📦 Guide: How to Install Static Shipping Rates Using the TUNL Rates Sheet

This guide will help you install flat/static shipping rates on your Shopify Basic store using the TUNL Rates Sheet. We’ll walk through three set-up options and help you choose what’s best for your business.

Tip: If you’re on Shopify Basic, this setup offers a great alternative to our TUNL Live Rates plugin, which requires access to Shopify’s Live Carrier Rates—a feature only available on higher-tier Shopify plans.

📁 About the TUNL Static Shipping Rates Sheet

The TUNL Static Shipping Rates Sheet provides flat-rate pricing based on parcel weight (in 0.5kg increments) and destination zone. It’s designed to help you set up clear and predictable shipping charges on your Shopify Checkout.

You can use it in three ways:

Zone-Based Country Grouping (per country): Group countries based on their assigned zone, and input the flat rate per weight break into your shipping settings (e.g., Zone 3 countries get charged R475 for parcels up to 1kg).

Regional Rate Calculation: Use the general rate per zone to assign a single flat rate across a broader region (e.g., set one rate for all countries in Zone 2, which may include countries across Europe).

Global Rate Estimation: Calculate an average rate across all zones and weight breaks to offer a simplified worldwide flat rate, ideal if you want one shipping charge for all international orders.

📂 Before You Begin: Open These Tabs

Make sure you have the following open:

Open the TUNL Rates Sheet in a New Tab

Log in to your Shopify Admin Dashboard

🌍 Step 1: Setting Up Shopify Markets

To group countries by zone or region, you’ll first need to create your international Markets in Shopify. Here’s how:

Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Markets
Click Add Market
Enter a Market Name (e.g., "International")
Under "Countries/Regions", select each continent and tick all the relevant countries within it
Click Add Market to save

📽️ Need a visual walkthrough?.

⚖️ Step 2: Add Product Weights in Shopify

Your shipping rates depend on product weight, so make sure all products have weights assigned.

Our integration uses the weights loaded onto your products on Shopify to calculate rates.
Here is a guide on how to bulk add Shopify weights onto your product.
The weight that you add should be the “Chargeable Weight”. Here is a guide and tool to help you with these calculations and which weight to add: Help article & tool for calculating volumetric weight.

📦 Step 3: Choose Your Setup Option

🔹 (Option 1): Flat Rates Per Country (Recommended)

✅ Best for: Higher conversion rates due to accurate shipping costs.

Prefer to watch a video? Watch a step-by-step here.

🧭 Step-by-Step Instructions:

Identify each country’s zone using the TUNL sheet
Go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery in Shopify
Edit Your Shipping Profile
Under Shipping, find your default shipping profile (usually titled “General Shipping Rates”)
Click Manage Rates
Create or Edit a Shipping Zone
Scroll to the Shipping to section
Click Create Shipping Zone if one doesn’t exist yet
Name the zone (e.g., “Zone A” etc)
Add the relevant countries in that zone
Add a Flat Shipping Rate
Click Add Rate
Select Set up your own rates
Name the rate (e.g., “FedEx International Priority (5 - 6 days)” or “UPS Saver (5 - 6 days)””)
I*nput the flat rate (e.g. R395 for parcels up to 1kg in Zone 3)
Set Weight-Based Conditions
Click Add Conditions
Choose Based on item weight
Set the min and max weight range (e.g., 0kg to 0.5kg)
Add Additional Weight Breaks as Needed
Repeat the previous step to input rates for other weight brackets (e.g., 0.501kg–1kg, etc.)
Repeat for Other Countries
Either group countries by zone and apply the same rate, or create custom zones with tailored pricing

✅ Tip: Keeping your weight brackets consistent across countries makes rate management simpler and helps avoid error.

🔹 Option 2: Flat Rates by Region

✅ Best for: Merchants who want a simplified setup by grouping countries into broader regions (e.g., Europe, North America, Africa), while still offering weight-based pricing.

Unlike the country-specific setup, this approach requires you to calculate your own regional rates by averaging or selecting a consistent price from the zone-based rates in the TUNL Rates Sheet.

Prefer a video guide? Watch step-by-step here.

🧭 Step-by-Step Instructions:

Open the TUNL Rates Sheet
Click here to open the sheet
Decide on Your Regions
Choose a few broad regions relevant to your customer base (e.g., Africa, Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific)
Calculate a Flat Rate Per Weight Break for Each Region
Look at which zones the countries in each region fall under
Average the rates across those zones for each weight bracket (e.g., 0.5kg, 1kg, 1.5kg, etc.)
Alternatively, pick a single zone's rate as a reference to simplify pricing
Tip: Round up to cover your highest cost in that region to avoid undercharging
Go to Shopify Shipping Settings
Navigate to Settings > Shipping and Delivery
Under Shipping, click Manage Rates on your primary shipping profile
Create a Regional Shipping Zone
Scroll to Shipping To
Click Create Shipping Zone
Name the zone (e.g., “Europe Region”)
Add the countries that belong to the selected region
Add Regional Rates by Weight
Click Add Rate > Set up your own rates
Name the rate (e.g., “FedEx International Priority (5 - 6 days)” or “UPS Saver (5 - 6 days)””)
Set your calculated price
Click Add Conditions > choose Based on item weight
Define the weight range that the rate applies to (e.g., 0–1kg)
Repeat for Each Weight Break and Region
Add new rates with different conditions for heavier weight brackets
Do this for all regional zones you create

🔹 Option 3: Global Flat Rate

✅ Best for: Merchants with lightweight, globally shipped products who want to offer a single, predictable shipping charge—no matter where their customer is located.

Unlike the per-country or regional setups, this method simplifies your entire shipping strategy into one flat rate per weight bracket, applicable to all international destinations.

Prefer to watch? Please see the video guide here.

🧭 Step-by-Step Instructions:

Open the TUNL Rates Sheet
Review the rates listed by zone and weight bracket
You’ll use these zone-specific rates to calculate a global average
Log In to Shopify Admin
Navigate to Shipping Settings
Go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery
Under Shipping, click Manage Rates on your primary shipping profile
Create a Global Shipping Zone
Scroll to the Shipping to section
Click Create Shipping Zone
Name it (e.g., “Worldwide” or “Rest of World”)
Add all countries except your domestic country
Add Flat Global Rates by Weight Bracket
Click Add Rate > Set up your own rates
Name your rate (e.g., “FedEx International Priority (5 - 6 days)” or “UPS Saver (5 - 6 days)”)
Enter the flat fee you calculated for a specific weight bracket
Click Add Conditions > choose Based on item weight
Set the applicable weight range (e.g., 0kg – 1kg)
Repeat for Each Weight Bracket
Create additional rates for each weight tier (e.g., 1kg–2kg, 2kg–3kg, etc.)
Use your calculated global averages to set pricing for each

✅ Pros:

Easiest to implement
Ideal for lightweight or consistently sized products
Great for providing a simple customer experience
⚠️ Cons:
May overcharge for nearby countries or undercharge for expensive-to-ship destinations
Requires you to monitor your profit margins over time

⚠️ If You Prefer Not to Set Up Flat Rates…

If you'd rather not manually set up flat/static rates, you can upgrade to our Live Rates integration. This allows TUNL to automatically pull real-time rates from UPS and FedEx, based on each customer’s destination and parcel weight.

Benefits of Live Rates:

Real-time accurate rates, taxes and duty calculation at checkout.
No manual setup required
Reflects actual shipping cost for each order

💬 Reach out to us at support@tunl.to if you’d like to switch to Live Rates.

Updated on: 23/04/2025