Multiple or unexpected shipping rates at checkout

Issue

Customers may see more than one shipping rate or section at checkout when purchasing a subscription product. This can appear as two separate shipping sections, multiple shipping line items that look like duplicate charges, or two rates on a cart with only one subscription product.

Environment

Cause

The cause depends on which scenario you're seeing:

Two shipping sections: first shipment and recurring shipments

This is expected behavior. Shopify Checkout displays two separate shipping sections for subscription purchases so customers know what they'll be charged at checkout and on future orders:

• The first shipment section shows the rate options available at initial checkout.
• The recurring shipments section shows the rate Recharge calculates for your subscription line items. At checkout, Recharge calls Shopify to get the most accurate shipping rate for those items and saves it to apply to future recurring orders.

Both rates are also visible on the checkout order in the merchant portal.

Multiple shipping line items that look like duplicate charges

This occurs when Split shipping is enabled in Shopify. Split shipping displays all applicable shipping profiles for each product in the cart, showing the lowest available rate per product. If products in different shipping profiles share the same shipping cost, it can appear as though the charge is duplicated, but shipping is applied once per item.

Shopify calculates rates based on the total combined price and weight of all products in the cart, including packaging. Each product's rate is determined by the lowest available rate within its assigned shipping profile. Because rates are calculated per product but assessed using the combined cart total, this can sometimes result in unexpected costs.

Two rates with only one subscription product in the cart

This is most commonly caused by one of the following:

• The product is assigned to more than one Shopify shipping profile (for example, both the General profile and your Subscriptions profile), causing Shopify to display rates from each.
• Shopify is displaying both a first shipment and a recurring shipment rate, which is expected behavior for subscription products.

Resolution

The appropriate resolution depends on which scenario applies.

Two shipping sections: first shipment and recurring shipments

No action is needed. this is how Shopify displays subscription shipping. If the recurring rate shown isn't what you expect, check that your product is assigned to the correct Shopify shipping profile. A product appearing in more than one profile can cause Shopify to show rates from each. See Creating a custom shipping profile for the Shopify Checkout Integration for more information.

Multiple shipping line items that look like duplicate charges

Review your Shopify shipping profiles to confirm each product is assigned to the correct profile. If split shipping is causing confusion for customers, you can disable it in your Shopify checkout settings. 

Two rates with only one subscription product in the cart

Confirm that the product belongs to only one shipping profile in Shopify. If it appears in multiple profiles, remove it from any that don't apply. See Creating a custom shipping profile for the Shopify Checkout Integration for setup guidance. To learn more about how Shopify determines shipping lines, see Split shipping in checkout.