PrestaShop shipping costs: how to update them when your courier raises prices
Changing shipping costs in PrestaShop means editing each carrier in the Shipping → Carriers menu, at the costs step. For each weight or price range and each zone you enter a new net price. The most common mistakes are a missed range, a gross price entered as net, and an old amount left on the Delivery page.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for PrestaShop store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 6 min read
How does PrestaShop calculate shipping costs?
From the table of ranges assigned to the carrier. Each carrier calculates the cost either by parcel weight or by cart value, never by both at once. For each range, for example 0 to 5 kg, and each zone, for example Europe, you set a separate price. This is described in the PrestaShop 8 carriers documentation.
An example courier price list after a rise, net amounts, sample values:
| Weight range | Old price | New price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 kg | €14.00 | €15.50 | +€1.50 |
| 5-10 kg | €17.00 | €18.90 | +€1.90 |
| 10-20 kg | €22.00 | €24.50 | +€2.50 |
| 20-30 kg | €29.00 | €32.00 | +€3.00 |
With three carriers and two zones, that is twenty-four fields to retype. It only takes one old amount left behind for the store to subsidise some parcels for a month.
Pass the rise on to customers or absorb it?
This is a commercial decision, not a technical one, and it is worth making before you open the admin. You have three typical options:
- The whole rise goes to the customer. New prices in the ranges equal the courier's price list plus your packing charge. The simplest, but the customer sees more expensive shipping in the cart.
- Part of the rise goes into product prices. Shipping goes up less, and you cover the difference from the margin. It works when products have margin to spare.
- No change for the customer. You absorb the whole rise. It makes sense when the difference is small or competitors are holding their shipping prices.
Whichever you choose, count how many parcels a month you send in each range. Then you know what each option costs you. You will find sales and the average order value for recent months in the store's statistics.
How to change shipping costs step by step
Before you start, record the current prices. The simplest way is a screenshot of each carrier's ranges table.
- Open Shipping → Carriers and click edit on the carrier.
- Go to the shipping costs step. Check whether the carrier charges by weight or by price.
- Enter the new net prices in each range, for every zone the carrier serves.
- Check the out-of-range behaviour: whether the store applies the highest range or disables the carrier.
- Go through the wizard to the end and save.
- Repeat for each carrier with a new price list.
- Build a test cart at a few weights and check the cost in the order summary.
- Update the Delivery page, the information bar and product pages if they mention shipping prices.
Step 4 is easy to miss. HostArmada's guide to shipping methods explains that when a cart falls outside the ranges, the store can apply the highest price or hide the carrier. When the courier also changes weight limits, you need to adjust the range limits, not just the prices. InMotion Hosting also shows an example of setting up price ranges, though on an older version of the admin.
What else to check after a courier price rise
- The free shipping threshold. More expensive shipping changes the maths of subsidising free delivery. We explain how to choose the threshold in the guide to free shipping over a set amount.
- Store texts. The Delivery page, the terms and conditions and the information on the product page must say the same as the cart. The post on delivery information on the product page helps with this.
- An old carrier. If you are dropping a service, disable the carrier instead of deleting it. Disabling is easy to undo if the courier comes back with a better offer.
- Shipping costs in Merchant Center and on price comparison sites. If you set delivery costs there by hand or send them in the product feed, change them there too. Otherwise the ad promises one shipping price and the cart shows another, which can get products disapproved.
- Courier modules. Some carrier modules calculate the price themselves, from the courier's price list or your contract. Then the ranges table in the admin may not matter. Check this before the change.
How to change shipping costs with the chat
With the TellMyShop module you paste the courier's new price list and say which carriers it applies to. Your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) reads the carriers with their ranges and prices, matches the new amounts to the existing ranges and shows a before and after table.
You: The courier is raising prices from the first of the month, price list below. Update DPD and the parcel locker carrier in every weight range and disable the old pallet carrier.
Your chat: DPD charges by weight, 4 ranges, zone Europe. The parcel locker carrier has 3 ranges. Preview for DPD, net amounts:
The courier's price list has a range up to 31.5 kg, while the last one in the store ends at 30 kg. I will change the prices, but you will need to set the range limit in the admin.
Pallet carrier: it will be disabled, not deleted. Save? (yes / no)
Card status: waiting for your “yes”old version: 0-5 kg: €14.00
new version: 0-5 kg: €15.50
old version: 5-10 kg: €17.00
new version: 5-10 kg: €18.90
The numbers in this conversation are examples. The prices in the preview are net, as in the ranges table in the admin, and you name any zone other than the default in your request. The chat changes prices in ranges that already exist, sets the free shipping threshold and enables or disables a carrier. It does not add new carriers, new ranges or tax rules. You do that in the admin, and the chat tells you what is missing.
Shipping belongs to the Sales area. In TellMyShop Pro, saving works once you turn on the Sales switch in the module panel, and the switch stays on until you turn it off. Pro saves a fix to the Delivery page straight away, without the switch, because that is content. Every change has a preview, waits for your approval and goes into the change history, and you can undo most changes with one instruction. Ready-made requests are in the use cases new carrier prices after a courier price rise and free shipping threshold and average order value.
See what the chat can read in your store for free with TellMyShop Free. Plans with the Sales switch are on the pricing page.
Questions and answers
Where do I change shipping costs in PrestaShop?
In the Shipping → Carriers menu. You edit the carrier and go to the costs step, where the weight or price ranges and the prices for each zone are. You save at the end of the wizard.
Are shipping costs entered net or gross?
In the ranges table you enter amounts without tax, and the tax rule assigned to the carrier adds the tax. If the courier gave you a gross price list, convert it before entering it, or check the carrier's tax rule.
Why can't a customer see the carrier after the change?
Most often the cart falls outside the ranges, for example the parcel weighs more than the upper limit. Other causes are no price for the customer's zone, a disabled carrier or a restriction to certain customer groups. Check this with a test cart.
Will TellMyShop add a new carrier or a new range?
No. TellMyShop Pro changes prices in existing ranges and the free shipping threshold, and enables or disables a carrier. You add new carriers and ranges in the admin, in the Shipping → Carriers menu.
Will the free TellMyShop Free show me the carriers' price lists?
No. The list of carriers with their ranges and prices is a read in TellMyShop Pro. TellMyShop Free reads ready reports, such as sales and products, but not shipping settings.
PrestaShop is a registered trademark of PrestaShop SA. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.