ShipTime Live Rates


  • What are Live Rates?
    Live Rates or real-time rates are ShipTime shipping rates displayed at checkout on your connected eCommerce store. Your customers can select from the couriers and rates available from your ShipTime account including any BYOR rates you have added.

  • Can I enable Live Rates on my eCommerce store?
    Live rates can be enabled through the ShipTime platform when connecting Woocommerce, Shopify or ECWID stores.

    Additionally, if you have access to a developer we also have a ShipTime API that can be used to integrate directly into other eCommerce sites.

  • How do I enable Live Rates?
    You can opt to allow Live Rates for your new or existing integrations when you go to the Integrations area in the ShipTime Dashboard. When connecting your Woocommerce, Shopify or ECWID stores you will see a toggle for Real-Time rates. Slide the toggle and then enter the additional information required to complete the connection.

    How do I enable real-time rates? 

  • Do I have to use Live Rates?
    You are not required to use Live Rates when connecting your Woocommerce, Shopify or ECWID stores.
    If you prefer to use your own flat rates on your e-commerce store you can toggle Real-Time rates off in your integration. Your orders will still sync, and you will still see the ShipTime rates only when you are ready to process your orders.

  • What do I do if my Live Rates don't display?
    The first thing to check is your integration. The steps to enable real-time rates differ between Woocommerce, Shopify and ECWID so please ensure you follow the troubleshooting steps for your store to make sure it is set up correctly.
    (For Shopify only Third Party Shipping must also be enabled with Shopify first prior to any integration)
     Still having issues? Simply contact our Tech team at techsupport@shiptime.com and we will be happy to help.

  • Do I need product dimensions to get Live Rates?
    The simple answer is yes! The minimum requirement is product weight. The weight can be stored in your eCommerce store and will sync over to your ShipTime account. You can see the weights of your products in the Settings - Products area in ShipTime. Your other product dimensions (LxWxH) can sync over too if you are using Woocommerce or ECWID. For Shopify, the other dimensions (LxWxH) can only be stored within ShipTime.

  • What happens if I don't have any product dimensions?
    If you have no dimensions at all then you will not get any Live Rates on your eCommerce site, as it will not be possible to calculate the appropriate rate. If you are missing Length-Width-Height then the default dimensions stored when you set up the integration will be used to calculate a rate to display at checkout. Those dimensions will apply to each product in your customer's order. In this case, when the order syncs over to ShipTime you will need to update the product and box information to get an accurate rate.

  • Why do my Live Rates look high?
    The main reason your rates may look higher than expected is that you do not have defined dimensions for your products. If no dimensions have been stored then the default dimensions in your integration will be applied to each item in the cart. Furthermore, if you have opted for individual items rather than Packaged items then each item in the customer's cart will be calculated as if it was going to ship in a separate box.

  • Can you explain the Packaged Items setting?
    When you create an integration with Live Rates you have the option for individual items or packaged items.
    Using the packaged items setting means that when your customer selects multiple items in your eCommerce store the shipping rates can be calculated based on them being shipped in a single box. In order for this to work well, you will need to store your various box sizes in ShipTime in the Settings - Boxes area. This way when your customer is shopping ShipTime can calculate a Shipping rate using the smallest possible box from your box library. If no boxes are available the shipping calculation will default back to individual boxes for the items in the cart.

  • Why do my Live Rates look different from the rates on my ShipTime account?
    When comparing rates, please ensure you are using the same dimensions and the same Ship From and To addresses. If you are checking Live Rates against Quick Quote remember to use the same preferences such as Signature Required, Insurance and Residential surcharge as these all affect the rates.

  • What do you recommend if I have very small items to ship?
    Although product weights less than 1 can be stored and synced over to ShipTime the minimum dimensions (LxWXH) that can be stored are 1x1x1. If you have very small items we recommend that you select Packaged Items in your integration settings so that the rate will calculate as the items to be shipped in one box if possible.

    If you generally sell smaller items in larger quantities defining these items to sell by the box in your eCommerce store will also help to get the best rate for your shipment.

  • What do you recommend if I have very large items to ship?
    Oversized items that would require a pallet and accessorials cannot be priced using ShipTime Live Rates in your eCommerce store.  You may sync the order but the shipment will need to be placed using the regular Quote and Ship Flow.  For these types of items, you may require your customers to contact you when placing the order to get shipping rates or if these are regular items and you are aware of the shipping cost you may use flat rates on your eCommerce store.