Free shipping not being applied

[asimpleseller]

So we had a strange experience with our online store the other day. We have one shipping template that has a set shipping fee for US orders, and if a customer orders $75 or more, they get free shipping. We've never had a problem with this.

Until early this week, when a customer bought over $100 worth of product, and was charged shipping. I didn't notice, but he brought it to my attention and I refunded him the shipping.

I can't figure out what caused this. Previous orders from other customers have gone through correctly.

[lazydaisies]

Hi (again) @asimpleseller ! 

Are you able to share a screenshot of your shipping rate configuration? 

Thanks! 

[asimpleseller]

Sure thing... here it is:

[Summer2024]

Hi, @asimpleseller ! 

Like @lazydaisies asked for, a screenshot of your shipping rate configuration will be helpful for troubleshooting. 

A few things to double-check as well 

1. What qualifies toward the $75 threshold

In Square Online, free shipping thresholds typically apply to:

• The item subtotal only

They don’t always include:

• Taxes

• Shipping (obviously)

• Sometimes discounts, depending on how they’re applied

 It’s worth checking the order details to see what the item subtotal was before tax.

2. Item-level shipping eligibility

If even one item in the cart:

• Uses a different shipping method, or

• Is marked as not eligible for free shipping - it can override the free-shipping rule for the entire order.

This can happen if:

• A newer item was added and assigned the wrong shipping setting

• An item was duplicated from another product with different rules

3. Shipping template assignment

Make sure:

• All items in the store are assigned to the same shipping template

Sometimes a single item missing a template can cause the order to fall back to paid shipping.

4. Customer location edge case

If the customer’s address:

• Triggered a non-standard US zone (e.g., territories, PO boxes)

• Or autofilled slightly differently

All things to doublecheck with this order, considering it is the only one that has had this issue! 

I hope this helps. 

[asimpleseller]

Hi Summer, thanks so much for this very helpful info!

I'm going to check no these right now.

1. For this particular order, the three items totaled up to $94.98 before any shipping or taxes or discounts were applied.

2. I just checked all three items, and all three were listed as available for either in-store pickup or shipping. 

3. I only have one shipping template. So I opened a private window and added all three of these items to my card, and free shipping was applied. This would seem to indicate a customer location edge case.

4. Checking his location, it looks good on my end. It's out of state but not too terribly far away, and definitely in the continental US. Could it have autofilled slightly differently? Maybe. I use PayPal shipping to buy shipping for orders so I cut and paste the customer address between windows when buying shipping. Not the quickest or most efficient way, but I decided against signing up for yet another shipping service. Anyway, this order remains a mystery. Orders before and after it have had free shipping applied. I'll continue to watch and look for other shipping anomalies.

Thanks again for the great tips, Summer!

[asimpleseller]

Ok, so Jay at Weebly support figured it out.

I have "Standard shipping" set up for $6.99, and free shipping is an option when you buy $75 or more.

This customer bought over $75, and at checkout there were two shipping methods: the standard ($6.99) and free shipping. The customer likely overlooked the free option and chose standard shipping.

To avoid this, I could reprogram it so standard only works from $0 to $74.99.