--- title: Handling Fees, Free Shipping Thresholds and Weight Limits description: Add a fixed or percentage handling fee, set free shipping by cart total or weight, and hide the method above a maximum weight, per zone. url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-fees-and-limits/" updated: "2026-10-05" category: How to --- # Handling Fees, Free Shipping Thresholds and Weight Limits In [Weight-Based Shipping for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/weight-based-shipping-for-woocommerce/), the Handling Fee adds a fixed amount or percentage to the tier cost, either free shipping threshold makes the rate free, and the Maximum Weight Limit hides the method for heavier packages. Set them per zone at **WPFactory > Weight-Based Shipping** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping**). Open the zone, click to edit the **Weight-Based Shipping** method, and the settings below sit under the tier table. ## Handling fee Packaging, pick-and-pack time, fuel surcharges, the courier's own admin fee: anything you would rather not bury in the tier costs themselves. | Setting | What it does | | --- | --- | | **Handling Fee** | The on/off switch. Off by default. | | **Handling Fee Type** | *Fixed Amount* or *Percentage*. | | **Handling Fee Amount** | The number. `5` means 5.00 when fixed, or 5% when percentage. | ![Handling Fee, Handling Fee Type, Handling Fee Amount, Free Shipping Weight Threshold, Free Shipping Cart Total Threshold and Maximum Weight Limit settings](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/Weight-based-Shipping-Settings.png) The lower half of the settings modal: fee, both thresholds, and the weight ceiling. **Fixed** adds the amount to the tier cost: > Tier cost 20.00 + fixed fee 5 = **25.00** **Percentage** adds that percentage **of the tier cost**: > Tier cost 20.00 + 10% = **22.00** The percentage is of the shipping cost, never of the cart total. A 10% fee on a 20.00 shipping charge is 2.00, whether the customer is spending 50 or 5,000. Two rules worth remembering: - A fee amount of 0 adds nothing, even with the fee enabled. - The fee is **not** applied when a free-shipping threshold has fired. A free rate is 0.00, not 0.00-plus-handling. ### Keeping the fee out of the tier table You could bake the fee into every tier cost instead. Using the fee field has one practical advantage: when the fee changes you edit one number instead of every row, in every zone. The trade-off is that the customer sees a single combined figure either way: the fee is not itemized at checkout. ## Free shipping thresholds Two independent thresholds, and **either one firing** makes the rate free. The method's label gets `(Free)` appended so the customer can see why. ### Free Shipping Cart Total Threshold The familiar one: spend X or more and shipping is free. For a full walkthrough, see [how to offer free shipping over an order amount](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-free-over-amount/). The figure compared is the value of the goods in the package, **before tax and after any coupon discount**. Shipping, fees and taxes are not part of it. That means a customer looking at a 152.00 order total may still be below a 150 threshold, because the goods themselves came to 138.00 and the rest was tax. Leave the field empty to switch the threshold off. ### Free Shipping Weight Threshold This one runs in the direction people do not expect: shipping becomes free when the cart weight is **at or above** the number you set. Heavier carts ship free; light ones pay. It suits stores that switch to pallet, freight or account-collected delivery past a certain weight, where the tier table should stop quoting a parcel rate and the real arrangement is handled offline. If what you actually want is *light orders ship free*, this is the wrong setting. Add a bottom tier with a cost of 0 instead. See [set up your weight tiers](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-tiers/). Leave the field empty to switch the threshold off. ### When both are set They are tested independently and the first to qualify wins; there is no way to require both. A cart that is heavy enough **or** expensive enough ships free. ## Maximum Weight Limit The hard ceiling. When the package weighs **more than** the limit, the method removes itself from checkout and adds your **Maximum Weight Exceeded Message** to the cart as an error notice. | Setting | What it does | | --- | --- | | **Maximum Weight Limit** | The ceiling, in your store's weight unit. Empty disables it. | | **Maximum Weight Exceeded Message** | The text shown to the customer. Defaults to a message asking them to get in touch for a custom quote. | A package weighing exactly the limit is allowed. Only weights above it are refused. Three things to think about before you set one: - **Write a message that tells the customer what to do.** "Sorry, your order exceeds our maximum shipping weight" leaves them stuck. A phone number, an email address or a link to a quote form turns a dead end into an inquiry. - **Check what else the zone offers.** If Weight-Based Shipping is the only method in the zone, an over-limit cart has no shipping options at all and cannot check out. That may be exactly what you want. If it is not, add a Local Pickup or a "contact us for freight" flat rate alongside it. - **It is per zone.** A 30 kg ceiling on the international zone and no ceiling domestically is a normal, sensible configuration. - **The message shows even when other methods remain.** It is a cart notice explaining why this method withdrew; other methods in the zone are still offered. The limit is checked before anything else, so it beats the free shipping thresholds: a cart heavy enough to qualify for free shipping by weight *and* heavy enough to break the ceiling gets no rate at all. For a step-by-step setup, see [how to hide shipping above a maximum weight](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-max-weight-limit/). ## How they interact | Scenario | Outcome | | --- | --- | | Over the weight limit | No rate. Thresholds and fee never run. | | Free by threshold | 0.00, `(Free)` label, no handling fee. | | Not free, fee enabled | Tier cost + fee. | | Not free, fee enabled, amount 0 | Tier cost. | | Zero-weight cart, set to hide | No rate, regardless of every other setting. | The full sequence, including where the tier lookup sits, is in [how the shipping cost is calculated](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-cost-calculation/). ## Where to go next - [How the shipping cost is calculated](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-cost-calculation/) - [Settings reference](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-settings/) - [FAQ and troubleshooting](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-faq/) ### Get Weight-Based Shipping Every setting covered here is included in [Weight-Based Shipping for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/weight-based-shipping-for-woocommerce/), with no locked Pro options. [Get Weight-Based Shipping](https://wpfactory.com/item/weight-based-shipping-for-woocommerce/). Need a hand? Our team answers every ticket on the [Weight-Based Shipping support forum](https://wpfactory.com/support/). Related articles - [How to Offer Economy and Express Weight-Based Shipping Options](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-economy-express/) - [How to Set Different Weight-Based Shipping Rates per Zone or Country](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-rates-per-zone/) - [How to Charge Shipping by Weight in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/woocommerce-charge-shipping-by-weight/) - [Weight-Based Shipping Developer Reference](https://wpfactory.com/docs/weight-based-shipping-developers/) - [Install Weight-Based Shipping and Add It to a Zone](https://wpfactory.com/docs/install-weight-based-shipping/)