Shipping methods control what delivery options shoppers see at checkout — the price, the carrier, the destination, and the promised delivery window. PDQ supports seven method types, so you can mix flat rates, live carrier rates, local courier deliveries, and international shipping in the same store.

Where to find it

Go to Convert > Shipping Rate Groups in the left sidebar and click to add a new method. You'll land on the Add a delivery method page.

Test Mode

Before going live, toggle Test Mode to preview a method on your live store without exposing it to customers. To test, enter "PDQ" in Address Line 2 at checkout — your PDQ rates will show.

Pick a method type

There are seven types. Choose based on how you price (fixed vs. live), where you ship (domestic, local, international), and whether you want carrier-accurate ETAs.

Domestic — Flat or tiered rates inside one country. You set the price.
Local — Same-day or next-day local delivery, measured in hours rather than days.
Domestic Live Rate — Real-time carrier rates pulled at checkout (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc.).
Domestic Fixed Rate with Live ETA — Fixed price you set, with the delivery date pulled from the carrier.
International Fixed — Flat price for cross-border orders, with country-level controls and DDU/DDP.
International Live Rate — Real-time international carrier rates.
International Fixed Rate with Live ETA — Fixed international price with carrier-accurate ETA.

Most fields are shared across types — the differences are flagged below.

Step 1: General Settings

Same across every type:

Internal Name — your team's reference, hidden from customers.
Shipping Code — internal code for tracking and integrations.
Name of Delivery Method — what shoppers see at checkout. Supports dynamic fields — type { to see options.
Note on Delivery Method — optional supporting line shown to shoppers.

Step 2: Preferred Delivery Service

Search for a connected carrier to associate with the method. For Domestic and International types, filter by Maximal transit days. For Local, filter by Maximal transit hours — local delivery is measured in hours.

Step 3: Shipping Rates

This is where the types diverge.

Domestic, Local, International Fixed:

Currency, Shipping Rate per Delivery, Minimum Price / Maximum Price
Rate for Loyal Customers with an optional Loyal Customer Note
Average Shipping Cost — internal estimate for reporting.
Optional add-ons: Add cost per item, Add cost by delivery date, Add cost by cart value.
For International Fixed only: Duties and Taxes — pick DDU (customer pays at delivery) or DDP (pre-paid at checkout).

Domestic Live Rate, International Live Rate:

Currency and Display carrier and service level names
Percentage of shipping rate to charge — markup or discount the live rate.
Additional flat fee — a fixed surcharge on top.
Calculate rate by order's specific package size — uses actual package dimensions instead of a default weight-based size.
Set your rate conversion — show the exact rate, or round up/down to .99, .95, .50, or whole dollars.
For International Live Rate: DDU / DDP.
No loyal customer rate (price is dynamic).

Domestic Fixed Rate with Live ETA, International Fixed Rate with Live ETA:

Currency, Shipping rate per delivery (fixed), Min / Max price
Display carrier and service level names
Calculate rate by order's specific package size
For International: DDU / DDP
No rate rounding, no percentage markup, no loyal customer rate — the price is always fixed.

Step 4: Geo-settings

Domestic, Domestic Live Rate, Domestic Fixed Rate with Live ETA:

Ship From — your fulfillment location, with optional Deduct orders from inventory.
Ship To — Everywhere in the US, by states, by cities, by zones, by zip codes, or a custom area.

Local:

Ship From
Ship To — by streets, by county, by zip codes, or custom area. More granular than Domestic for tight local zones.

International (all three types):

Ship From
Destination — pick from the full country list, with state/province breakdowns where applicable.
Zip code inclusion / exclusion — restrict checkout to specific zip codes within selected countries.

Step 5: Blackout Dates

Define date ranges when this shipping method shouldn't be available. Same across all types.

Step 6: Delivery Promise

How the expected arrival is calculated and shown at checkout. Two fields appear regardless of which promise type you pick:

Delivery Display Format — Don't Show, Delivery Time (e.g. "3–5 business days"), or Date Range (e.g. "May 9–May 12"). Local methods show a Time Range in hours instead.
Don't Show Delivery Promise If… — conditional rules that hide the promise (with a Fallback Text field for when no estimate can be calculated).

Then pick a Promise Type:

Fixed Promise

You set processing and transit windows manually. PDQ adds them together to display the estimate. Use this when your fulfillment and carrier times are predictable.

Use Metafield Processing Time — pulls per-product processing days from a Shopify metafield, using the highest value in the cart.
Min / Max Processing Days — how long it takes you to prepare the order before handoff to the carrier.
Min / Max Transit Days — how long the carrier takes once shipped.
Consecutive Days Logic — calculates in business days only, skipping holidays. If no valid window can be found within your constraints, the Fallback Text shows instead.
Exclude non-business days — pick the days that don't count (weekends, holidays).

MAXX Promise

PDQ uses your historical shipping data to predict actual delivery times — no manual transit windows. You only set processing days. Use this when delivery times vary by destination, carrier, or season; it's the smarter, data-driven option.

Use Metafield Processing Time, Min / Max Processing Days, Exclude non-business days — same as Fixed Promise.
No Transit fields, no Consecutive Days Logic — handled automatically from your historical data.

Available on Domestic and International Fixed only.

Linked Calendar

Ties the method to a pre-built delivery calendar. Customers see only the dates the calendar makes available — useful for scheduled local delivery, meal kits, or any pre-set delivery slots.

Select Linked Calendar — pick from your configured calendars. (If "Calendar not available" appears, you need to create one first.)
Delivery Display Format, Don't Show Delivery Promise If…, Fallback Text, Exclude non-business days — same as the other promise types.
No processing or transit fields — the calendar dictates available dates.

Step 7: Shipping Rules

Add conditional logic so the method only appears for specific carts — by line item count, barcode, cart value, collection, customer tags, product type, weight, SKU, and more. Combine multiple rule groups with AND/OR logic.

Step 8: Active Days & Times

Daily order limit — cap unfulfilled orders per day. Once the limit's hit, the method goes inactive.
Turn off on holidays — pick a holiday calendar.
Schedule — Always active (24/7) or Custom (based on your store's timezone).

Tips

Test every new method with Test Mode + "PDQ" in Address Line 2 before publishing. Fastest way to catch a bad rule or wrong rate.
Use Rate for Loyal Customers to reward repeat shoppers without building a separate method.
For carriers with reliable but variable transit, MAXX Promise beats Fixed Promise on accuracy.
For local delivery on specific days only, build a delivery calendar first, then attach it via Linked Calendar.
DDU vs. DDP changes who pays customs. Confirm with your finance team before flipping it.