Rate Shops
Reuse approved shipping-service rules so packers can buy labels quickly and consistently.
Configure a to choose among approved carrier services automatically when a is purchased.
Assign the rule through shipment mappings, orders, fulfillment orders, packages, or automations. Use Get Rates instead when selecting a service manually.
Before you begin
Connect the carrier integrations whose services you want to compare. A rule can only use supported services from active integrations owned by the current team.
Go to ShipOS → Shipping → Rate Shop (opens the Cybership dashboard in a new tab).
Create a Rate Shop rule
- Click Create Rate Shop Rule.
- Enter a unique Name.
- Leave Enabled on if the rule should be available for new selections.
- Add the domestic and international services the rule may compare.
- Choose a transit-time restriction.
- Optionally configure a preferred service and threshold.
- Click Create Rate Shop Rule.
The Rate Shop list shows each rule's status, transit restriction, service-preference status, and domestic and international service counts. Search the list by name, or sort it by creation or update time.
Step 1: Compare these services
Add the exact carrier services that can compete:
- Domestic services are eligible when the origin and destination are in the same country.
- International services are eligible when the shipment crosses a country border.
Each selection includes the carrier integration, carrier, and service level. Adding the same carrier service from two integrations creates two distinct candidates because each connected account can return different rates.
Configure both lists when the rule will be used for domestic and international shipments. A shipment cannot use a rule that has no services configured for its shipment type.
Step 2: Restrict delivery time
The rule filters the configured services before comparing prices:
| Restriction | Behavior |
|---|---|
| No Restriction | Consider every configured service that returns a valid rate. |
| Use Deliver By Date | Consider services whose estimated transit time can meet the order's deliver-by date. |
| 1–8 Business Days | Consider services whose estimated transit time is within the selected number of business days. |
When using Use Deliver By Date, select an optional Fallback Transit Time for orders without a deliver-by date. With No Fallback, an order that has no deliver-by date is not restricted by transit time.
Services that do not return an estimated transit time are excluded while a transit restriction is active. If the restriction excludes every returned rate, ShipOS reports the fastest available estimate when known and asks you to choose a specific service instead.
Step 3: Select the winning rate
With service preference off, ShipOS selects the cheapest eligible rate.
Turn on Enable Service Preference when one configured service should win if it remains close enough to the cheapest rate:
- Click Select Service Level under Preferred Service.
- Choose a service already present in the domestic or international comparison list.
- Select the threshold type:
- Amount uses a fixed value in the team's currency.
- Percentage uses a percentage above the cheapest eligible rate.
- Enter a non-negative threshold.
The preferred service wins only when it returns an eligible rate and its price difference is within the threshold. Otherwise, the cheapest eligible rate wins. Removing the preferred service from both comparison lists clears the preference.
Assign a Rate Shop
An enabled rule can be assigned in several ways:
- Select it in a Shipment Mapping to apply it to orders matching a sales-channel shipping method.
- From a fulfillment-order rate action, choose Automatic → Rate Shop instead of Direct → Specific Service Level.
- Use the Set Rate Shop action in an Automation for supported order or fulfillment-order targets.
- Select it in another order, fulfillment-order, or package workflow that exposes a Rate Shop field.
The selected rule is stored on the operational record. When ShipOS purchases the label, it requests rates from the rule's configured carrier integrations and applies the domestic or international list, delivery restriction, and preference threshold.
Protect rate changes with an Override PIN
Configure a four-to-six-digit Override PIN under ShipOS → Settings → Configuration → Rate Shop (opens the Cybership dashboard in a new tab). A warehouse value overrides the team value. See Configuration.
The PIN controls changes to an existing rate strategy:
- The first assignment to a record with no existing Rate Shop or direct service does not require a PIN.
- Re-selecting the same Rate Shop does not require a PIN.
- Changing from a direct service to a Rate Shop, or from one Rate Shop to another, requires the configured PIN.
- Selecting a direct service already included in the active Rate Shop does not require a PIN.
- Selecting a direct service outside the active Rate Shop requires the configured PIN.
If a protected change needs a PIN but none is configured at the resolved team or warehouse layer, ShipOS blocks the change. Configure the PIN before attempting the override.
Review labels and selection decisions
Open a rule and select Shipping Labels to see labels purchased from packages associated with that Rate Shop. Select a label to open its details.
When a label has a stored rate-selection trace, its Decision tab explains:
- The chosen service and why it won
- The Rate Shop used
- Eligible and excluded rate counts
- Transit-time and deliver-by-date filtering
- Preferred-service threshold and price difference
- The cheapest eligible rate
- Each selection step
- Configured service lists and rates returned by each integration
- Carrier rate-fetch errors and the trace reference
The trace records the configuration and rates evaluated for that label. Later edits to the Rate Shop do not rewrite the stored decision.
Update, duplicate, disable, or delete a rule
Open a Rate Shop row to update its Configure settings or review Shipping Labels.
Use the row actions to:
- Update Rate Shop Rule: Change its name, enabled status, service lists, restriction, or preference. A renamed rule is propagated to current shipment mappings, orders, fulfillment orders, and packages.
- Duplicate Rate Shop Rule: Copy the complete configuration into a new rule with a unique copy name.
- Delete Rate Shop Rule: Permanently delete the rule and clear it from current shipment mappings, orders, fulfillment orders, and packages.
Turn Enabled off when the rule should remain available for reference but should not appear in new Rate Shop selections. Existing assignments are not deleted by disabling the rule.
Deleting a Rate Shop is permanent. Records that relied on it lose automatic rate comparison and need a new Rate Shop or direct service. Historical shipping labels retain their stored rate-selection details.