$9.05, $10.29 and $11.12 for the identical parcel, depending only on where it was headed.
What each option actually sets
Free
The buyer pays nothing labeled as shipping. The cost still exists; it has to be built into the item price or absorbed from margin. Etsy's own seller handbook says shops guaranteeing it to US buyers on orders at or above its 35-dollar threshold get priority placement in US search — the trade is on our Etsy free shipping page.
Flat rate
One number you type into the profile, charged to every buyer on every listing attached to it, regardless of how far the parcel travels. Simple to reason about at checkout, blind to distance once it is set.
Calculated
Etsy prices each order from your origin ZIP, the buyer's address and the size and weight you entered for the item, then shows the buyer a number for that specific route. The mechanics of the estimate, and where they drift from the eventual label, are on our Etsy calculated shipping page.
One candle, three lanes, three prices
To see what a flat rate actually gives up, we quoted the identical parcel — a beeswax candle in a 7 × 5 × 4 in gift box, 1 lb — from Berkeley Heights, NJ to three cities at increasing distance, on 2026-08-25.
| Destination | Distance band | Cheapest quoted | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford, CT 06103 | Same region | $9.05 | USPS Ground Advantage |
| Denver, CO 80202 | Cross-country, mid | $10.29 | USPS Ground Advantage |
| Portland, OR 97201 | Cross-country, far | $11.12 | USPS Ground Advantage |
That spread does not sound large on a single 1 lb box, but it compounds across a whole shop's orders. A flat rate set anywhere in the $9.05-to-$11.12 range overcharges the near buyer, undercharges the far one, or lands short of both by splitting the difference at $10.29. Calculated shipping is the only one of the three options that follows that line instead of picking a point on it.
Picking one for a real shop
One box size, one weight band
A shop where every listing ships in the same mailer at close to the same weight has little to gain from calculated shipping. A flat rate priced against the mid-distance lane is close enough on every order, and it is one fewer setting to maintain.
A catalog with real size spread
Jewelry next to framed prints next to ceramics is exactly the case calculated shipping was built for — the profile prices each listing's own box rather than forcing one number across all of them.
A buyer base spread across the country
The wider the geography, the more a flat rate either scares off nearby buyers with a padded number or quietly loses money on far ones. Calculated shipping removes that guess without the seller doing anything per order.
None of this decides who ends up paying the number a profile generates — that depends on whether the profile is free, flat or calculated, and on Etsy's own cut of whatever gets charged. That question has its own page: who pays for shipping on Etsy.
Where these facts come from
- Etsy Help, How to Ship Your Items on Etsy — shipping profiles, and the fixed, calculated and free price settings a profile can carry. Checked 2026-08-25.
- Etsy Help, “How to Offer Free Shipping” — the US-only shop guarantee, the order threshold it applies above, and the search-placement trade that comes with it. Checked 2026-08-25.
- SMKlog calculator, the three lane quotes in the table above. Captured 2026-08-25.
Etsy revises its seller tools and its search rules without notice. Treat the settings above as what those pages described on the date shown.
Common questions
What shipping price options does Etsy give sellers?
Three, set once per shipping profile in Shop Manager: free (the buyer is charged nothing for shipping), flat rate (one fixed price you type in), and calculated (Etsy prices each order from your origin, the buyer's destination, and the item's size and weight). Every listing attached to a profile inherits whichever one you picked for it.
Does a flat rate ever match the real cost?
Only at one distance. On our 2026-08-25 quote, the same 1 lb candle in the same box ran $9.05 to Hartford, $10.29 to Denver and $11.12 to Portland on USPS Ground Advantage. A flat rate set anywhere in that range overcharges the near buyer, undercharges the far one, or both.
Is calculated shipping just the label cost passed through?
It tracks the packed parcel Etsy thinks you are sending, not the label price at the moment of purchase. Our page on Etsy calculated shipping shows where that estimate and the eventual label can drift apart, mainly on the box size entered.
Which option should a new shop pick?
Calculated, if the catalog spans more than one box size or the buyer base is spread across the country. Flat rate suits a shop where every item ships in one box to one general weight. Free shipping is a pricing decision first and a shipping decision second, covered on our Etsy free shipping page.