Sections

• Issue
• Environment
• Resolution

Issue 

Shipping charges are applied to orders that should qualify for free shipping.

Environment

Resolution

• Before you start
• Discount-based free shipping issues
• Check your Recharge shipping profile
• Check your custom Recharge shipping profile settings in Shopify
• Check your Shopify general shipping settings
• Check your Shopify shipping profiles
• Checklist

Before you start

This guide helps solve the most common free shipping setup issues.

• If you've recently updated shipping rates in Shopify, queued orders won't reflect these changes. The new rates will only apply after the queued orders are processed. To update shipping rates immediately, contact Recharge support to regenerate your queued charges.
• If you're using a third-party shipping app, ensure it is configured correctly. Refer to Shipping and fulfillment for details on compatibility.
• Check Offering free shipping on subscription orders to ensure your platform settings are set up correctly. 
• If you're using Shopify's Script Editor app or Shopify Functions, confirm there is no custom code affecting free shipping.
• If you're using Workflows by Recharge, check for any conflicting flows that might affect orders. Refer to Offer free shipping on recurring orders through Workflows for guidance. 

Discount-based free shipping issues

If an order with a free shipping discount did not receive free shipping, follow these steps to check the discount configuration.

Step 1: Discount setup

Discount codes must be created in both Shopify and Recharge, and the settings in Recharge must match Shopify's discount code settings. Refer to the guides on Creating discount codes in Recharge, Shopify’s guide on creating discount codes, and the Shopify Discount Import feature. 

Step 2: Discount settings in Recharge

In the Recharge dashboard, go to Discounts, select the discount being used, and confirm:

1. The Type of discount is set to Shipping. 
2. The order meets the Minimum purchase amount if you have set Minimum requirements.
3. The required Channel Controls toggle is on. For example, if Custom Portal is off, a discount can't be applied by a customer there.
4. The order is within any set Application limits.

5. Under Date range, ensure the discount hasn't expired.

Check your Recharge shipping profile

Step 1 - Check for Recharge zones

Although rare, store on the Migrated and Shopify Checkout Integrated sometimes have separate zone rates set up for subscriptions in Recharge. This can override the dynamically updated shipping profile rates you expect coming from Shopify after the initial checkout.

If your issue involves a subscription and not the checkout order, then confirm your Shipping setup:

1. From the Recharge Dashboard, click on Settings.
2. Select Edit from the Shipping option.
3. If Use Recharge zones, rates, and integrations (Advanced) is selected under Shipping setup, then click Manage Zones.

4. Confirm the Shipping Zones rate conditions and pricing settings are not impacting free shipping.

Step 2 - Confirm your Retain or Dynamic shipping settings 

Check your Recurring shipping rates options to ensure they are not causing this free shipping problem. For example, the Retain original shipping rate for future orders setting prevents shipping rates from updating. 

Access the setting:

1. From the Recharge Dashboard, click on Settings.
2. Select Edit from the Shipping option.
3. Confirm if Dynamic or Retain is selected under Recurring shipping rates.

Understanding recurring shipping rates

• Retain original shipping rate for future orders; keeps the initial shipping rate from the customer's checkout order. This ensures price changes don't impact customers. If no retained rate exists, it uses fallback rates. These rate show as Conserve in the customer profile after checkout and Manual if updated later. If the customer's shipping retain rate isn’t 0.00 (free),  make sure to update the subscription shipping price manually. See Editing shipping rates for an existing subscription.

• Dynamically recalculate rates for future orders; updates shipping rates for each recurring order based on the current lowest available rate from your Shopify or Recharge shipping profiles, ignoring the original order's rate. However, if Zones are set up in Recharge, the Zone settings will override these rates.

Step 3 - Check for manual shipping rates

From the Recharge Dashboard under Customers > Customers

1. Search for the impacted customer. Confirm if they are:
   • Using a Manual rate
   
   • Using a Conserve rate
   
2. Click the Manual or Conserve rate to confirm the customer’s shipping rate. If free shipping isn’t configured, you can either switch to dynamic rates or manually update the rate to free shipping.

For help, see Editing shipping rates for an existing subscription.

Check your custom Recharge shipping profile settings in Shopify

The custom Recharge shipping profile allows you to set different rates for subscription and non-subscription products. See Creating a Recharge custom shipping profile for the Shopify Checkout Integration for more information.

Step 1 - Check if the custom Recharge shipping profile is enabled

1. From the Recharge Dashboard, click on Settings.
2. Select Edit from the Shipping option.
3. Under Subscription shipping rate management, confirm if it says Enabled.

Step 2 - Confirm your custom Recharge shipping profile is set up correctly

1. From the Shipping settings page, click Manage My Subscription Shipping Rates to open the Custom Recharge shipping profile in the Shopify admin.
2. Review the shipping profile.
   • Click the arrows in the Products area to confirm each subscription product from the order with a shipping error is listed under this profile. If it is not, then it is using a different shipping profile for its rate or has a manual rate.
   • Check that a product rate and zone exist for each product associated with your order issue. Add any missing rates or zones, but do not add missing products. These should update automatically if added in Recharge. If a product is not listed, contact Recharge for assistance.
   

• To confirm the location configured for a product, check the Inventory section of that product in Shopify,  then click on Edit locations to see the list of locations that stock the product. You can select or deselect locations as needed.
  
• If you make any changes, contact Recharge support to regenerate pending subscriptions and update shipping details. Without this, existing charges use the current rates until processed, and future charges apply the new rates.

Check your Shopify general shipping settings

If you have set up free shipping in Shopify with General rates but an eligible order didn’t get free shipping, check your settings to make sure it is configured correctly. 

Step 1: Confirm the shipping zone has a free rate

1. Note the shipping address for the impacted order from Recharge or Shopify. 
2. From Shopify admin, go to Settings >  Shipping and delivery.
3. Click the box below General shipping rates to view the General profile settings screen.
4. From the General profile settings screen confirm if the customer's address corresponds to a zone with a Free shipping rate.  

See Setting up flat shipping rates if you require assistance setting up a free shipping rate.

Step 2: Confirm the order meets rate conditions

If you added conditional pricing in Shopify, confirm the order meets any minimum weight or price criteria to be eligible for free shipping.

1. From the General profile settings screen, click Edit zone under the relevant Shipping zones.
2. Confirm the Price is set to 0.
3. Confirm if the order meets the conditional pricing type set:
   • Based on order price.
   • Based on item weight.

Check your Shopify shipping profiles

For merchants using Shopify shipping profiles, the products must be in your free Shopify shipping profile to apply the rate to recurring orders. If a checkout order includes products from two or more shipping profiles, their rates add together.

1. From Shopify admin, go to Settings >  Shipping and delivery. 
2. Under Custom shipping rates, select the free shipping profile that matches the product(s) and zone for the address of the order. (It will say Create a new profile if one doesn’t exist).
3. Confirm all products with free shipping from the order are in this shipping profile.
4. Add any missing products by clicking Manage products. Keep in mind that a product can only belong to one shipping profile. Adding it to a new profile will automatically remove it from the previous one. If you need a product in multiple shipping profiles, duplicate it and use Shopify’s publish products feature to include or exclude it from specific regions as needed.
5. Verify if other profiles are interfering with each other. 

Checklist

Use this checklist to confirm all settings have been reviewed and updated:

• Recharge shipping settings
• Shopify shipping settings
• Customer shipping settings
• Third-party shipping apps