EZOZLive Australia Post rates let your checkout price each order from the customer's cart and postcode, using your own eParcel contract. This guide covers the Shopify plan you need, how to price rates with a markup, which services to offer, the setup steps and how to fix a checkout that shows no rates.
What live Australia Post rates are
Shopify can show several kinds of shipping price at checkout. Most are prices you set yourself: flat rates, free shipping, and rates by weight or order price. Calculated rates are different: when a customer enters their address, Shopify asks a carrier or an app to price that cart. Shopify calls these "carrier or app calculated" rates, also known as third-party carrier-calculated shipping.
| Rate type | How it's priced | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Flat rate | One price you choose | Over- or under-charges whenever the real postage differs from it |
| Free shipping | You absorb the postage | Every free parcel's postage comes out of your profit |
| By weight or order price | A table you build | Needs updating whenever your contract rates change |
| Calculated (live) | An app asks Australia Post for each cart and address | Needs the right Shopify plan and accurate product weights |
Retail rates versus your contract rates
Retail rates are Australia Post's standard published prices. Contract rates are the negotiated rates on an eParcel Contract, which Australia Post says is for businesses sending more than 2,000 domestic parcels a year. It needs approval, and the rates are reviewed periodically. Quoting your contract at checkout means the price customers see moves with what you actually pay.
Smaller senders can use MyPost Business (free, no minimum volume), but this guide focuses on eParcel. To set up the account, see how to ship with Australia Post eParcel on Shopify. If most of your orders go in prepaid satchels, which are one price anywhere in Australia, a flat rate may suit you better: see prepaid satchels vs eParcel.
Check your Shopify plan first
Do this first: no amount of setup will make app rates appear on a plan that doesn't allow them. As of October 2026, Shopify's developer docs say an app can show its rates at checkout only on these plans:
| Shopify plan | App-calculated rates at checkout |
|---|---|
| Starter | Not available |
| Basic | Not available |
| Grow (formerly the "Shopify" plan), yearly billing | Available |
| Grow, monthly billing | Available if you add the feature for a monthly fee (ask Shopify Support) |
| Advanced | Available |
| Plus | Available |
| Development store | Available, unless it's on Basic |
Which Shopify plan are you on?
If your store later moves to a plan that no longer qualifies, Shopify switches the app's checkout rates off. Check before you downgrade, or before you move Grow from yearly to monthly billing without the add-on.
Price your rates: contract price plus markup
Your checkout price doesn't have to equal what Australia Post charges you. You can add a markup to the contract price, made of a percentage, a fixed amount or both:
- A percentage grows with the postage, so heavier or dearer parcels carry more.
- A fixed amount is the same on every order. It suits costs that don't change with weight, like a box, tape and packing time.
An example with made-up numbers: say your contract price for a parcel is $9.20. A 10% markup adds $0.92 and a $1.50 fixed amount adds $1.50, so the customer sees $11.62. Try your own numbers below.
A markup covers what postage doesn't (packaging, labels, packing time, the occasional lost parcel) without lifting your product prices, and gives you a buffer for when your contract rates are reviewed. Keep it fair, though: shipping well above what customers expect can lose you the sale. To cut the underlying cost, see 12 ways to save on shipping with Shopify in Australia.
Choose which services to show, and name them clearly
On eParcel, the domestic services include Parcel Post and Express Post, each with or without signature on delivery. Without a signature, the parcel can be left safely under Authority to Leave. For overseas customers there are international services such as International Standard (with or without signature) and International Express. You don't need to show them all:
- Parcel Post as your standard option.
- Express Post for customers in a hurry.
- Signature options only if customers ask for them, or for high-value orders (see below).
- International only if you sell overseas. Each item will need a customs description, HS tariff code and country of origin when you ship.
Rename services so customers understand them
Use plain names at checkout. For example, "Standard delivery (Australia Post)" for Parcel Post, "Express delivery (Australia Post)" for Express Post, and "Standard delivery, signature on delivery" for Parcel Post with signature. Avoid promising a number of days in the name: delivery times vary, and a broken promise turns into a customer email.
Require a signature above an order value
Authority to Leave suits most orders, but on expensive ones you may want proof of delivery. Rather than relying on customers to choose it, use a threshold: below an order value you choose, customers see the usual services; above it, the signature version is used. Set it where a parcel missing from a doorstep would really hurt.
Set up live Australia Post rates step by step
Before you start
- A Shopify plan that allows app-calculated rates (see the table above).
- Your eParcel account number, plus an API key and password for Australia Post's Shipping and Tracking API, from the Australia Post Developer Centre.
- A weight on every product you ship. A product with no weight is treated as weighing nothing, which under-quotes postage.
- A rates app for your eParcel account (to compare, see how to choose a shipping app for Shopify in Australia).
Step 1: Connect the app to your eParcel account
Install the app and enter your API key, password and eParcel account number. The app then quotes your contract prices, and Australia Post bills postage on your contract as it does today.
Step 2: Set your rules and switch on checkout rates
Set your markup, services, checkout names and any signature threshold, then switch checkout rates on in the app. In EZOZ, that's Home > Turn on checkout rates; you'll then find EZOZ AusPost eParcel (via app) in Shopify when you add the rate in step 3.
Step 3: Add the rates in Shopify
Shopify is moving shipping settings into Markets (shipping options by market, or market-driven shipping). Check in your Shopify admin which setup your store uses.
If your store uses shipping options by market:
- Go to Markets and open your Australia market.
- Open Shipping and choose Add shipping option.
- Choose Carrier or app calculated, select your app and tick the services you want customers to see.
- Save. If you sell overseas, repeat this in your international market.
If your store uses the older setup:
- Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
- Open the shipping zone that includes Australia.
- Add a rate, choose the carrier or app calculated option, select your app and tick the services.
- Save, and repeat for any zone that covers overseas countries.
Step 4: Test, then tidy up
Run the checks in the testing section below. Once live rates look right, remove or rename old flat rates so customers don't see two "Standard" options at different prices. For how rates fit with labels and manifests, see the complete guide to Shopify shipping in Australia.
Show free shipping alongside live rates
Customers see every rate that applies to their market or zone, so free shipping can sit right next to your live rates.
Free shipping over an order value
In the same market or zone, add a free rate with a minimum order price, say $150, and give it a clear name such as "Free standard delivery (orders over $150)". Below that value, customers see only your live rates. Above it, the free option appears too, and anyone in a hurry can still pay for Express. Setting it a little above your average order value can nudge customers to add an item, as long as your margin still covers the postage.
Free shipping for trade customers
To give trade customers free standard shipping without offering it to everyone, tag them in Shopify (for example "trade") and have your rates app recognise the tag. EZOZ supports this: turn it on, and tagged customers get free standard shipping while everyone else sees your live rates.
What happens when Australia Post is slow to answer
When a customer enters their address, the app asks Australia Post for prices while they wait. Any service has slow moments, and a customer who can't see a shipping price can't finish paying for delivery.
So a fallback matters. EZOZ keeps a price table for this: if Australia Post is slow to answer, checkout keeps quoting from the table, marked "estimated", so the customer can still complete the order. Whichever app you use, ask what happens when Australia Post doesn't respond in time.
Test your checkout
You don't need to place an order: shipping options appear at checkout once an address is entered.
- Use a product with a real weight, checked in the product's shipping details.
- Enter an Australian address in the market or zone where you added the rates.
- Try several postcodes: your own, a capital city across the country, a regional town and somewhere remote. For example 2000 (Sydney), 6000 (Perth), 4870 (Cairns) and 0870 (Alice Springs).
- Change the cart: add a second item, then a heavy one, and check the prices move.
- Check the extras: your renamed services read well, the signature service is used above your threshold and free shipping appears when it should.
- Work one quote back: the contract price for that parcel, plus your percentage, plus your fixed amount. If it doesn't add up, check the product weights first.
Here, the same cart's shipping options update as the postcode changes (example prices only).
Shipping method
- Parcel PostAustralia Post$11.40
- Parcel Post + SignatureSigned for on delivery$14.35
- Express PostAustralia Post$16.85
Example prices. Yours come live from your own Australia Post contract, plus your markup.
Troubleshooting live rates
No calculated rates at checkout
- Plan: Starter, Basic and Grow on monthly billing without the add-on can't show app-calculated rates, and moving to one of them switches the rates off.
- Market or zone not added: the app's rates must be added in the market or zone the customer's address belongs to.
- Services not ticked: tick each service when you add the app's rates in Shopify.
- Checkout rates switched off: check the app's own settings.
- Connection details: re-check your API key, password and eParcel account number.
Rates are too low (or too high)
- Missing product weights: start here. A product with no weight counts as weighing nothing, so check your products and variants for blank or zero weights.
- Wrong weight units: grams entered where you meant kilograms quote too low; the reverse quotes far too high.
- Markup: check the percentage and fixed amount are what you intended.
Only some services show
- Unticked services: re-open the shipping option in Shopify and tick the missing ones.
- Your contract: check with Australia Post which services your eParcel contract includes.
- Signature threshold: the options change at your signature threshold by design.
- International: overseas addresses need the app's rates added in your international market or zone.
Frequently asked questions
Can I show Australia Post rates on the Basic plan?
Not as live app-calculated rates. As of October 2026, Shopify allows an app's rates at checkout on Advanced and Plus, and on Grow with yearly billing or with the feature added for a monthly fee through Shopify Support. On Basic you can still use flat rates, or rates by weight or order price built from your Australia Post prices.
How do I add a markup to Australia Post rates in Shopify?
Set it where the live rate is calculated, usually in your rates app's settings: a percentage of the contract price, a fixed amount per order, or both. For example, a made-up contract price of $9.20 with a 10% markup and $1.50 fixed becomes $11.62 at checkout.
Why aren't my calculated shipping rates showing at checkout?
Check your plan first: Starter, Basic and Grow on monthly billing without the add-on can't show app-calculated rates. Then check that the app's rates are added in the market or zone for the customer's address, that the services are ticked, and that checkout rates are switched on in the app.
Can I use my Australia Post contract rates at checkout?
Yes, with an eParcel Contract and a Shopify plan that allows app-calculated rates. An app connects to Australia Post's Shipping and Tracking API with your API key and password from the Australia Post Developer Centre and your eParcel account number, then quotes your contract prices plus your markup.