# Shipping Rates, Zones, Free-Over Thresholds and Local Pickup for a Small Online Store > How to set shipping rates for a small online store: zones by country, flat, per-item and weight rates, a free-over threshold, delivery times and local pickup. By Uyi Abraham (Founder and CEO, Vonza). Published 2026-11-14, updated 2026-11-14. Category: Business and creator economy. 6 min read. Canonical: https://vonza.com/blog/shipping-rates-and-local-pickup Shipping is where small stores lose money quietly. Charge too little and every heavy order eats the margin; charge too much and the cart is abandoned at the last step. The fix is not a complicated rate table, it is a few clear rules: where you ship, what it costs there, when it is free, and whether people nearby can simply come and collect. This guide explains shipping zones, the three kinds of rate, free-over thresholds, delivery times, local pickup and country rules, and how to set each up in a Vonza store. The product page is [sell physical products](https://vonza.com/sell/physical-products). ## Start from your real costs Before any settings, look at your last twenty orders and write down what each one cost you to post, by destination and by weight. Three numbers fall out of that list: what a typical domestic order costs, what a typical international order costs, and the order value at which free shipping would still leave you a margin. Those three numbers are most of your shipping setup. Decide, too, whether shipping is a cost you want to recover exactly or a round number buyers can predict. Most small stores do better with a predictable flat rate and a free-over threshold than with a precise but unpredictable table. ## Shipping profiles: where you ship and what it costs In Vonza, shipping lives in **profiles**. A profile says where you ship and what it costs, and each physical product uses one. Most stores need one profile, called General by default; a second profile suits products that ship differently, such as oversized items or anything that cannot go abroad. Inside a profile you create **zones**, each a list of countries plus a **Rest of world** zone for everywhere else. A profile takes up to 50 zones, and each zone up to 10 rates. In practice two or three zones is plenty to begin with: your own country, your main export region, and the rest of the world. ## The three kinds of rate Each zone carries one or more rates, and the buyer picks one at checkout. There are three kinds: **Flat.** A base charge once per order, plus an optional charge per additional item. "$5 for the first item, $1 for each extra" is a flat rate. It is the easiest to explain and the right default for most small stores. **Per item.** A fixed charge for every item in the order. It suits products that are all roughly the same size and weight, such as prints or jars. **Weight bands.** A charge for each band of total order weight, in kilograms, grams, pounds or ounces. "Up to 1 kg: $6. 1 to 3 kg: $10. Over 3 kg: $18." It is the most accurate for mixed catalogues with light and heavy items, and it is the one to reach for when flat rates start losing you money. Weight bands only work if each product has a weight; if you imported from Shopify, Variant Grams came across. Each rate has a name buyers see, such as "Standard" or "Express", and an optional delivery time in days. The names and the delivery-time labels can be up to 80 characters, but short wins: a buyer scanning the checkout wants "Standard, 3 to 5 days" not a paragraph. ## Free over: the threshold that lifts order value Any rate can carry a **free over** amount. When the order's subtotal reaches it, that rate costs nothing. A threshold a little above your average order value nudges buyers to add one more item to qualify, which is why "free shipping over $50" is on so many stores. Set it from your numbers, not from a competitor's. If your average order is $38 and your typical domestic postage is $6, a $50 threshold costs you $6 on orders that are now worth $12 more. Say it clearly on the product page highlights and in the cart, because a threshold nobody knows about lifts nothing. You can set a threshold per zone, so domestic orders get free shipping at a lower amount than international ones, or none at all abroad. ## Let buyers choose a speed Give a zone two rates, a standard and a faster one, and the buyer picks at checkout. Shipping is combined across the cart, so a buyer with three items sees one shipping line, not three. Keep the choice to two options; three or more and people stall. ## Local pickup If you have a shop, a studio, a market stall or simply a porch, add **local pickup** to the profile, with a label such as "Collect from the studio" and the pickup address. Buyers near you choose it at checkout and pay no shipping, and the order shows pickup so you know not to post it. Add a line about opening hours to the label or to your receipt message. Pickup does two things for a small store: it removes the shipping objection entirely for local buyers, and it brings people to you, where they often buy something else. ## Country rules: where you sell at all Shipping rates say what it costs to ship somewhere. A separate setting says whether you will sell there at all. Choose **Everywhere**, **Only these countries** or **Everywhere except** some, and the rule is checked against the buyer's billing country at checkout. Use it for products you cannot export, for regions where returns are impractical, or while you are starting out and want to keep orders domestic. ## Phone numbers and fulfilment When an order ships, the checkout asks for a phone number by default, because carriers want one; you can make it optional or hide it per product. When the order comes in, fulfil it from Orders: mark it shipped, add the tracking number from your carrier, and send partial shipments when an item is delayed ("2 of 3 shipped"). The packing slip prints with a barcode. Vonza does not buy labels or pull live carrier rates; you set the rates and paste the tracking numbers. ## Keep delivery promises honest A delivery time on a rate is a promise. State it as a range you can keep, including your own handling time. If you make to order, say so on the product page as well as in the rate name. Buyers forgive slow if they were told; they do not forgive surprised. Pair that with an automation that emails the buyer when the order is marked delivered, and another that asks for a review a week later. Both are starter templates under Automations. ## A starting setup for most small stores If you want a setup you can enter in ten minutes and refine later: 1. One profile, General. 2. Zone one: your own country. Flat rate "Standard", a base charge that covers your typical domestic postage, a small charge per additional item, free over a threshold a little above your average order, 3 to 5 days. 3. Zone two: Rest of world. Flat rate "International", a base charge that covers your typical international postage, a charge per additional item, no free threshold, 7 to 14 days. 4. Local pickup with your address, if you have somewhere people can collect. 5. Country rules: Everywhere, unless you have a reason to narrow it. Then watch your orders for a month. If heavy orders are losing you money, change the domestic zone to weight bands. If international orders are rare and expensive, narrow the countries or raise the rate. If a lot of buyers are local, promote pickup. ## Shipping and your checkout Shipping is shown before payment, with the rate's name, price and delivery time, so the buyer sees the whole cost before entering a card. That matters for abandonment: unexpected shipping at the last step is one of the most common reasons buyers leave. If you add an [order bump](https://vonza.com/order-bumps), make it something that ships in the same parcel, so the bump does not change the shipping line. [Checkout layouts](https://vonza.com/blog/checkout-layouts) covers how the Classic, One step and Two step checkouts show shipping. ## Where to start Open Shipping in your Vonza Products app, edit the General profile, and set the two zones above. New to Vonza? The store is part of every Vonza plan with a 14-day free trial; the plans are on [pricing](https://vonza.com/pricing), and [sell physical products](https://vonza.com/sell/physical-products) covers the rest of selling physical goods. Modelling sizes and colours first? Read [product variants and add-ons](https://vonza.com/blog/product-variants-and-add-ons). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the simplest way to set shipping rates for a small store? Start with two zones, your own country and Rest of world, one flat rate in each, and a free-over threshold a little above your average order. Add per-item or weight-based rates only when flat rates start losing you money on heavy or multi-item orders. ### How does a free shipping threshold work? A rate can carry a free over amount: when the order's subtotal reaches it, that rate costs nothing. Set it a little above your average order value so buyers add one more item to reach it, and say so on the product page and in the cart. ### Can I offer local pickup instead of shipping? Yes. Add local pickup to a shipping profile with a label and the pickup address. Buyers near you choose it at checkout and pay no shipping, and the order shows pickup so you know not to post it. ### Can I limit which countries can buy? Yes. Choose to sell everywhere, only in the countries you list, or everywhere except the ones you list. The rule is checked against the buyer's billing country at checkout.