A free shipping threshold is the order value a shopper has to reach before shipping becomes free, as in free shipping on orders over $100. Below it, the normal shipping rate applies. Stores use it to lift order value, so the amount usually sits a little above what a typical order already costs.
A free shipping threshold is the order value a shopper has to reach before shipping becomes free, as in free shipping on orders over $100. Below it, the normal shipping rate applies. Stores use it to lift order value, so the amount usually sits a little above what a typical order already costs.
How do you set a free shipping threshold in Shopify?
Edit a shipping rate and turn on Offer free shipping over a minimum order amount, then enter the amount. The other route is a free shipping discount with a minimum purchase amount.
Shopify’s shipping options page gives free shipping on orders over $50 USD as its example of the rate setting, which applies per market.
A free shipping threshold set as a discount behaves differently: according to Shopify’s free shipping discounts page, the minimum counts product prices only, never taxes, and counts products at their discounted price when another discount combines with it. Gift cards and store credit used as payment don’t change it. So a $100 minimum with a 20% sale running needs $125 of full-price goods.
What is a good free shipping threshold?
One set from your own order values, not copied from another store. On 18 October 2026 we read 37 store homepages: 33 mention free shipping, and 11 state the amount in the page, from $49 to $150.
$100 was the most common amount, used by 4 of the 9 stores that quote dollars, which is also the median. Against what each store typically charges for one item, the spread is wide: Outdoor Voices asks for 2.57 times its median item, Allbirds 1.33 times, while Stone and Strand’s $80 is about a ninth of its median item ($725).
A free shipping threshold under your typical item price gives shipping away on nearly every order without lifting basket size. One far above it, like 2 or 3 items, may push some shoppers to leave instead; watch your cart abandonment rate when you raise it.
Does Google show your free shipping minimum?
Yes, if you tell Merchant Center. Google defines the threshold as “the minimum order cost above which shipping is free”, using free shipping for orders over $100 USD as its example.
You can set it in the account’s shipping settings as free shipping over a certain amount, or per product with the free_shipping_threshold attribute. The attribute’s currency must match the offer’s price currency, and it can be submitted up to 25 times per product, one per country. Keep the amount the same as your store’s, or ads will promise something your checkout doesn’t deliver.
Testing the number
Start from your average order value. Take a hypothetical store whose typical order is $58 and which pays $8 to ship each one. A threshold of $65 asks most shoppers for one small add-on; at $120 most orders would never qualify. Run the 2 amounts as an AB test and compare revenue per visitor after shipping costs, not conversion rate alone, since a free shipping offer can raise orders while lowering margin.
Count the add-on items too. If shoppers reach $65 by adding a $9 accessory, the extra margin on that item is what pays for the free shipping, so the cheapest add-ons to stock are small, light products with high margins that you can suggest in the cart. Recheck the free shipping threshold whenever carrier rates or your prices change, at least once a year. Our CRO service sets up these tests.