How do I set a free-shipping threshold?

Start from your break-even cart total — shipping cost divided by your gross margin — which is the point where the margin on an order just covers the shipping you absorb. Then set the threshold a bit above your current average order value so it nudges customers to add items, but keep it at or above break-even so every free-ship order still makes money.

What's the difference between markup and margin here?

This tool uses gross margin — the share of the sale price left after the product's cost. If an item sells for $100 and costs you $50, that's a 50% margin. The threshold math depends on margin because that's the real money available on an order to cover the shipping you give away.

Is the Free-Shipping Threshold Calculator free?

Yes. It is a free Sidekick Summer Slam drop. There is no signup, and nothing you enter is sent to a server — the math runs entirely in your browser and you can copy it or save it as a PDF.

Day 41 Drop · The Slam

★ Free Tool · No Signup ★

Set Free Shipping That Pays

"Free shipping over $50" is the most powerful nudge in your store — or a quiet margin leak, depending on the number. Plug in three figures and find the threshold that lifts your average order without giving away your profit.

3 Inputs Your Threshold Profit at a Glance

Find my threshold →

Free shipping isn't free — but the right number pays for itself.

Shoppers love "free" shipping so much they'll add items to earn it. That's the magic: a good threshold nudges a $40 cart up to $60, and the extra margin more than covers the shipping you absorb.

Set it too low and you eat shipping on orders that were coming anyway. Set it too high and nobody bothers. The sweet spot sits just above your average order — high enough to nudge, low enough to feel reachable, and always above the point where the margin covers the box.

Find Your Threshold

Three numbers in, your free-shipping threshold out — with the profit at your average order and at the threshold, live.

Try an example:

Average order value

What a typical customer spends per order right now.

Gross margin 50%

The share of each sale left after product cost (price − what the item costs you).

Shipping cost you'd absorb

What it costs you to ship one order (box + postage), per order.

★ Set free shipping at

$65

Above your break-even and your AOV — it nudges carts up.

$0$90

Break-even cart (margin covers shipping)$18

Profit on a free-ship order at the threshold+$23

Profit if you free-ship at today's AOV−$1

Nudge: customers add+$17

Plug in your numbers to see your threshold.

Make the Threshold Work Harder

A few moves that squeeze more out of the number you just found.

Show the gap

"You're $12 away from free shipping" in the cart is the nudge that does the work. A progress bar toward the threshold lifts add-on rates more than the offer alone.

Suggest the add-on

Don't make them hunt for $12 more. Recommend a small, high-margin item right there — that's the order that turns the threshold into pure profit.

Round to a clean number

$65 reads better than $63.40 and is easier to chase. Round to a tidy figure at or just above the threshold the calculator gives you — the math still works.

Pro tip: If your break-even comes out higher than a threshold customers will actually reach, the real fix isn't the shipping offer — it's your margin or your shipping cost. Negotiate carrier rates, right-size your boxes, or build a little shipping into product prices before you give it away.

Want more drops like this?

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No guaranteed results. The tools, frameworks, and resources distributed through the Sidekick Summer Slam are educational and informational. We use these same tools daily in our own work with clients, but we make no guarantees, warranties, or representations about any specific business, financial, marketing, or operational outcomes you may experience. Results vary depending on your business, market, execution, and effort.

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