Shopify's "Third-Party Calculated Shipping Rates" (CCS) is a feature that allows your checkout to display real-time shipping quotes directly from carriers like FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, and Canada Post. Instead of charging a flat rate (e.g., $10) which might overcharge local customers and undercharge distant ones, CCS calculates the exact postage based on the cart's total weight and the customer's specific address.
Why This Calculation Matters
Many Shopify merchants on the "Basic" or "Shopify" plans rely on flat-rate shipping to avoid the costs associated with enabling CCS. However, flat rates often lead to "shipping leakage"—money lost when the flat rate charged to the customer is lower than the actual label cost.
This calculator helps you perform a break-even analysis. It compares the money you are currently losing on inaccurate flat rates against the cost of enabling the CCS feature.
How to Enable Calculated Rates on Shopify
The CCS feature is not enabled by default on Basic or Standard plans. To access it, you typically have three options:
Switch to Annual Billing: If you pay for your Shopify subscription annually rather than monthly, Shopify support can often enable CCS for free (saving you ~10-20% on subscription fees plus the CCS feature).
Pay a Monthly Fee: On some legacy structures, you can request support to add the feature for an extra $20/month.
Upgrade to Advanced Shopify: The feature is included by default in the Advanced plan (approx. $399/mo).
Interpreting Your Results
Positive Net Savings: If your result is positive, you are losing more money on shipping errors than it would cost to enable the feature. You should switch immediately to stop the bleed.
Negative Net Savings: Your flat-rate strategy is working well enough that paying for the CCS feature might cost more than you are currently losing. However, consider that real-time rates can also improve conversion rates by offering cheaper local options to nearby customers.
function calculateCCSSavings() {
// Get Input Values
var orders = document.getElementById('monthlyOrders').value;
var variancePercent = document.getElementById('incorrectRatePercent').value;
var avgLoss = document.getElementById('avgUndercharge').value;
var ccsMonthlyCost = document.getElementById('ccsCostMethod').value;
// Validation to prevent NaN errors
if (orders === "" || variancePercent === "" || avgLoss === "") {
alert("Please fill in all fields to calculate your savings.");
return;
}
// Parse Float for calculations
var ordersNum = parseFloat(orders);
var variancePercentNum = parseFloat(variancePercent);
var avgLossNum = parseFloat(avgLoss);
var ccsCostNum = parseFloat(ccsMonthlyCost);
// Sanity check
if (ordersNum < 0 || variancePercentNum < 0 || avgLossNum 0) {
savingsElement.style.color = "#2e7d32"; // Green
document.getElementById('verdictText').innerHTML = "Recommendation: ENABLE CCS. You are losing approx. " + formatter.format(annualLeakage) + " annually on shipping errors. Enabling the feature pays for itself.";
document.getElementById('verdictText').style.backgroundColor = "#e8f5e9";
document.getElementById('verdictText').style.color = "#1b5e20";
} else {
savingsElement.style.color = "#c62828"; // Red
document.getElementById('verdictText').innerHTML = "Recommendation: KEEP FLAT RATES. Your current shipping losses are lower than the cost of the CCS feature. Only switch if you want to offer more accurate options to customers for conversion reasons.";
document.getElementById('verdictText').style.backgroundColor = "#ffebee";
document.getElementById('verdictText').style.color = "#b71c1c";
}
// Show the result box
document.getElementById('resultBox').style.display = "block";
}