This article explains what shipping zones are in Swap Global, what they control, and how they relate to Shopify Markets.
ℹ️ Shipping zones vs. pricing zones
Swap has two types of zones that are easy to confuse:
Shipping zones define which regions you ship to and control carrier rates, custom fees, duty and tax buffers, and compliance rules for those destinations.
Pricing zones define how products are priced in a given market — for example, applying a pricing coefficient or enabling VAT-inclusive pricing.
They are configured separately in the Swap dashboard. This article covers shipping zones. For pricing zones, see Understanding Pricing Zones.
What are shipping zones?
A shipping zone is a group of countries or regions that share the same shipping rules, rates, and fees. Instead of configuring rates country by country, you group destinations to simplify setup and management.
For example:
An EU zone that applies the same shipping rates across all EU member states
A North America zone with different rates, duties handling, and custom fees
What shipping zones control in Swap Global
Shipping zones in Swap do more than set a shipping price. They also control:
Which countries you sell to
How duties and taxes are applied
Whether buffers are applied to duties or taxes
Which custom fees are charged at checkout
How subtotals are calculated when VAT-inclusive pricing is enabled
Which shipping rates and methods are shown to customers
Setting up zones correctly ensures customers see accurate pricing, get the right shipping options, and avoid unexpected charges at delivery.
How shipping zones relate to Shopify
Swap shipping zones are linked to Shopify shipping zones, which are in turn tied to Shopify Markets. For a Swap shipping zone to work correctly, the countries included must belong to an active Shopify Market.
If a country isn't part of an active Shopify Market, customers from that country won't be able to complete checkout in your store.
For more on Shopify Markets, see Understanding Shopify Markets.
Managing your shipping zones
Shipping zones are configured in two places:
Shopify — controls Markets and basic shipping eligibility
Swap dashboard — controls specific settings including custom fees, buffers, rules, and tax behaviour
For step-by-step instructions, see:
How to create a shipping zone — set up a new zone from scratch or import from Shopify
How to manage shipping zones in Swap Global — add countries, activate/deactivate, and delete zones
Shipping zone configuration settings — a field-by-field reference for all zone settings