How Shopify weight limits count variants and units

Calculate merchandise weight from variant weights and quantities. Check unit conversion, missing data, customer conditions and minimum or maximum limits.

Weight limits total applicable variant weights multiplied by cart quantities. Rules can apply to all products, selected products or collections, with optional customer-tag conditions.

Check product weights first

Weight limits by product shows products and their variant weights. Create the actual restrictions under Weight rules.

Verify each applicable variant’s weight in Shopify product details. Missing, zero or invalid values do not contribute valid weight and can make the calculated total lower than the real total.

Create a weight rule

1. Open Weight rules and create a rule.
2. Choose a weight unit and enter a minimum or maximum weight, or both.
3. Select the applicable products.
4. Choose all customers or a customer-tag condition.
5. Set the timing and Active status, then click Save and activate.
6. Turn on Enable weight rules on the Weight limits page.

Calculation example

Total weight is each applicable variant’s unit weight multiplied by quantity, then summed.

Product	Unit weight	Quantity	Contribution
Coffee A	500 g	2	1 kg
Coffee B	1 kg	3	3 kg
Total			4 kg

Supported units are g, kg, oz and lb. Mixed units convert automatically. A weight equal to the threshold satisfies it.

Product and customer scope

A selected-product or collection rule sums only matching items. A cart without those items is not required to buy them.

Tag conditions can match customers with or without specified tags. Every matching weight rule is checked, so avoid conflicting overlapping ranges.

Packaging is not included. The rule does not set shipping charges, split packages or select carriers.

Try a 20 kg merchandise cap.

Set a minimum or weight range

Fill at least one threshold. For a range, the maximum must not be below the minimum. Choose the unit before entering values. For customer groups, use matching and non-matching tag conditions to avoid incompatible overlapping ranges. Follow the launch checklist.