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Shopify free shipping threshold: how to set it, price it and show it
How to set a free shipping threshold on Shopify, choose the amount from your own reports, handle discounts and markets, and show it before checkout.
To set a free shipping threshold on Shopify, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery, open your shipping profile, edit the shipping option in each zone and select Offer free shipping with a minimum order amount. Orders at or above that amount ship free, and everything below pays your normal rate. That part takes a few minutes.
The harder part is the number. A Shopify free shipping threshold set too low gives margin away on orders that would have happened anyway. Set too high, shoppers don't bother. This guide walks through the setup, a simple way to price the threshold from your own reports, how discounts and markets change it, and how to tell shoppers about it before they reach checkout.
By the end you'll have a threshold you can defend, set up correctly in every zone, and tested before Black Friday traffic arrives.
Two ways to offer free shipping over a minimum
Shopify gives you two built-in tools, and they behave differently.
1. A free shipping minimum on your shipping rate
This is the standard choice for an always-on threshold. According to Shopify's guide to setting up shipping zones and rates, you can add it to an existing rate:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
- In Shipping profiles, click the profile you want to edit.
- In Shipping zones, click the menu next to the shipping option and choose Edit shipping option.
- Select Offer free shipping and enter the minimum order amount.
- Click Done, then Save.
Repeat this for every zone and every shipping profile that should get free shipping. If you prefer tiers, choose the Order amount rate type instead and set a price for each range, with $0 on the top range. Leave the Maximum field empty on your highest tier. Shopify warns that if an order falls outside your tiers, no rate applies and the shopper gets a shipping error at checkout.
2. A free shipping discount
Under Discounts > Create discount > Free shipping, you can create a code or an automatic discount with a minimum purchase amount, limited to certain countries, customers, segments or markets, with start and end dates. The discount also lets you exclude shipping rates over a set amount, which keeps express options paid (see Shopify's free shipping discount guide).
Use the discount for something temporary or targeted: a lower threshold for a weekend, free shipping for a customer segment, or a code for a partner. Use the rate setting for your everyday threshold.
How Shopify counts the order total
Discounts change which shoppers qualify, so check how each method counts.
- Shipping rates: Shopify's shipping troubleshooting page says price-based rates use the cart value after discounts and before taxes. A discount code can move a cart back below your threshold.
- Free shipping discounts: the minimum counts product prices only, never taxes. Products count at their discounted price when another discount combines with it. Gift cards and store credit used as payment don't change the minimum.
This matters most during a sale. If your threshold is $50 and you run 20% off sitewide, a $60 cart becomes $48 and pays for shipping. Either expect that, or lower the threshold for the sale with a dated free shipping discount. Our guide to Shopify discount combinations covers which discount classes can stack.
How to pick the number
Start from your own data, not a round number you've seen elsewhere.
- Find your average order value. Go to Analytics > Reports, filter the category to Sales and open Average order value over time. Shopify calculates it as gross sales minus discounts, divided by orders, which leaves out shipping and taxes. That's close to how your threshold counts the cart.
- Know your real shipping cost. Take the average label and packaging cost per order from your carrier invoices or shipping label history.
- Look at what sits just above your average. List the products and add-ons a shopper could add to reach the threshold. If nothing sensible costs about the gap between your average order and the threshold, a threshold that needs one more item may feel out of reach.
- Check the margin. At the threshold, your gross margin on the order should still cover the shipping you now pay.
A worked example (hypothetical numbers)
Say you sell candles. These figures are an example, not data from a real store.
- Average order value: $42
- Average shipping cost per order: $8
- Bestseller: a $34 candle. Wick trimmer: $16. Matches: $6.
Before: free shipping over $75. Almost no one gets there with a single order, so the offer barely changes behavior and shoppers see shipping added at checkout.
After: free shipping over $50. One candle plus the wick trimmer qualifies. A shopper buying one candle has a clear, cheap reason to add a second item, and the store now pays shipping on every order of $50 or more, including ones that would have reached it anyway, so check the result against the period before.
Run the new threshold for a few weeks, then compare average order value and order count with the period before. Change one thing at a time so you can read the result.
Thresholds for products and markets
Different products
Shopify says free shipping for only certain products needs a custom shipping profile with those products and a rate that offers free shipping. Heavy or oversized items can sit in their own profile with no free shipping at all.
When an order contains products from more than one profile, Shopify combines the matching rates, so test mixed carts. Rate names need to match across profiles, including capitalization, or shoppers may see one combined rate called Shipping.
Different countries
A country needs to be in an active market before you can ship there. With local currencies on, shipping rates show in the shopper's currency through automatic conversion. If you want a specific amount in a region, Shopify suggests a separate zone with its own rate. Test the free shipping minimum in each currency you sell in. Our Shopify Markets checklist covers the rest of the setup.
A note on the shipping upgrade
Shopify is moving stores from shipping profiles to shipping options by market, managed from Markets. It is in early access for certain stores, the rollout is gradual, and existing rates are migrated automatically. After the upgrade, Shopify applies free shipping to a matching shipping option where it can, and otherwise keeps it as a separate free option. If your admin shows a Shipping options section, your store has been upgraded, so check that your threshold still looks right there.
Tell shoppers before checkout
A threshold only changes behavior when shoppers know about it early. Shoppers don't see any shipping rates in checkout until they enter an address, so the product page and cart are where the offer has to be visible.
In the Baymard Institute's cart abandonment research (list last updated September 22, 2025), "extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees)" was the most common reason US online shoppers gave for abandoning, at 40%, once shoppers who were just browsing are set aside. Stating the threshold up front helps shoppers know the cost before they commit.
- Put the threshold in your announcement bar, if your theme has one. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store and click Edit theme.
- Add a line near the price on product pages, for example "Free shipping on orders over $50".
- Repeat it on your shipping policy page and in the FAQ.
- Make sure the wording matches the real rule, including countries and products that don't qualify.
You can also put the reminder where the cart is. With Atomato, a NotiPop or NotiFeed message can use the targeting rule Cart value Is lower than your threshold, plus Cart items Is greater than 0, with all conditions, so only shoppers with something in the cart see it. The message goes away once the cart reaches the threshold. Cart value is compared with the cart total in the shopper's currency without conversion, so check each currency you sell in. Cart targeting works on every plan, including the free Starter plan, and the recipe is in our help article on showing messages based on what's in the cart.
Common mistakes and what this won't fix
- Missing a zone or profile. Free shipping set in one zone doesn't apply to others.
- A capped top tier. A maximum on your highest order amount tier causes checkout errors for big orders.
- Forgetting discounts. Discounted carts can drop below the threshold. Decide if that's acceptable for each sale.
- Testing with an old checkout. Shopify notes an abandoned checkout keeps the rates from when it was created. Always test with a new checkout.
- Expecting it to fix price or fit. A threshold helps shoppers who already want to buy. It won't fix a product page that doesn't answer questions, slow delivery or a price shoppers don't accept.
Free shipping threshold checklist
- Average order value pulled from Average order value over time
- Average shipping cost per order known
- Threshold reachable with one sensible add-on
- Offer free shipping set in every zone and profile that should have it
- Top tier has no maximum
- Sale discounts checked against the threshold
- Each market and currency tested with a new checkout
- Threshold shown in the announcement bar, product page and shipping policy
Common questions
Does a Shopify free shipping threshold include discounts?
Price-based shipping rates use the cart value after discounts and before taxes. Free shipping discounts count product prices at their discounted price when discounts combine, and never include taxes.
Can I offer free shipping to only some products?
Yes. Put those products in a custom shipping profile and give its rate free shipping. Products in other profiles keep their normal rates.
Can I run a lower threshold just for Black Friday?
Yes. Create an automatic free shipping discount with a lower minimum purchase amount and active dates that cover the sale. Check which other discounts it can combine with. Our Black Friday planning page has more on timing.
Why don't shoppers see free shipping at checkout?
Usually the cart is below the minimum after discounts, the address is in a zone without the free shipping setting, or the products are in a profile without it. Test with a new checkout using the same address and cart.
Next step
Open Average order value over time, pick a threshold one sensible add-on above it, set it in every zone, and place a test checkout below and above the line. Then tell shoppers about it on every page where they decide to add one more thing.
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