Subscriber charged your regular shipping rate instead of the subscription rate

You set up special shipping for subscribers, such as free or flat-rate shipping for club members, but some subscribers are charged your regular shipping price instead. This usually starts after a change: a new product or vintage, a swap, an add-on, a reward, a migration, or another app editing your shipping.

What happens behind the scenes: Shopify calculated the rate from your General profile (Shopify's default set of shipping rates for all products) instead of your Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile. Both are shipping profiles, Shopify's term for a set of shipping rules. For how the two profiles fit together, see How a subscription's shipping rate is set and when it changes.

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Note

Shopify calculates shipping rates. Awtomic does not pick the rate.
Awtomic saves the rate Shopify returns on the subscription, and renewals bill that saved rate.

Symptoms

• "Free subscription shipping stopped working."
• "Subscribers are being charged $20 (or $25, $35, $7) shipping."
• "The new product isn't getting free shipping."
• "After a bulk swap with Recalculate shipping checked, subscribers got a $7 shipping charge."
• Subscription orders show your regular rate's name and price instead of your subscription rate.
• A weight-based subscription rate charges a higher tier than you expect.

Quick checks

1. Is Enable subscription shipping turned on for the plan? In Awtomic, go to Subscription plans and open the plan. The checkbox is under Shipping, at the bottom of the Discount card in the Pricing section. On prepaid plans it is at the bottom of the Payment options card in the Prepaid terms section, or, on multi-order prepaid plans, in the Pricing section below Term and Specify price. If no, go to The plan's subscription shipping is off.
2. Is every product on the subscription in a plan that has Enable subscription shipping turned on? Include add-ons, gifts, rewards, swapped-in items, new vintages and migrated items. If no, go to An item on the subscription is not on a subscription shipping plan.
3. Do your Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile and your General profile ship from the same locations? Open the General profile in Shopify admin under Settings → Shipping and delivery. The Awtomic profile is not listed on that page, so open it from Awtomic: go to Settings → Logistics and operations and click Manage rates. Compare the locations each profile ships from. If they differ, go to The profiles ship from different locations.
4. Does your subscription rate depend on weight, or come from a carrier such as UPS? If yes, go to Weight-based rates add package weight.
5. Is another subscription app installed, or did someone recently edit your shipping profiles? If yes, go to Another app or person changed the setup.
6. Was the subscription created before you set up or changed subscription shipping? If yes, your setup may be fine and the subscription still has its old saved rate. Go to The subscription still has its old saved rate.

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Important

Shopify is moving stores from shipping profiles to shipping options by market.
If Settings → Shipping and delivery shows Shipping options grouped by market, your store has moved, and you manage rates from Markets instead.
On a moved store, rates from apps, such as Awtomic's subscription rates, appear in each market's shipping options. Shopify says you can turn them on or off there, but not edit them.
Shopify doesn't move a store that uses an app until it confirms the app is compatible.
See upgrading from shipping profiles to shipping options by market.

The all-items rule

Shopify applies your subscription rate only when every item in the cart or on the subscription belongs to a plan that has Enable subscription shipping turned on.

If even one item is not on such a plan, Shopify prices shipping for the whole subscription from that item's profile, usually General. One new product can move an entire subscription to your regular rate.

Since 2025, Shopify also requires the exact variant (for example, the 750 ml bottle or the 2 lb bag) on each subscription line to be part of that line's plan. Shopify calls a subscription plan a "selling plan". Having a different variant of the same product in the plan is not enough.

Causes and fixes

An item on the subscription is not on a subscription shipping plan

This is the most common cause.

Why it happens: Swaps, add-ons and rewards keep the plan of the original item. If the new item is not part of that plan, it no longer qualifies for the subscription rate. The same happens when:

• You release a new product or vintage and don't add it to the plan.
• A product is removed from the plan.
• Subscriptions were migrated from another app with items that have no plan, or a plan that doesn't contain the item.
• A free gift or reward product was never added to a subscription shipping plan.

How to confirm:

1. Open the subscription in Awtomic and list its products.
2. Open each plan in Subscription plans and check its product list.
3. Any product on the subscription that is not in a plan with Enable subscription shipping turned on is the cause.

How to fix:

1. Add the product to the plan in Awtomic. Do not add the product to the Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile in Shopify. Shopify blocks that with "Cannot associate product variants and selling plan groups to the same profile." This means a profile can hold products or subscription plans, not both. See Set up subscription-specific shipping rates.
2. Make sure Enable subscription shipping is on for that plan.
3. Fix the subscriptions that already have the wrong rate. See Fix subscriptions that already have the wrong rate.

What to expect afterwards: New checkouts get the subscription rate. Existing subscriptions keep their saved rate until you update them.

The plan's subscription shipping is off

Why it happens: The Enable subscription shipping checkbox was never turned on, or someone turned it off. Turning it off removes the plan from the Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile, so Shopify uses the General profile for that plan.

How to confirm: In Awtomic, go to Subscription plans, open the plan, and look at Enable subscription shipping under Shipping (see Quick checks 1 for where it sits on each plan type).

The profile in Shopify is the source of truth. Awtomic reads only the first 10 plans linked to the profile, so if more than 10 plans are linked, the checkbox can show off for a plan that is linked. To check, go to Settings → Logistics and operations in Awtomic and click Manage rates on the Manage subscription shipping card. This opens the Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile in Shopify. Check whether the plan's products appear in its Products list. If they do, the plan is attached.

How to fix: Turn on Enable subscription shipping and save the plan. If you see "Cannot enable subscription shipping", someone added a product from the plan to the profile directly. Remove the product from the profile, then try again. See Set up subscription-specific shipping rates.

What to expect afterwards: New checkouts on the plan get the subscription rate. Existing subscriptions keep their saved rate until you update them.

The profiles ship from different locations

Why it happens: Your General profile ships from one location (a warehouse, winery or store) and your Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile ships from another. In cases support has seen, Shopify then ignored the subscription profile and charged the General rate.

How to confirm: In Shopify admin, open the General profile under Settings → Shipping and delivery. Open the Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile from Awtomic's Manage rates button, because it is not listed on that Shopify page. Compare the locations each one ships from.

How to fix: Add the missing locations so both profiles ship from the same locations. Shopify explains how to manage fulfillment locations in shipping profiles. Also check that every location that stocks the product is in the subscription profile. See No shipping rates for subscription products.

What to expect afterwards: New checkouts get the subscription rate. Existing subscriptions keep their saved rate until you update them.

Weight-based rates add package weight

Why it happens: Shopify adds the weight of your default package to the product weight. A light product can then cross into a more expensive weight tier. For example, a 0.1 lb product in a 4.3 lb default package is priced as 4.4 lb.

Classic Build-a-Box has a related issue. Shopify uses the weight of the box product's variant, not the weights of the items the customer picks. If the box variant weight is 0 or wrong, weight-based and carrier rates will be wrong too.

How to confirm:

1. In Shopify admin, go to Settings → Shipping and delivery and look at your default package under Saved packages.
2. Add the package weight to the product weight. Check which weight tier of your subscription rate that total falls in.
3. For Classic Build-a-Box, open the box product in Shopify and check each variant's weight.

How to fix:

• Lower the default package weight, or widen the weight ranges of your subscription rate. See set up shipping zones and rates.
• For Classic Build-a-Box, set realistic weights on the box product variants. Dynamic Build-a-Box uses the weights of the selected items. See Dynamic vs Classic Build-a-Box.

What to expect afterwards: New checkouts use the new weights. Existing subscriptions keep their saved rate until you update them.

Another app or person changed the setup

Why it happens: Another subscription app installed on your store can edit shipping profiles and turn off subscription shipping for your plans. Team members or agencies can also edit the profile in Shopify.

How to confirm: Run Quick checks 1 to 3 again. Ask your team and agency about recent shipping changes. Check which other subscription or shipping apps are installed. Shopify's page on how to troubleshoot third-party app shipping profiles covers app-owned profiles being changed or reset.

How to fix: Turn Enable subscription shipping back on for each plan. Restore the profile's zones, rates and locations. If you no longer use the other subscription app, consider removing it. See also Shipping apps and delivery customizations.

The subscription still has its old saved rate

Why it happens: A subscription keeps the rate Shopify saved on it when it was created, and renewals bill that saved rate. The saved rate is usually the cheapest rate for the address, which can be lower than what the customer paid at checkout. Changing your plans or profiles does not change subscriptions that already exist. See How a subscription's shipping rate is set and when it changes.

How to confirm: Your setup passes Quick checks 1 to 5, and a new test checkout gets the subscription rate, but older subscriptions still show the regular rate.

How to fix: See the next section.

Fix subscriptions that already have the wrong rate

Fix the setup first. A fix to your plans or profiles does not change saved rates by itself.

Then update the affected subscriptions:

1. In Awtomic, create a bulk update of type Update shipping rate for the affected subscriptions.

2. Choose one of the two modes:

   Mode	When to use it
   Refresh latest rate from Shopify delivery profiles	Your setup is now correct and you want Awtomic to ask Shopify for each subscription's rate again. ("Delivery profile" is the developer name for a shipping profile.) Shopify returns only the cheapest rate that applies to each address, so every refreshed subscription gets that cheapest rate.
   Define a custom rate	You want to set an exact amount, for example $0, for every subscription in the group.

3. Test on a small group first, then run it on the rest.

Prepaid subscriptions can't be changed by this bulk update. They show as Error rows with "Internal server error, please contact us". Pickup subscriptions are set to $0 in both modes, so leave them out if they pay a pickup fee. See Bulk update shipping rates for how to read the results.

For one subscription, use Edit shipping rate on the subscription page. See Edit the shipping rate in a subscription.

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Important

Bulk swaps, add product and remove product updates have a Recalculate shipping checkbox.
When it is checked, Awtomic asks Shopify for the rate again after the change.
If the new product is not on a subscription shipping plan, the subscription moves to your regular rate.
Add new products to the plan before you run the swap.

What Shopify controls

If you use an AI agent

These checks are for an AI agent or developer with API access. Ask your agent to:

• Compare each subscription line's variant and plan with the variants in that plan (Shopify sellingPlanGroup), and check that the plan is linked to the Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile (deliveryProfile.sellingPlanGroups).
• Read the subscription's saved lines and shipping price through the Awtomic API (GET /customers/{customerId}/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}). Shopify only lets the app that owns a subscription read it.
• Compare the locations of the General profile and the subscription profile.

See Debug subscription shipping with your AI agent.

Still stuck? Send support this

• Your shop domain (yourstore.myshopify.com)
• The subscription IDs affected, and one order ID with the wrong charge
• What you expected to be charged, and what was charged (amount and rate name)
• The bulk process ID, if you ran a bulk update or a bulk swap
• A screenshot of the plan's Shipping section with Enable subscription shipping
• Screenshots of the Awtomic Subscription Shipping profile and the General profile: zones, rates and locations
• Which of the quick checks above you ran, and what you found

Related

• Subscription shipping troubleshooting
• How a subscription's shipping rate is set and when it changes
• Set up subscription-specific shipping rates
• Bulk update shipping rates
• Free shipping for subscriptions
• No shipping rates for subscription products
• Shipping apps and delivery customizations
• Debug subscription shipping with your AI agent