How to setup Shopify backup rates

Packrooster Shipping relies heavily on Shopify third party carrier calculated shipping, AKA carrier service to display shipping rates and pickup points configured in the app.

Unfortunately sometimes there might be a situation when something is wrong and shipping rates configured in Packrooster can not be displayed at the checkout. There might be downtime in Carrier Service or the pickup point API of the shipping carrier you are using takes too long to respond, causing a timeout at the checkout when requesting for the pickup points.

If third party carrier shipping rates can not be displayed at the checkout, Shopify will instead only display shipping rates configured in Shopify Shipping & Delivery settings. But if there are no shipping rates to display, Shopify will display something that is called back up rates.

Please note: After August 2026 configuring backup rates by order value or item weight is deprecated. You can either only use shipping rates configured in Packrooster Shipping and use the default version of a backup rate offered by Shopify or you can set a flat rate to the shipping zone in Shopify and connect the rate in Packrooster to be used as the desired delivery method. Read more about connecting Shopify rates from here. When using third party carrier apps like Packrooster Shipping, Shopify recommends using a flat rate in addition of carrier rates.

The price of a backup rate is determined by how the rate is set up in your Shipping & Delivery settings. You can configure the backup rate for each shipping zone and there are three ways to do it.

Use Shopify default backup rates

Backup rates

If you use the default version, the rate is determined for you by Shopify. The rate takes into consideration your fulfillment and shipping location, item weight, total value of the order and your Shopify stores default currency.

Define custom backup rates by order value or item weight

If the default version is very different from what you usually charge your customers for the delivery, you can select either the order value or order weight based custom backup rate to determine the price of the backup rate.

Custom backup rates

When for one reason or another a third party app like Packrooster Shipping can not display shipping rates, it is best to prepare beforehand and set up the best possible backup rates for your Shopify store!