Live rates at checkout
Turn on live shipping rates at Shopify checkout, choose which carriers quote, and check what customers see.
Available on the Advanced plan and higher. Compare plans
Updated October 5, 2026
With live rates, Shopify asks Parcello for shipping prices while a customer is in checkout. Parcello packs the cart with your box rules, rates it on your connected carrier accounts, and returns the services you chose, with your margins and delivery dates.
Before you start
- Your Shopify plan must allow third-party carrier-calculated shipping. Shopify includes it on its Advanced and Plus plans and offers it on some other plans with annual billing or as an add-on. If your plan doesn’t allow it, Shopify refuses when you turn rates on and Parcello shows Shopify’s message.
- Connect at least one carrier on the Carriers page: UPS, FedEx or Shippo. Freight quotes from Estes and FedEx Freight need the Freight plan.
- Give your products boxes on the Products page. Parcello can’t price a product it can’t pack. See Why checkout shows backup rates.
1. Turn rates on
- Open Checkout Rates in Parcello.
- In the Live checkout rates card, click Enable.
The badge changes to Enabled and Parcello registers a shipping rate service called Parcello Live Rates with Shopify. Disable removes it again.
2. Add Parcello Live Rates to your shipping zones
Shopify only shows a rate service in the zones it is added to. In Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery, open each shipping profile, and in every zone where you want live rates, add a rate that uses a carrier or app to calculate rates and pick Parcello Live Rates.
Keep a backup in place. When Parcello returns no rates for a cart, customers see your other rates in that zone, or Shopify’s backup rates when there are none.
3. Tick the carriers that should quote
Connecting a carrier doesn’t start quoting at checkout. On the Carriers page, open each carrier’s card, find the Checkout rates section, tick Surface at checkout, and click Save checkout rates.
While rates are enabled and no carrier is ticked, the Checkout Rates page shows a warning: No carrier is set to show rates at checkout. “Shoppers see your backup rates until you tick “Surface at checkout” on a carrier’s card.” Click Open Carriers to fix it.
In the same section you choose which services show, their order and names, list or negotiated prices, and your surcharges. See Choose carriers and services for checkout.
4. Set your rate settings
The Rate settings card on the Checkout Rates page holds the store-wide choices. Click Save settings after changing any of them.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show at checkout | Transit days, delivery date, both, or neither. See Delivery dates at checkout. |
| Order cutoff time (local) and Timezone | Orders placed after the cutoff ship the next business day. |
| Fulfillment lead time (business days) | Days added before the ship date, on top of any per-product lead time. |
| Home or business | Detect from the address, Always a home or Always a business. Carriers charge more to deliver to a home. When detecting, Parcello asks UPS or FedEx and quotes as a home when they can’t tell. Labels always use the carrier’s answer. |
| Free shipping thresholds | Domestic and international order subtotals above which the cheapest option is free. See Free shipping at checkout. |
| Show box count on multi-box shipping options | Adds “3 boxes” to the rate description. |
| Require signature on all shipments | Adds the carrier’s signature fee to every rate. See How checkout prices a cart. |
| Write shipment details to the order | Records the checkout choice, cost, promised date and boxes in the order’s Additional details in Shopify when the order is placed. |
The page also has the Customer shipping tiers table (used when a cart ships as more than one shipment), the Shipping calendar, and on the Operations plan, Shipping rules.
5. Test your checkout
- In your online store, add a product to the cart and go to checkout.
- Enter a shipping address in a zone where you added Parcello Live Rates.
- Check the names, prices and dates. Then try a cart with several products, one from each location, and one with a large product.
On the Operations plan, Try a cart on the Checkout Rates page rates a test cart with your carriers and shows the result without going to your store. See Shipping rules and Try a cart.
Notes and limits
- Shopify caches rates. For the same cart and address, Shopify can reuse rates for about 15 minutes. After changing a setting, change the cart or the address to see new prices.
- Same names collapse. If two rate services in a zone return options with exactly the same name, Shopify shows only the cheaper one. Rename Parcello’s services if another app stays in the zone.
- Remove other rate apps when you’re ready. Every rate service in a zone shows its options side by side. Once Parcello’s rates look right, remove other calculated rate apps from your zones so customers see one set of options.
- Parcello must answer quickly. Carriers that don’t answer in time are left out. If a shipment in the cart gets no rate at all, Parcello returns nothing and Shopify shows your other or backup rates.
- Plan. If your Parcello plan drops below Advanced or the subscription ends, Parcello stops quoting.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Clicking Enable shows an error from Shopify | Your Shopify plan doesn’t allow carrier-calculated shipping | Upgrade the Shopify plan or add the feature in Shopify, then try again. |
| Parcello’s rates never appear | Not added to the shipping zone | Add Parcello Live Rates to the zone (step 2). |
| Only backup rates appear | No carrier ticked, a product without boxes, or a carrier error | See Why checkout shows backup rates. |
| A price didn’t change after editing a setting | Shopify’s rate cache | Change the cart or address, or wait about 15 minutes. |