A handling fee is a charge added on top of the product price, taxes, and shipping costs at checkout.
Handling fees can be applied to quotes from built-in shipping methods. Some merchants choose to apply a handling fee to orders using expedited shipping services since those orders tend to need more attention and take priority in the fulfillment process. If orders going to a particular country or region require more time to pack, a handling fee can help offset those costs.
Typically, merchants charge a handling fee:
- to help cover the cost of shipping materials (like boxes, tape, labels)
- to offset costs related to preparing particularly fragile, delicate, or perishable items for shipment
- to compensate for the time it takes to pick and package an order
Adding or Changing Fees
In BigCommerce, a handling fee can be applied to an entire shipping zone or to a single service (method) within that zone.
To get started, go to Settings › Shipping. Then click Edit next to the zone you want to add a fee to.
Once you're in the zone, click Edit in the top right. Then click the Handling fee tab.
