When shipping to residential addresses, certain carriers may apply an additional fee known as a Residential Address Surcharge. This fee accounts for the extra effort required to deliver directly to a home or apartment.
What are Residential Surcharges?
A Residential Address Surcharge is an added fee charged by carriers when delivering to homes, apartments, or businesses without a public entrance. Other restrictions may apply as per the carrier's own definitions.
These surcharges ensure that the delivery process covers the extra time and effort required by the carrier.
If your store is on Shopify, it's important to note that many of your customers are likely residential, making it essential to declare these addresses correctly to avoid unexpected charges.
Declaring Residential Addresses when Creating a Shipment
When creating a shipment, you can accurately declare the destination as residential to prepay any applicable surcharge.
For U.S. and Canadian destinations, Easyship uses a Residential Identifier to confirm if the address meets the criteria. If an address isn't labelled as residential but is later identified as such, a notification will prompt you to correct it.
For international destinations, if you declare the address as residential, any applicable surcharge will be added at a discounted rate. If not declared but later identified as residential, the carrier may apply a surcharge as an adjustment.
Declaring Residential Addresses Via Shipping Rules
You are able to add a shipping rule to always declare residential address fees if applicable. By doing this, you will never receive any unexpected residential surcharges. Additionally, Residential Surcharges, if applicable, will be included in the cost at checkout (if enabled).
Typical Costs
Residential surcharges typically range from $3.80 to $4.70 for FedEx and $4.80 for UPS in the U.S. However, these rates may vary based on the carrier and destination. For international destinations, the surcharge could be higher depending on the service used.