--- title: "Free shipping for apparel brands" description: "Free shipping for apparel brands on USPS's published label prices: what it gives away on orders that already qualify, and what a top-up earns." url: https://offersuite.io/playbooks/free-shipping-threshold-for-apparel-brands updated: 2026-10-13 --- # Free shipping for apparel brands Free shipping for apparel brands on USPS's published label prices: what it gives away on orders that already qualify, and what a top-up earns. ### An order, shipping charged Revenue $129.29 to contribution margin $46.39 (35.9%) Revenue $129.29 Cost of goods −$40.20 Pick and pack −$3.20 Shipping label −$10.50 Card fee per order −$0.30 Refunds −$24.95 Card processing −$3.75 Contribution margin $46.39 2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option ### The same order, shipped free Revenue $120.00 to contribution margin $39.16 (32.6%) Revenue $120.00 Cost of goods −$40.20 Pick and pack −$3.20 Shipping label −$10.50 Card fee per order −$0.30 Refunds −$23.16 Card processing −$3.48 Contribution margin $39.16 2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option One order, shipping charged and shipped free | Option | Customer pays | Shipping charged | Costs | Margin | Margin % | Conversion it needs | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | An order, shipping charged | $120.00 | $9.29 | $82.90 | $46.39 | 35.9% | — | | The same order, shipped free | $120.00 | $0.00 | $80.84 | $39.16 | 32.6% | — | The average order topped up to a threshold, shipped free | Option | Customer pays | Shipping charged | Costs | Margin | Margin % | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Topped up to the break-even threshold, shipped free | $136.31 | $0.00 | $89.92 | $46.39 | 34.0% | | Topped up to the next round threshold, shipped free | $140.00 | $0.00 | $91.98 | $48.02 | 34.3% | Every figure is computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from the costs below. ## What the numbers say An order at $120.00 weighs about 2 lb packed, so its label costs $10.50 at USPS's Zone 5 commercial price. Charging the 1 lb label ($9.29) and shipping free differ by $7.23 per order. Free shipping on every order keeps $39.16 per order against $46.39 when shipping is charged. To earn the same per visitor it has to bring 18.5% more buyers. A threshold only adds something above the average order. An order that tops up from $120.00 to $136.31 with more of the same goods and ships free keeps $46.39, against the $46.39 the average order keeps with shipping charged. That is the break-even: a lower threshold loses money on every order that tops up to it, and at $140.00 each top-up earns $1.63 more. Those two orders are costed in the average order's parcel, at the same gross margin; a top-up heavy enough to need a larger label raises the break-even. And every order already above the threshold stops paying its $9.29 of shipping and buys nothing extra. The free-shipping threshold calculator counts both sides with your own order values. ## The cost structure, and where it comes from | | | | --- | --- | | Price | $120.00, the average order. [FIGS, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results, read 23 September 2026](https://ir.wearfigs.com/news/news-details/2026/FIGS-Releases-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx) | | Unit cost | $40.20. From the reported gross margin: “Gross margin was 66.5% … average order value of $120” [FIGS, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results, read 23 September 2026](https://ir.wearfigs.com/news/news-details/2026/FIGS-Releases-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx) | | Pick and pack | $3.20 per order and $0.48 for each extra item. [Fulfill.com, 3PL pricing benchmarks (The Fulfillment Advisor 2025 survey of 600+ warehouses), read 23 September 2026](https://www.fulfill.com/3pl-pricing) | | Shipping label | USPS Ground Advantage, commercial, Zone 5, by weight rounded up to the pound: 1 lb $9.29 · 2 lb $10.50 · 3 lb $12.12 · 4 lb $13.89 · 5 lb $14.53. Packed weight is an assumption: 2 lb per order. [USPS Notice 123, USPS Ground Advantage Commercial, Zone 5 (effective 4 October 2026), read 13 October 2026](https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm) | | Card fees | 2.9% + $0.30 per order: Shopify Payments' online rate for a standard card on the Basic plan in the United States. Higher plans pay a lower rate, and premium cards a higher one. [Shopify's pricing page for the United States, online standard card rates, read 12 October 2026](https://www.shopify.com/pricing) [Rates by plan and country](https://offersuite.io/fees/shopify-payments/united-states) | | Refund reserve | 19.3%, NRF's estimate of online sales returned in 2025, across all categories. [NRF and Happy Returns, 2025 Retail Returns Landscape (15 October 2025), read 23 September 2026](https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-expected-to-return-nearly-850-billion-in-merchandise-in-2025) | | Gift | A pair of socks: unit cost $4.02, retail $12.00. A $12 pair of socks, costed at FIGS' reported gross margin. | ## The offer, as an agent writes it An agent writes this offer as one document for Offer Suite's API, validated against the offer schema. Below is one option of it: what the buyer gets and the price it promises. Offer Suite checks with a real cart that checkout charges exactly the prices above. **Show one option 1 option · excerpt** ``` { "key": "order", "display": { "title": "Free shipping" }, "lines": [ { "role": "main", "quantity": 1, "purchase": { "type": "one_time" } } ], "pricing": { "promise": { "firstChargeCents": 12000, "renewalChargeCents": null } } } ``` How Offer Suite validates, versions and publishes a document like this one: [offer documents](https://offersuite.io/features/offer-documents). ## Questions ### Is free shipping profitable for apparel brands? Shipped free, an average order of $120.00 keeps $39.16 on these costs, $7.23 less than with the $9.29 label charged. It pays for itself if it brings 18.5% more buyers. ### What free-shipping threshold should apparel brands set? Above $136.31 on these costs: an order that tops up to less keeps less than it kept paying for shipping. At $140.00, each top-up earns $1.63 more. ## See what your own offers earn. Offer Suite opens to Shopify brands a few at a time. Join the waitlist, or ask for a free profit audit of your past orders: realized profit per item and per offer option, what each costs you, and where margin leaks. [Join the waitlist](https://offersuite.io/waitlist) [Request a free profit audit](https://offersuite.io/profit-audit) ## Related - [Playbooks **Offer playbooks by vertical** Bundles, subscriptions, samples, gifts, free shipping and quantity breaks for coffee, supplement, beauty, pet, apparel, fashion, footwear, jewelry, household, home goods and outdoor gear brands, on sourced costs.](https://offersuite.io/playbooks) - [Feature **Offer documents: one validated document per offer** An offer is one validated, versioned document your agent writes: tiers, bundles, subscriptions, gifts and prices, with no offer types to pick from.](https://offersuite.io/features/offer-documents) - [Calculator **Free shipping threshold calculator** Price a free-shipping threshold with the shipping you give away on orders that already reach it, and the share of smaller orders that must top up to pay for it.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/free-shipping-threshold) - [Benchmark **Apparel benchmarks from annual reports** What 11 US-listed companies selling clothing through their own stores and sites report: a median gross margin of 48.7%, from 34.8% to 68.7%. Read 13 October 2026.](https://offersuite.io/benchmarks/apparel) - [Glossary **Free-shipping threshold: definition and formula** The order value above which shipping is free. It costs the shipping revenue of every order already above it, and pays only if enough smaller orders top up.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/free-shipping-threshold) - [Glossary **Fulfilment cost: definition, formula and example** What it costs to get an order out: pick and pack, extra picks, the box and the label. Charged per order or parcel, which is why bundles and gifts change it.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/fulfilment-cost)