How to charge different shipping prices by country (shipping zones)

In TeleportHQ, you charge different shipping prices by country with shipping zones. Open E-Commerce Settings, switch on Shipping & Tax Regions and click Manage Regions. Add a zone, for example Europe, with its countries, then give it one or more rates: a flat price, a price by order total, or a price by weight. Buyers pay the rates of the zone that lists their country. Countries in no zone keep paying your store's single delivery fee.

Before you start#

• Your project needs an active store with Enable Delivery on. See How to add a store to an existing project.
• Set your store's delivery fee first: it's what every country outside your zones pays. See How to set delivery fees and free delivery.
• Rates by weight use each product's Weight and Weight Unit, set in the product form. A product without a weight counts as 0 kg.
• Shipping zones are available on every plan.

Steps#

1. Turn on Shipping & Tax Regions#

1. In the left sidebar, click E-commerce (the card icon).
2. At the top right of the E-Commerce panel, click the gear (E-Commerce Settings).
3. In the E-Commerce Setup panel, scroll to Shipping & Tax Regions and switch it on. TeleportHQ shows "Setting up shipping zones and tax regions — creating their tables…", then "Shipping zones and tax regions are on. Nothing changes for buyers until you add a zone or a tax rate."
4. Click Manage Regions, next to Shipping & Tax Regions. The Shipping & Tax Regions panel opens beside it, on the Shipping zones tab.

2. Add a zone#

1. On the Shipping zones tab, click Add zone.

2. In Zone name, type a name, for example Europe. Only you see it.
3. Under Countries, type in Search countries…, for example Fra, and click France in the list. Repeat for each country of the zone.

4. Optional: in Free shipping from (optional), type the order total from which shipping to this zone is free, for example 80. The amount includes tax.
5. Leave Cash on delivery on to let buyers in this zone pay on delivery, or switch it off to refuse it.
6. Leave Priority at 0, unless two zones list the same country: the lower number wins.
7. Click Save zone. The zone shows as a card on the Shipping zones tab.

3. Add rates to the zone#

A zone without a rate charges your store's delivery fee. To charge something else:

1. On the zone's card, click Add rate.
2. In Rate name, type the name buyers see at checkout, for example Standard shipping.
3. Under Applies, choose:
   • Flat rate: the same price for every order to this zone.
   • By order total: offered while the order total, tax included, is from From (inclusive) up to, but not including, Up to (exclusive). For example from 0 up to 50.
   • By weight (kg): the same, using the parcel's weight in kilograms.
4. In Price, type the price before tax, for example 6.90. Type 0 for free shipping.
5. Optional: in Delivery estimate (optional), type what buyers see beside the rate, for example 3–5 business days.
6. Click Save rate.
7. To offer a choice, add more rates, for example Express shipping.

4. Publish#

Publish your site so your live checkout starts charging by zone. Zones and rates you add or change later reach your live store without publishing again.

Ship only to some countries#

To refuse delivery outside your zones, add one more zone:

1. Click Add zone and name it, for example Everywhere else.
2. Switch on Rest of the world. It covers every country that no other zone lists.
3. Switch on Do not ship.
4. Click Save zone.

Buyers in those countries can then only choose Store Pickup. If pickup is off, they can't order. You can also switch on Do not ship in a zone that lists countries, to refuse only those.

How TeleportHQ picks the shipping price#

• A buyer pays the first zone that lists their country, by Priority. If no zone lists it, a Rest of the world zone applies. If there's none, your store's delivery fee and free-delivery amount apply.
• A zone with no rate charges your store's delivery fee, with the zone's own Free shipping from (optional) and Cash on delivery settings.
• When several rates fit the order, buyers choose one under Shipping Method at checkout. The cheapest is selected first.
• When a zone has rates but none fits the order, for example a parcel heavier than all your weight rates, checkout refuses the order.
• Store pickup orders never pay shipping.

Set tax by country (optional)#

The same panel sets tax rates per country, so each buyer pays the tax of the country they enter at checkout. Countries without a rate pay your store's default tax, set in Invoices. See How to set up invoices and VAT for your store.

1. In the Shipping & Tax Regions panel, click the Tax rates tab.
2. Click Add tax rate.
3. Under Countries, pick the countries. To add all the countries of a zone at once, click it next to Add a shipping zone:.
4. Optional: with one country chosen, type a State or region (optional), for example California, for places that tax differently inside the country.
5. Optional: in Products (optional), choose a category to give its products a different rate, for example a reduced rate for food.
6. In Tax rate (%), type the rate, for example 20.
7. Under Your product prices, choose Same as store, Included in price or Added on top. Switch on Tax shipping too to tax the shipping fee as well.
8. Click Save tax rate (or Save for 3 countries, when you chose several).

Check that it worked#

• The zone's card lists its countries, Free from the amount you set, its rates, and a Tax: line with the tax its countries pay.
• In the editor, open your cart or checkout page and click Cart above the canvas. The Cart Emulator shows a Ship to list: choose a country to see its shipping and tax on the canvas.
• On your published site, enter an address in that country at checkout. Shipping Method lists your rates.

Troubleshooting#

"Choose at least one country, or make this the rest-of-world zone." Pick countries under Countries, or switch on Rest of the world.

"Another active zone already covers the rest of the world." Only one active zone can be the rest of the world. Edit the other one instead.

"Set a lower bound, an upper bound, or both." or "The upper bound must be greater than the lower bound." A rate By order total or By weight (kg) needs From (inclusive), Up to (exclusive) or both, and the second must be bigger.

The panel says "Your checkout page was built before shipping zones and tax regions existed…" Your checkout page is older than the feature and keeps charging one fee. Click Recreate checkout page. It replaces the checkout page with a new one, so changes you made to the old page are lost. Then publish.

Buyers see "We don't deliver to this address. Choose a different address." Their country is in a zone with Do not ship on.

Buyers see "No shipping method is available for this order to this address. Change your cart or choose a different address." The zone has rates, but none covers this order's total or weight. Add a rate with no upper bound, or widen your ranges.

Buyers see "Cash on delivery isn't available for this delivery address." Cash on delivery is off for their zone. They can pay another way.

Good to know#

• Turning it off keeps everything. Switching off Shipping & Tax Regions says "Shipping zones and tax regions are off. Your zones and rates are kept." After you publish, your store goes back to one delivery fee and one tax rate.
• Pause or remove. Each zone, rate and tax rate has an Active switch, to stop using it without deleting it. The bin icon next to a zone deletes it with its rates. Orders already placed keep what they paid.
• Live stores update on their own. Shoppers already browsing get your zone and rate changes within about 5 minutes.
• Free shipping discounts also remove the zone's price. See How to create automatic discounts.
• Before an address is entered, the cart page estimates shipping for your store's own country: the Country in your invoice company details. If that country isn't set, or no shipping rate fits it, the cart shows Calculated at checkout instead.
• No live carrier rates. TeleportHQ charges the prices you set. It doesn't ask carriers for live quotes.
• Weight units. Products weighed in g, lb or oz are converted to kilograms.