natively — you'd add it with a script widget or third-party app — but it's highly effective at increasing AOV.

Third-Party Shipping Apps on BigCommerce

BigCommerce has a growing app marketplace, though it's smaller than Shopify's. Key shipping apps:

ShipperHQ deserves special mention. If BigCommerce's built-in rules aren't enough (and for some complex B2B scenarios, they won't be), ShipperHQ adds dimensional weight calculation, LTL freight quoting, delivery date estimates, and address validation at checkout. It's expensive but it's the gold standard for complex shipping.

BigCommerce vs. Shopify: Shipping Feature Comparison

Since most people are choosing between these two, let's be specific:

The headline: BigCommerce gives you more shipping configuration power out of the box, especially for B2B. Shopify gives you better built-in label printing and carrier discounts. If your shipping needs are complex, BigCommerce's native rules might save you $50-100/month in app costs compared to Shopify.

Common Setup Mistakes

Forgetting product weights. I've said it before but it bears repeating. If your product weights are zero, calculated rates are wildly inaccurate and table rates default to the lowest tier. Audit your catalog. Every. Single. Product.

Not testing from the customer's perspective. Place test orders with addresses in each of your shipping zones. Verify the rates shown make sense. I once found a BigCommerce store where Canadian shipping was $2 because of a typo in the weight table. They'd been losing money on every Canadian order for two months.

Over-relying on carrier rates. Real-time rates are accurate but they fluctuate. A customer might see $9.20 on Monday and $10.45 on Wednesday for the same order, because carrier rates adjust for capacity and fuel surcharges. If price consistency matters for your brand, use table rates and update them quarterly.

Ignoring shipping rules after setup. Rules interact with each other. Adding a new rule can break an existing one if the evaluation order changes. After adding any new rule, test your checkout thoroughly.

BigCommerce's shipping system has the depth to handle almost any scenario. The learning curve is steeper than Shopify's, but you rarely hit a wall where the platform simply can't do what you need. Take the time to set it up right, and it'll serve you well as you scale.