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# How to set up free subscription shipping

Free shipping for subscriptions is a Shopify **Free shipping** automatic discount with **Purchase type = Subscription**, created in Shopify admin > Discounts. You choose whether it covers only the first order, the first few orders, or every renewal, and one-time purchases keep paying shipping as usual. This guide shows how to create and test it, and what it does to subscriptions that already exist.


### Table of contents

* [Should I offer free shipping?](#3-should-i-offer-free-shipping)
* [Creating a free subscription automatic discount](#3-creating-a-free-subscription-automatic-discount)
* [Testing the free shipping discount](#3-testing-the-free-shipping-discount)
* [Existing subscriptions and mixed carts](#3-existing-subscriptions-and-mixed-carts)
* [Subscription shipping settings in the app](#3-subscription-shipping-settings-in-the-app)
* [Troubleshooting](#3-troubleshooting)
* [Common questions](#3-common-questions)

### Should I offer free shipping?

Offering free shipping for subscriptions can significantly enhance customer acquisition and retention. Shipping costs are often a major barrier to purchasing, leading to cart abandonment. By removing this cost for subscribers, you provide a strong incentive to subscribe, enhancing the overall value of your service. Over time, free shipping can build loyalty as customers feel they are consistently saving money, leading to longer subscriptions and higher lifetime value (LTV). Additionally, you can limit how many orders receive free shipping to maximize revenue. This guide will walk you through different ways to set up free shipping for your subscription products.


### Creating a free subscription automatic discount

1. Go to the **Discounts** page in Shopify admin (outside the app) and click **Create discount**.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-14351_1sagon3.png)

2. Choose **Free shipping** as the discount type.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-14354_1c9qiox.png)

3. Set the discount method to **Automatic**, then give your discount a **Title**.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-14504_f6mi88.png)

4. In the **Purchase type** field, select **Subscription** to ensure the discount only applies to subscription products.

|| You must have a product in your [subscription offer](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/a-beginners-guide-to-subscription-offers-1ey00x7/) to see the **Purchase type** section

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-14504_1vafpk3.png)

5. Set the **Minimum purchase requirement**s, either by a **Minimum purchase amount** or **Minimum quantity of items**. 

| To apply the discount to all subscriptions, set the minimum quantity to "1"

![This setting will apply the free shipping discount without any minimum amounts](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-15100_1eoy5zt.png)

6. In the **Recurring payments for subscriptions** field, set the number of orders eligible for free shipping. You have three options:

* **Limit discount to the first payment**: free shipping will only be applied to the first order.
* **Limit discount to multiple recurring payments**: free shipping will apply to the first set number of orders, as selected by you.
* **Discount applies to all recurring payments**: free shipping will be applied to every subscription order.

| The discount is saved on each subscription at checkout, with the number of orders you chose here. Subscriptions that already exist do not get it. To change shipping on existing subscriptions, see [Existing subscriptions and mixed carts](#3-existing-subscriptions-and-mixed-carts).

![In this example, the free shipping discount will apply for the first 3 orders (including the initial order) of each subscription](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-23502_1y6yh9m.png)

7. In the **Combinations** box, tick **Product discounts**, and **Order discounts** too if you run any.

|| Do not skip this if you sell bundles. A bundle option's price (a fixed bundle price, a quantity break, a build your own bundle) is applied as a Shopify product discount, even though you never created one yourself. When your free shipping discount is not set to combine with product discounts, Shopify applies only one of them, keeps the bigger saving, and the customer pays for shipping.

8. Make any additional changes to your discount settings, as needed.

9. Save your discount settings.

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-15020_10r29t.png)

### Testing the free shipping discount

1. In your online store, navigate to a subscription product

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-15211_1dw69i0.png)

2. Select a subscription option and proceed to checkout

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-15075_142erpf.png)

3. Enter a valid shipping address

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-15200_12kqthx.png)

4. The free shipping discount should automatically apply at the checkout

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7f3a3e9ddc403000/screenshot-2024-10-23-at-15142_pdysz5.png)

| Keep a single free shipping discount for subscriptions. Two automatic free shipping discounts do not add anything, and one that is set up differently from the other makes the result harder to predict.

To check a renewal as well, open the test subscription in the app and click **Renew immediately**. This creates the next order straight away. See [Creating a test subscription order](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/creating-a-test-subscription-order-kvj18k/).

### Existing subscriptions and mixed carts

* **Existing subscriptions do not get a new discount.** Shopify applies automatic discounts at checkout only, so subscriptions created before you made the discount keep the shipping they had. This also applies to subscriptions migrated from another app, whose old free shipping discount was not carried over. To change them, use the **Update shipping price** bulk action on the Subscriptions list (choose **Set a new shipping price** and enter 0 for free shipping), or edit one subscription with **Edit** > **Edit shipping** > **Free shipping**. Full steps: [Renewals charge shipping or the wrong shipping rate](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/renewals-charge-shipping-or-the-wrong-shipping-rate-1uqzcbd/).
* **Mixed carts**: a discount with **Purchase type = Subscription** is meant for subscription items, so one-time orders keep paying shipping. When one cart holds both subscription and one-time items, Shopify decides how the discount applies to that order's shipping, so place a test order with a mixed cart to see the result for your rates.
* **Keep the initial shipping option**: if you use this setting in the app, a subscription copies the shipping price the customer actually paid on the first order. With a first-order-only free shipping discount that price is 0, so renewals stay free too. See [Recurring shipping options](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/shipping-settings-17yb28n/#3-recurring-shipping-options).

### Subscription shipping settings in the app

The discount above is what makes shipping free. Alongside it, [**Supr Bundles & Subscriptions > Settings > Shipping**](https://admin.shopify.com/apps/super-subscriptions/app/settings/shipping) controls how shipping behaves on **renewals**:

* **Recurring shipping options**: choose whether each renewal automatically picks the **cheapest** shipping option (Shopify's recommendation) or **keeps the initial shipping option** the customer chose at checkout. Keeping the initial option is useful when a shipping app or custom rate is being overridden.
* **Subscription shipping profile**: create subscription-specific delivery rates for chosen offers, so subscribers can be given discounted or free delivery prices directly, separately from your one-time rates. This is also the way to give free shipping to only some products: put them in their own offer and attach it to a profile with a free rate.

See [Shipping Settings](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/shipping-settings-17yb28n/) for the full detail.

### Troubleshooting

* The discount does not show at checkout: see [My subscription free shipping discount is not working](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/my-subscription-free-shipping-discount-is-not-working-rqlqnv/).
* The first order was free but renewals charge shipping, or existing subscribers still pay shipping: see [Renewals charge shipping or the wrong shipping rate](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/renewals-charge-shipping-or-the-wrong-shipping-rate-1uqzcbd/).

### Common questions

**How do I give free shipping only to subscription orders?**
Create a Shopify **Free shipping** automatic discount with **Purchase type = Subscription** and **Minimum quantity of items** set to 1, as in the steps above.

**Can free shipping apply only above a certain order value?**
Yes. Use **Minimum purchase amount** instead of a minimum quantity.

**How do I make only the first order ship free?**
Under **Recurring payments for subscriptions**, choose **Limit discount to the first payment**. Renewals then pay your normal shipping.

**I created the discount but my existing subscribers still pay shipping.**
A new discount only reaches new subscriptions. Update existing ones with the **Update shipping price** bulk action. See [Existing subscriptions and mixed carts](#3-existing-subscriptions-and-mixed-carts).

**I can't see the Purchase type field in the discount.**
It only appears once at least one product is in a [subscription offer](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/a-beginners-guide-to-subscription-offers-1ey00x7/).

**Can I give free shipping on a bundle only, and not on the same products bought on their own?**
Yes, from the bundle option instead of a Shopify discount. In [**Supr Bundles & Subscriptions > Offers**](https://admin.shopify.com/apps/super-subscriptions/app/offers), open the offer, click **Free shipping** on the bundle option, turn it on, and click **Save**. It is applied at checkout to any order that holds that option, and it makes the whole order ship free, including anything else in the same cart. On a **fixed bundle** or **build your own bundle** option, the same products bought on their own still pay shipping. Free shipping on an option applies whether the bundle is bought once or on subscription, so to keep it for subscribers, also turn on **Subscription only** on that option. A Shopify free shipping discount with **Purchase type = Subscription** still covers every subscription, including those products bought on their own, so remove it if only the bundle should ship free. See [Additional bundle option settings](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/bundle-types-quantity-breaks-buy-x-get-y-fixed-bundles-and-build-a-box-1p9zux1/#3-additional-bundle-option-settings).

**Can free shipping apply to some subscription products only?**
Yes, with a subscription shipping profile attached to an offer that holds those products. See [Shipping Settings](https://supr-bundles-and-subscriptions.crisp.help/en-us/article/shipping-settings-17yb28n/#3-subscription-shipping-profiles).