Name a cutoff time with a time zone
Same-day dispatch means nothing without a clock and a zone attached. Pick one, write it as a specific hour, and hold to it. Buyers forgive a late cutoff far more readily than a vague one.
Copy, edit, publish
A shipping policy template with real transit language
A shipping policy answers five things: when orders leave, how long they take, what shipping costs, where you ship to, and what happens when a parcel goes wrong. The block below leaves each of those as a blank, and the transit-time wording is drafted so it matches what carriers actually publish rather than what a buyer would like to hear.
Paste-ready clausesCarrier transit language, citedSibling of the return policy template
Promise what carriers publish
The fastest way to break a shipping promise is to write one the carrier never made.
The template
SHIPPING
Where we ship. We ship to addresses within the United States, including
[PO Boxes / APO and FPO addresses]. We do not currently ship
[internationally / to freight-forwarding addresses].
Processing time. Orders placed before [2pm ET] on a business day leave the
same day. Orders placed after that, or at a weekend, leave the next
business day. Business days do not include federal holidays.
Delivery time. Transit time is set by the carrier and starts after
processing. Typical published windows are 2 to 5 days for USPS Ground
Advantage, 2 to 3 days for USPS Priority Mail, and 1 to 3 days for
Priority Mail Express. These are the carrier's own estimates, not
guarantees, and severe weather or peak season can extend them.
Shipping cost. [Flat $[0.00] per order / calculated at checkout from the
carrier rate for your address / free above $[0.00]].
Tracking. A tracking number is emailed when the label is created. The
first carrier scan can lag label creation by up to a day.
Lost, late or damaged. Contact us at [email] within [14] days of the last
tracking update. We will open a carrier claim where one applies and
[replace / refund] once it is resolved.
Address accuracy. We ship to the address given at checkout. Corrections
requested after dispatch may carry a carrier fee that we will pass on at
cost.
Nothing here is legal advice. It is a drafting aid, and consumer-protection requirements differ by state and by what you sell.
Where the transit numbers come from
The delivery-time clause quotes the carrier rather than inventing a promise. These are USPS's own published expectations, retrieved from usps.com on 2026-07-27.
| Service | Published expectation | Caveat USPS attaches |
|---|---|---|
| USPS Ground Advantage | 2 to 5 days | Alaska, Hawaii, offshore destinations, hazardous materials and live animals may be slower |
| USPS Priority Mail | 2 to 3 days | Stated as an expectation on the service page |
| Priority Mail Express | 1 to 3 days | Stated as an expectation on the service page |
Copy the word expectation into your own policy and the awkward conversations get shorter. A buyer who was told two to five days and received it on day six is disappointed. A buyer who was told the carrier expects two to five days and received it on day six has already been told who to be annoyed with.
What the quotes actually returned
Published expectations and quoted windows are not the same thing, and your policy should survive the gap. Here are the windows carriers attached to live SMKlog quotes for one 3 lb box on the Newark to Atlanta corridor, taken 2026-07-28.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $8.48 | 5-6 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $12.47 | 2-3 business days |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $12.42 | 5-6 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $12.07 | No window supplied on this quote |
That last row is the reason the template says transit time is set by the carrier. UPS Ground Saver returned no window at all on that quote, so a policy promising a window for every service would already be wrong on one of four rows. Where a carrier supplies nothing, say nothing.
Say what a business day is
Weekend and holiday handling causes more support messages than any other clause. Two sentences settles it, and it saves you writing the same reply every Monday morning.
Pair it with the returns document
A shipping policy that stops at delivery leaves half the questions unanswered. The return policy template is the other half, and publishing both on one page is what most buyers expect. Our own terms show how the two fit together.
Shipping policy questions
What has to go in a shipping policy?
Five things: where you ship, when orders leave, how long transit takes, what shipping costs, and what happens when something goes wrong. The template on this page leaves each of those as a bracketed blank, plus a clause on address corrections that most small sellers forget until a carrier bills them for one.
What transit times should I promise?
Quote the carrier rather than inventing a figure. USPS publishes 2 to 5 days for Ground Advantage, 2 to 3 days for Priority Mail and 1 to 3 days for Priority Mail Express, retrieved from usps.com on 2026-07-27. Use the word expectation, because that is what the carrier itself is offering.
Should I promise a window for every service?
No, because carriers do not always supply one. On our live quote of 2026-07-28 for a 13 x 8 x 5 in box at 3 lb between Atlanta and Newark, UPS Ground Saver returned no delivery window at all while the other three services on the same quote did. Where the carrier says nothing, your policy should say nothing.
Is this shipping policy template legal advice?
No. It is a drafting aid assembled from carrier-published expectations and our own live quotes. Requirements vary by state and by product category, so have a qualified person review the wording before you publish it.