Why is the shipping cost wrong on my Shopping ad?

Direct answerPut the shipping cost in Merchant Center account settings, and use the product shipping attribute only when that product needs a different rate. Google’s shipping attribute, reviewed October 23, 2026, says a price on the product replaces the account shipping settings for that product and location. The submitted cost has to match or exceed what an individual shopper pays.

Account settings versus one product

Google says to use the attribute for countries the account settings do not cover, for costs that are not defined in Merchant Center, and to override those settings for a product such as something bulky or fragile. Its best practice is to build the rates in account shipping settings, including up to 20 policies, and to use the attribute as a last resort. “Last resort” is a best practice on this page, not a ban.

If you do submit it:

• Country is required, as an ISO 3166-1 code such as CH.
• A delivery area is optional. Submit only one of region, postal code, location ID, or location group name. Google lists which countries support each. This article does not reprint those tables.
• The service name is optional until you offer more than one service on that product. Then it is required, so Google can tell Standard from Express.
• The price sub-attribute uses a period as the decimal mark, as in 3.00 USD. Avoid commas. Submitting it causes Google to ignore the account shipping service settings for the matching location, including delivery times and the minimum order value.
• You can submit the attribute up to 100 times. An offer can also have up to 100 shipping overrides.

For USD, CAD, AUD, CHF, EUR, GBP, NZD, and SGD, Google’s shipping price range is 0–1000. Other currencies have their own caps on the same page. A product price that accidentally includes shipping is the price attribute. A minimum order for a business-only store is the business checkout page.

The cost the shopper is charged

• Submit complete speed and cost. Google says those are two of the most common reasons shoppers abandon a product.
• Include every charge whose name includes “shipping,” “delivery,” “handling,” “logistics,” or “carrier.” Also include insurance related to those charges. A cross-border charge can be included when the site already lists it under a shipping term.
• Match the shopper’s cost, or overestimate if you cannot be exact. Excessive overestimating may hurt performance.
• Use the rate to an individual. A membership rate is supported only when the shipping attribute includes the loyalty program label and, for a program with more than one tier, the tier label.
• The landing page still has to show the product to someone you do not ship to.
• If you do not deliver across the whole target country, submit shipping only for the regions you do deliver to, and match that to the landing page. Whether the product can ship in time is availability.

Speed, and a few country rules

Handling time is the business days from the order to the handoff. Transit time is the days from the handoff to delivery. Google’s example: an order on Tuesday that leaves the warehouse by Friday has a maximum handling time of 3. For Google to calculate speed, submit both the maximum handling time and the maximum transit time, and also submit a shipping price. If you send handling time both inside the shipping attribute and as a standalone attribute, only the shipping sub-attributes count. A cutoff time uses HHMM, such as 1530, and an IANA timezone such as America/Los_Angeles. If you omit the timezone, Google uses the destination’s timezone.

France: shipping costs must be added for any book sale. Software subscriptions, digital content, and downloads submit 0 when the target country requires a shipping cost. For Colorado, do not include a retail delivery fee in shipping or in the price. Collection-point delivery is account-level only for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Those points have to be third-party locations other retailers can use. Parcel lockers are Google’s example. Argentina and Chile can use a shipping cost for an address, a collection point, or store pickup. Shipping from outside the target country: say prominently on the landing page that extra customs fees may apply, and do not submit import or export information as part of the price attribute. The price page has a separate sentence about import costs. Read both before you pick one.

This attribute page does not print a 7-day suspension warning.

Sources

• Google Merchant Center: Shipping

Reviewed October 23, 2026. Policies change. This is not legal advice.

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