Shipping policy template: copy it, fill in the brackets, publish it
Yevhen Kurapov, co-founder · Updated Oct 19, 2026
Copy the template below and replace every [bracket]: processing time and order cutoff, carriers and costs, the free-shipping threshold, delivery estimates, tracking, delays, lost or damaged parcels and international duties. Under the FTC Mail Order Rule, a US store needs a reasonable basis to ship within the time it states, or must ship within 30 days if it states none.
Copy the policy below, replace every [bracket] with your own number or carrier, and delete the lines that don't apply. It is written for a US store shipping with USPS, UPS or FedEx, with a section for international orders. After it come the delivery questions shoppers send in chat and how an AI assistant answers each one from this policy. The template is a starting point, not legal advice.
Returns have their own page: the return policy template. Answering "where is my order?" for a specific order is covered in our order status guide.
The shipping policy template
Each section below is one block you can copy. The sample values in brackets are there so the template reads naturally; change all of them. We left out cash on delivery: if you offer it, add a line with the fee and where it's available.
1. Processing time and order cutoff
Processing time
We pack and ship orders within [1-2] business days. Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays. Orders placed before [1 pm Eastern Time] on a business day ship [the same day]; orders placed later, or on a weekend or holiday, ship [the next business day].
[Personalized items take [5-7] business days to make before they ship.]
[From [November 20] to [December 20], processing can take up to [4] business days.]
Under the FTC's Mail Order Rule, the shipping time you state is the one you're held to, and an order counts as shipped once the carrier has it. Your processing time is that number, so pick one you can meet in your busiest week. Say which time zone the cutoff is in; "1 pm" alone gets read in the customer's.
2. Shipping methods, costs and delivery times
Shipping in the United States
- Standard: [USPS Ground Advantage], [2-5] business days after shipping, $[5.95]
- Express: [USPS Priority Mail], [2-3] business days after shipping, $[14.95]
- Overnight: [UPS Next Day Air], [1] business day after shipping, $[34.95]
Delivery times are the carrier's estimates and start when your order ships, not when you place it. Shipping to Alaska, Hawaii and US territories goes by [USPS Priority Mail], and the cost is calculated at checkout.
Use the same service names and prices as your checkout. On Shopify, those live under Settings > Shipping and delivery; a policy that says $5.95 next to a checkout that charges $6.50 is the complaint you're trying to avoid. For reference, USPS lists Ground Advantage at 2 to 5 days, Priority Mail at 2 to 3 days and Priority Mail Express at 1 to 3 days, each with tracking and up to $100 of insurance included. With UPS or FedEx, use the transit times they show for your own zones.
3. Free shipping
Free shipping
Standard shipping is free on US orders of $[75] or more, after discounts and before tax. [Free shipping doesn't apply to Alaska, Hawaii, US territories or international orders.]
"After discounts and before tax" answers the shopper whose discount code takes the order under the threshold. Pick one rule and write it down.
4. Where we ship
Where we ship
We ship to all 50 states, [Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the other US territories], P.O. boxes and APO/FPO/DPO addresses. Orders to P.O. boxes and military addresses ship by [USPS]. We also ship to [Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union]; see International orders below. [We can't ship to [list of countries].]
If your standard service is UPS or FedEx, say how P.O. box and military addresses ship instead, so nobody has to guess.
5. Tracking
Tracking
Every order ships with tracking. When your order leaves us, we email you the tracking number and a link to follow it. The first scan can take up to [24 hours] to appear. [You can also see your order's status by signing in to your account on our site.]
6. If your order is delayed
Delays
If we can't ship your order within the processing time above, we'll email you a new shipping date and the option to cancel for a full refund. Once your parcel is with the carrier, delivery dates are the carrier's estimates, and weather or carrier delays can move them.
This section is the FTC rule in plain words: a revised date, and the choice to cancel. Keep it even if you have never missed a date.
7. Address changes and returned parcels
Address changes
Please check your address at checkout. We can change it only before your order ships: email [[email protected]] as soon as possible with your order number and the new address. If a parcel comes back to us because the address was incomplete or the parcel wasn't collected, we'll [reship it once you pay the shipping again] [or] [refund the order minus the original shipping cost].
8. Lost, stolen or damaged parcels
Lost or stolen parcels
If tracking says your parcel was delivered but you can't find it, check around your door, with neighbors and your building's mailroom, and wait [one business day]; a parcel marked delivered sometimes turns up the next day. Then contact us within [14] days of the delivery date and we'll open a claim with the carrier.
If tracking hasn't updated for [7] business days, contact us and we'll look into it with the carrier. If the carrier confirms the parcel is lost, we'll [send a replacement or refund your order, your choice].
Damaged parcels
If your order arrives damaged, email [[email protected]] within [7] days of delivery with photos of the item, the box and the shipping label, and keep the packaging until we reply. We'll [replace the item or refund it].
Give each step a number of days. "Contact us promptly" turns every lost parcel into a negotiation, and nobody, human or assistant, can answer "am I too late?" from it.
9. International orders, duties and taxes
International orders
We ship to [Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union] by [USPS Priority Mail International]. Delivery takes [6-10] business days after shipping and costs $[24.95], [free on orders over $[150]].
[Option A, duties collected at checkout:] Duties and import taxes are calculated and charged at checkout, so there's nothing more to pay on delivery.
[Option B, duties not included:] Our prices and shipping costs don't include duties, import taxes or the carrier's customs fees. Your country's customs may charge them, and the carrier collects them before delivery. If you refuse to pay them, the parcel comes back to us and we'll [refund the order minus shipping and any return charges].
Keep the option that matches what your checkout actually does and delete the other. Option B without the last sentence is how a store ends up paying for a parcel to travel both ways.
10. Contact
Questions about shipping
Email [[email protected]] or message us in the chat on our site. We reply within [1 business day].
Last updated: [October 15, 2026]
Where to publish it
On Shopify, open Settings > Policies and click the shipping policy. If Use automated policy is on, turn it off, paste your filled-in text and click Save. Shopify links the policy in the checkout footer, on product pages and in the cart, and it lives at /policies/shipping-policy. Shopify's automated version fills in only your fulfillment time, the countries you ship to, your store name, your support email and the date; rates, carriers, the free-shipping threshold, lost parcels and duties are left to you.
On any other platform, publish it as a page and link it from your footer and your cart.
The delivery questions shoppers ask in chat
The same policy is what an AI assistant answers from when a shopper asks about delivery in your website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger or Telegram. We make ChatPal, and its assistant answers shipping questions only from your own pages and files, quotes the figures as written, and when your policy doesn't cover something, says so and points to your checkout or your team instead of guessing.
The conversations below are examples at a made-up store using the sample values above, written from those rules, not recorded chats.
"How much is shipping, and is it free?"
Customer: How much is shipping to Texas? Do you do free shipping?
Assistant: Standard shipping in the US is $5.95, and it's free on orders of $75 or more after discounts. It takes 2 to 5 business days after your order ships.
Which lines it used: sections 2 and 3. Because the threshold says "after discounts", the assistant can answer the follow-up about a discount code too.
"Will it arrive by Friday?"
Customer: If I order today, will it get to Ohio by Friday?
Assistant: Orders placed before 1 pm Eastern on a business day ship the same day, and Standard then takes 2 to 5 business days, so I can't promise Friday. Express takes 2 to 3 business days after shipping, for $14.95.
Which lines it used: the cutoff in section 1 and the methods in section 2. It quotes both and promises no date, because the policy calls those times estimates.
"Do you ship to Canada? Will I pay duties?"
Customer: Do you ship to Canada? Will I get charged at the door?
Assistant: Yes, we ship to Canada by USPS Priority Mail International for $24.95, and it takes 6 to 10 business days after shipping. Duties and import taxes aren't included, so Canadian customs may charge them and the carrier collects them before delivery.
Which lines it used: section 9, option B. With option A in your policy, the same question gets "nothing more to pay on delivery".
A cost the policy doesn't give
Customer: What would shipping to Alaska be for two pairs of boots?
Assistant: Orders to Alaska ship by USPS Priority Mail, and the cost depends on the order, so checkout shows the exact amount before you pay.
Why it answered this way: section 2 says Alaska rates are calculated at checkout, so there is no figure to quote, and the assistant doesn't estimate one. A question the policy doesn't mention at all, such as picking up from your warehouse, gets "I don't have details on that" and your contact email from section 10.
"My parcel hasn't arrived"
On a connected Shopify store, where order support comes on with the connection, the assistant can check the customer's own order after they sign in to your store:
Customer: My order still hasn't come and it's been nine days.
Assistant: Please sign in to your store account so I can check.
[A Continue button. The customer signs in.]
Assistant: Which order is it: #1052, 2 items, placed Oct 3, or #1047, 1 item, placed Sep 24?
Customer: The October one.
Assistant: Order #1052 shipped with USPS and was due on Oct 10. Would you like our team to look into it?
[Card: order #1052, shipped, USPS tracking link, estimated delivery, 2 items]
[Buttons: Send request · Not now]
Why it answered this way: a late parcel could be any of the customer's orders, so it asks which one first. It states only what the order shows, gives no reason for the delay and sends nothing to your team until the customer taps yes. From there, section 8 is your team's to apply. Setting this up is in our order status guide; more store conversations, from sizing to returns, are in ecommerce chatbot examples.
Give the policy to your assistant
- Shopify store: connect it under Integrations > Shopify. ChatPal reads your store's shipping, returns and FAQ pages when you connect, if your plan's link allowance has room. Check that the shipping policy is listed under Knowledge, on the Website & links tab.
- Any other site: open Knowledge, go to the Website & links tab, paste the policy page's address, tick Single page only and click Add Link. Or save the policy as a PDF, Word or text file and add it on the Files tab with Upload files.
- After every change to the policy, open the ⋮ menu next to its link and choose Reindex, so the assistant quotes the new numbers.
- Test it in Playground with the five questions above, using your own states and countries. If an answer is wrong, click Why this answer? to see what the assistant read, fix the policy, and click Ask again.
On a store that isn't on Shopify, the chat widget answers every question above except the last one: order status needs a connected Shopify store, where Order support is on unless you switch it off.
Each assistant reply counts toward your monthly messages, test replies included: 100 on Free, 500 on Starter for $20 a month, 1,500 on Standard for $50 and 4,000 on Pro for $120 (plans, checked 19 October 2026).