# Here’s what you’ll find in this guide:
- Getting started on shipping
- Determine your shipping rates
- Add shipping rates for individual products
- Add store-wide shipping rates
- Add flat-rate shipping
- Offer free shipping
- Add a pickup or delivery option
- Add shipment tracking information
- Buy and print shipping labels
- Dropshipping and integrations
- Sell digital products


## Getting started on shipping

Big Cartel offers two separate tools you can choose from to add shipping rates to your product listings:

__[Product-level Shipping](/resources/help/article/product-level-shipping "Product-level Shipping guide")__: This is a great tool if your products vary in size and weight and require different shipping rates. Product-level shipping can be added to each individual product listing from your __[Products](https://my.bigcartel.com/products "log into the Products page of your Big Cartel admin")__ page.

__[Shipping Profiles beta](/resources/help/article/shipping-profiles-beta "Shipping Profiles beta guide")__: This is a great tool for creating store-wide shipping rates with customizable shipping methods that apply to all products in your shop. Shipping profiles can be set up on your __[Account](https://my.bigcartel.com/account "log into the Account page of your Big Cartel admin")__ page.

>⚠️ The availability of your products to different locations is determined by the shipping settings; only customers in the areas you set shipping rates for will be able to purchase from your store. (no shipping settings = $0 shipping worldwide)

## Determine your shipping rates

Shipping rates are not automatically calculated in your Big Cartel admin, so you’ll need to determine shipping rates for your products based on size, weight, destination and carrier. We recommend doing this through any shipping carrier you plan to use, like [USPS](https://www.usps.com/ship/ "USPS"), [FEDEX](https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/international/understanding-international-shipping-cost.html "FedEx Shipping"), [Parcel2Go](https://www.parcel2go.com/parcel-delivery/usa "Parcel2Go").

Any of our __[shipping integrations](/resources/help/topic/manufacturing-shipping-and-fulfillment-apps "Shipping Integrations")__ can also be used to find shipping rates and carriers: 

- __[Pirate Ship](/resources/help/article/pirateship "Pirate Ship help guide")__ works best with U.S based shops
- __[ShipStation](/resources/help/article/shipstation "Shipstation help guide")__ works best with shops based in Canada, U.K. etc
- __[ShippyPro](/resources/help/article/shippypro "ShippyPro help guide")__ works well for shops based in the EU, UK, and Australia 

💡Make sure your Big Cartel shipping rates match your shipping carrier’s rates so you don't end up paying more than the customer paid you for shipping. 

>⚠️__Product-level Shipping__ and __Shipping Profiles beta__ can’t be used at the same time. Before you select which tool is right for you, determine the shipping rates for your products—see below for tips and tricks and check out this blog post, __[Set Your Shipping Course](/resources/blog/article/set-your-shipping-course "Set Your Shipping Course")__, that may help you decide which shipping tool will work best for your business.

## Add shipping rates for individual products with Product-level Shipping

If most or all of your products need different shipping rates, you can find instructions for adding shipping rates to each individual product listing in our __[Product-level Shipping](/resources/help/article/product-level-shipping "Product-level Shipping guide")__ guide. 

💡 Use our __[Bulk Edit](/resources/help/article/bulk-edit-products "Bulk Edit guide")__ tool to apply the same shipping rates to multiple products all at once. (premium feature)

>⚠️ These settings are separate from __Shipping Profiles__ and __Product Shipping Profiles__ which are used to add storewide rates that apply the same shipping rate to all products in your shop; To set storewide rates, follow the steps in our __[Shipping Profiles](/resources/help/article/shipping-profiles-beta "Shipping Profiles Guide")__ guide.

## Add store-wide shipping rates with Shipping Profiles

If each product in your store can ship for the same shipping rate, use __[Shipping Profiles beta](/resources/help/article/shipping-profiles-beta "Shipping Profiles beta guide")__ to set store-wide shipping rates and methods that can be applied to entire regions or zones. These settings are added from your Big Cartel __[Account](https://my.bigcartel.com/account "login into Big Cartel Account page")__ page.  

>If you're using Shipping Profiles but you have a few items that must ship separately, you can use __[Product Shipping Profiles](/resources/help/article/product-shipping-profiles "Product Shipping Profiles beta guide")__ alongside your default Shipping Profile rates.

## Add flat-rate shipping

To charge flat-rate shipping using __[Product-level Shipping](/resources/help/article/product-level-shipping "Product-level Shipping guide")__ settings, leave the __With Others__ rate set to $0.00. Customers will only be charged the highest __Alone__ rate for the items in their cart and nothing more. 

To charge flat-rate shipping using the __[Shipping Profiles](/resources/help/article/shipping-profiles-beta "Shipping Profiles beta guide")__ beta, set the __Each additional__ rates to $0.00. Customers will only be charged the __First item__ rate and nothing more. 

## Offer free shipping

To offer free shipping using __[Product-level Shipping](/resources/help/article/product-level-shipping "Product-level Shipping guide")__ settings, set both __Alone__ and __With others__ rates to $0.00 for each country you’re offering free shipping to. 

To offer free shipping using the __[Shipping Profiles beta](/resources/help/article/shipping-profiles-beta "Shipping Profiles beta guide")__, set both the __First item__ and __Each additional__ rates to $0.00 for each area you’re offering free shipping to. 

>💡 To offer free shipping to only specific customers, or as part of a sale, you can create a discount code for customers to enter on the checkout page. We have more information in our __[Add a Discount Code](/resources/help/article/add-a-discount "Add a Discount Code guide")__ guide. Or you can change your shipping settings at any time to temporarily offer free shipping to certain areas.

## Add a pickup or delivery option

Setting up options for customers to pick up their order or to have it delivered varies based on the shipping settings you’re using. Just remember, Product-level Shipping and Shipping Profiles beta can’t be used at the same time.

Using __[Shipping Profiles beta](/resources/help/article/shipping-profiles-beta "Shipping Profiles beta guide")__ settings, you can add custom shipping methods specifically for “Pickup” and/or “Delivery”. Customers will see the description you add to each shipping method, so that’s a great place to include areas you deliver to, where to pick up orders, or indicate if customers will need to contact you for a pickup address. 

With __[Product-level Shipping](https://help.bigcartel.com/product-level-shipping "Product-level Shipping guide")__ settings, a pickup option can be offered by creating [__a discount code__](https://help.bigcartel.com/add-a-discount "Add a Discount Code guide") for free shipping. Customers will need to enter the discount code at checkout, so using a simple discount code name, like PICKUPDENVER or LOCALATLANTA for example, makes it easy for customers to remember. Using a code with a specific name will indicate to local customers that the code is only for them.

>⚠️ If you’re only offering pickup options, customers will still need to enter their shipping address at checkout to determine the correct sales tax for their location.  

## Add shipment tracking information

You can use our built-in order notification emails to send tracking information when you __[mark an order as "Shipped"](/resources/help/article/mark-an-order-as-shipped "Mark an order as Shipped")__ in your Big Cartel admin.

We have more details about sending and updating shipping notifications, including images of that process, in our __[Send shipment tracking info](/resources/help/article/send-shipment-tracking-info "Send Shipment Tracking Info guide")__ guide.

## Buy and print shipping labels

You will buy and print shipping labels using the shipping fees customers pay as part of their order totals. Shipping labels can be purchased from the shipping carrier you are using to ship orders.

Big Cartel offers [__shipping integrations__](/resources/help/topic/manufacturing-shipping-and-fulfillment-apps "Shipping Integrations") that will import your completed order data into their system so you can get shipping rates, buy postage, print shipping labels, and more. Check out our top shipping integrations in the links below:

- __[Pirate Ship](/resources/help/article/pirateship "Pirate Ship guide")__ - free to use and has discounted USPS and UPS rates!
- __[ShipStation](/resources/help/article/shipstation "Shipstation help guide")__ - great for shops based in Canada, U.K.!
- __[ShippyPro](/resources/help/article/shippypro "ShippyPro help guide")__ - great for shops based in the EU, UK, and Australia!

Once you've generated your shipping label, you can __[add tracking info](/resources/help/article/send-shipment-tracking-info "Send shipment tracking info")__ when you mark orders as shipped on Big Cartel, regardless of which shipping service you’re using.

## Dropshipping and integrations

Big Cartel has direct integrations with two companies that will sync up with your Big Cartel shop and fulfill orders as they come in: __[Printful](/resources/help/article/printful "Printful guide")__ and __[Art of Where](/resources/help/article/art-of-where "Art of Where guide")__.

Although you can set your own product prices and shipping rates for your store, __make sure you're charging enough for your products and for shipping fees__. You can view Printful's [__payment guide__](https://www.printful.com/payments-guide "Printful's payment guide") and [__shipping rates__](https://www.printful.com/shipping "Printful's shipping rates") on their help site.

>💡If you plan to fulfill your orders through a company that doesn't have a direct integration with Big Cartel, you can still use them, you'll just need to manually send them your order details, as orders come in, and they should be able to fulfill them. 

## Sell digital products

If you're only selling digital products, customers will still need to enter their shipping address at checkout to determine the correct sales tax for their location. Digital products are tax exempt in some states, but not others. See our __[US Tax Categories](/resources/help/article/us-tax-categories "US Tax Categories guide")__ guide for more information.

>💡To sell digital products in your Big Cartel shop, we recommend using our sibling-service, __Pulley__. You can learn more in our __[Pulley guide](/resources/help/article/pulley "Pulley guide")__ and on __[Pulley's help site](http://pulleyapp.com/tour "Pulley help site")__.

How to Set Up Shipping

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