Shopify guide · Shipping Rules
How to hide or rename shipping methods at Shopify checkout
Updated
Short answer
Shipping profiles and zones decide which rates exist, but they can't hide a rate because of what's in the cart, who the customer is or the exact postcode. On Shopify Plus, Checkout Blocks can. On every plan, an App Store app built on Shopify's delivery customization Functions can hide, rename or reorder shipping options. Toolbench's Shipping Rules does this with conditions on the cart, the products, the customer and the address.
How to do it with Toolbench
Toolbench's Shipping Rules hides, renames or moves shipping options at checkout. It runs as a Shopify Function inside Shopify's checkout, so it works on every plan. Rules can check the cart subtotal, weight and item count, product tags, collections, vendor, type and SKU, the customer's tags, order count, total spent and whether they're buying for a company, and the country, state and ZIP or postal code.
- Install Toolbench from the Shopify App Store, open Shipping Rules and click Turn on.
- Add a rule. To make some products pickup only, set When to any item has the tag pickup-only.
- Under Shipping options this rule changes, choose the options to change, for example delivery method is Shipping.
- Under Then, choose Hide them, and save. Customers with a pickup-only item in the cart now see only pickup.
- Use the built-in examples to start other common rules, such as "No express shipping for oversize items".
Other shipping rules stores use
- Hide options named express when any item is tagged oversize.
- Hide local pickup when the cart weighs more than 30 kg.
- Rename "Standard" to "Standard (3–5 business days)".
- Show B2B buyers only the option named Freight by hiding every other option when the customer is buying for a company.
- Hide all shipping options when an item tagged metro-only is in the cart and the postcode starts with a remote-area prefix.
- Hide the free shipping rate when the cart weighs more than a set amount or has an oversize item.
- Hide local delivery unless every item has the tag local-delivery.
Why this happens
Customers pick shipping for a lunch order that was meant for pickup. Express shipping shows for a sofa. Wholesale buyers see UPS rates when they should only see your freight rate. Remote postcodes get products you can't deliver there. A rate called "Standard" doesn't tell anyone when it arrives.
Each of these needs checkout to look at the cart, the customer or the address before it shows the options, which shipping settings alone don't do.
Your options in Shopify
Shipping profiles
Give a group of products its own rates. A profile with no rates makes its products unshippable, which works as a pickup-only setup, but shoppers still see the Ship option and mixed carts get confusing.
Rate conditions
A rate can depend on the order's weight or price, and that's all.
Shipping zones
Zones go down to country and state or province. Regular shipping rates can't be limited by postcode. Local delivery can use a postcode list or a radius.
Checkout Blocks (Shopify Plus only)
Shopify's free Checkout Blocks app can hide, rename and reorder delivery methods with conditions. It's only available on Shopify Plus.
You only approve what Shipping Rules needs
Toolbench asks for no permissions when you install it. When you turn on Shipping Rules, Shopify asks you to approve only what this tool uses: read products, and manage the shipping rules Toolbench creates.
It doesn't ask for orders, customers, inventory or your shipping rates and settings. Each of Toolbench's other tools asks for its own access separately, and only if you turn that tool on, so you never grant access for tools you don't use. Read access means Toolbench can see that data but can't change it.
Before you turn it on
- Shopify always keeps the cheapest shipping option first, so rules can move options to the bottom but not to the top.
- Rules hide the rates under Ship or Pick up, not the Ship and Pick up choice itself. With every shipping rate hidden, Ship shows nothing to choose.
- A renamed carrier rate keeps the carrier's name in front.
- Rules can't change a rate's price. That's a shipping discount, a different kind of Function.
- Customer conditions only apply when the customer is logged in or recognized at checkout.
Pricing
Shipping Rules is a free tool. The free plan runs any 3 of Toolbench's 12 free tools at a time, with no time limit and no credit card. Premium is $9.99 a month for all 16 tools at once and starts with a 14-day free trial.
Questions
Can I hide shipping methods without Shopify Plus?
Yes. App Store apps built on Shopify's delivery customization Functions work on every plan. Only Checkout Blocks and custom Function apps need Plus.
How do I make a product pickup only in Shopify?
Add a shipping rule that hides every shipping option when a pickup-only product is in the cart. Customers can still click Ship, but there's nothing to choose, so pickup is the only way through. Mention "pickup only" on the product page too.
Can I hide shipping rates by ZIP or postal code?
Yes. Shipping zones stop at state level, but a shipping rule can check the ZIP or postal code, for example hiding every option for certain products when the postcode starts with a remote-area prefix.
Can I move express shipping to the top of the list?
No. Shopify always shows the cheapest option first. You can move other options to the bottom or rename them so the faster option stands out.
What permissions does Shipping Rules need?
Only the ones it uses: read products, and manage the shipping rules Toolbench creates. It doesn't ask for orders, customers, inventory or your shipping rates and settings. Toolbench asks for no permissions at install, and each of its other tools asks for its own access separately, only if you turn that tool on.