The short version
Write down how delivery really works for each kind of product, split your preparation time from the courier's time, explain the charge before the cart does, test real baskets and real addresses, keep exceptions beside the promises they change, give made-to-order and fragile items their own lines, make every message say the same thing, and update wording the day anything changes.
Shipping information on product pages is one of the most overlooked fixes in a small shop. Most of us write a delivery policy once, link it from the footer, and rarely think about it again.
Meanwhile, someone is looking at your product. They need it for a housewarming on Saturday. They're comparing your price, including delivery, with another shop. And the only way to find out when it'll arrive, or what it'll cost to send, is to put it in the basket and start checking out.
Some will. Many won't.
Here's a made-up shop to follow through this guide. Atlantic Prints sells art prints of the west coast, run by a photographer and her partner in Westport. They sell two very different things:
- Unframed prints, rolled in a tube, sent by standard post within two working days
- Framed prints, made to order with glass, packed in a crate-style box and sent by courier in about seven working days
For a long time, both product types showed the same line under the price: "Free delivery on orders over €60. Ships in 2 to 3 days."
That line was right for one product and wrong for the other. This guide shows how to fix that kind of mismatch, and how to put honest delivery answers where people decide.
Delivery is part of the product, not an afterthought
When someone looks at a print, they're not just choosing an image and a size. They're choosing something that arrives a certain way, at a certain time, for a certain cost.
If it's a gift, the arrival date matters as much as the image. If they're comparing shops, the delivery charge is part of the price.
So treat delivery as a fact about the product, just like its size or material. A buyer needs to know:
- How long you'll take to get it ready
- How long the courier usually takes after that
- What delivery costs, or how it's worked out
- Where you deliver to, and where you don't
- What happens if it arrives damaged
A short answer belongs beside the price and the button. The full policy can still live on its own page for anyone who wants the details.
Before writing a word, write down how delivery really works for each kind of product
Grab a notebook and answer these questions separately for each kind of product you sell:
- When do you start preparing an order?
- Is it ready-made or made to order?
- How is it packed?
- Which courier or service carries it?
- How is the charge worked out?
- Where can it go, and where can't it?
- What happens if it's damaged in transit?
Atlantic Prints' notes looked like this:
| Question | Unframed print | Framed print |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | Printed and packed within 2 working days | Framed to order in about 5 working days |
| Packing | Rolled in a tube | Corner protectors, foam, rigid box |
| Carrier | Standard post, tracked | Courier, tracked, signature needed |
| Charge | €6 flat, free over €60 | €18 to €30 depending on size and country |
| Destinations | Ireland, UK and EU | Ireland and UK only |
| Damage | Reprint and resend | Photo of box and frame, replacement sent |
Seeing it side by side makes the problem obvious. One delivery line can't be true for both columns.
Split your preparation time from the courier's time
There are two separate parts to delivery time:
- Preparation time: how long you take to get the order ready and hand it over
- Transit time: how long the courier takes after that
Many shops blur them. "Ships in 2 to 3 days" could mean two days to pack or two days to arrive. The buyer can't tell.
Compare that with Atlantic Prints' new line for framed prints:
"Framed to order: leaves us in about 5 working days. Courier delivery then takes 1 to 3 working days in Ireland and the UK."
Now the buyer knows exactly what's happening and can work out whether it'll make Saturday.
Say when the clock starts, and what "working days" means
Does preparation start when someone pays, or when they've confirmed a size or proof? For anything personalised, the clock often can't start until the customer replies.
If you don't pack at weekends or on bank holidays, say "working days" and mean it. An order placed on Friday afternoon with "2 working days" leaves on Tuesday.
And keep estimates as estimates. You control your preparation time. You don't control the weather, customs or a busy week at the depot.
Explain the delivery charge before the basket has to reveal it
An unexpected delivery charge at checkout is one of the quickest ways to lose a sale. So explain how the charge works on the product page.
Is delivery:
- Included in the price?
- A flat amount?
- Worked out by destination?
- Worked out by size or weight?
For framed prints, Atlantic Prints' charge depends on size and country. So the page says: "Courier delivery from €18 in Ireland. The exact cost appears at checkout once you enter your address." That's honest and it prevents the shock.
If import duties or taxes might apply for some destinations, give a short, accurate note and link to the details.
Explain the method, not a number, if your rates change
If your shop calculates delivery automatically, don't hard-code exact prices into product descriptions. Explain how it's worked out instead. Then the page stays right when courier rates change, and you're not hunting down old numbers across every listing.
The free-delivery threshold that quietly loses money on certain baskets
"Free delivery over €60" is simple and popular. It also needs a sum behind it.
For Atlantic Prints, free delivery on a €65 basket of unframed prints costs €6 in postage. That's fine. Free delivery on a €65 framed print would cost up to €30 in courier fees and specialist packing, wiping out most of the margin.
So the threshold now applies to unframed prints only, and the page says so: "Free delivery on unframed prints over €60. Framed prints have their own courier charge."
Before you set or advertise a threshold, work it out with your real costs: product cost, packaging, the delivery you pay, and payment fees. There's a free shipping threshold calculator on this site that does the sum in your browser, using your own figures.
Test the charge with real baskets and real addresses
Delivery charges can behave in ways you don't expect. So add real combinations to your basket and see what happens:
- One small item
- Several small items
- One large or heavy item
- A mix of small and large items
Then try three addresses:
- One nearby, where you deliver
- One far away, where you deliver
- One where you don't deliver
Write down the charge, the time estimate and the wording each time.
Atlantic Prints found that a basket with one framed and one unframed print charged both delivery fees, and the checkout didn't explain why. They added one line to the basket: "Framed and unframed prints ship separately, so each has its own delivery charge."
They also found the shop accepted an Australian address for a framed print, even though they don't send framed prints outside Ireland and the UK. That's a setting to fix, not a sentence to write. A buyer shouldn't be able to pay for an order you can't send.
The template trap: one delivery line that's wrong for half your products
Atlantic Prints' original mistake is one of the most common in small shops. Most platforms use one product template, so a delivery line written for one product quietly appears on all of them.
That's fine if everything ships the same way. It's wrong the moment you sell something made to order, fragile, oversized or restricted.
Fix it by giving each kind of product its own delivery line. Depending on your platform, that might mean a separate template, a product-type setting, or a short delivery note written into each product's own description.
Then check one product of each kind, side by side, to make sure a shared banner or template line isn't flattening the difference.
Keep each exception right beside the promise it changes
If a promise has exceptions, they belong next to the promise, not in a policy page.
"Free delivery over €60" in big letters, with "unframed prints only" hidden in the policy, means a framed-print buyer reads the banner, adds a €70 print to the basket and feels misled at checkout.
So write them together: "Free delivery over €60 on unframed prints."
Plain words, no long list of exceptions that nobody can connect to the product in front of them.
Fragile items need a delivery promise you can actually keep
Glass, ceramics, framed work and anything easily dented need extra thought.
Ask:
- How is it packed, and has that packing survived a real trip?
- Does the courier you use accept it?
- What happens if it arrives broken?
Atlantic Prints sent three framed test prints to friends in different counties before launching the framed range. One arrived with a cracked corner protector but intact glass, which led to adding an extra layer of foam.
Then tell buyers what you've done and what happens if it goes wrong: "Framed prints are packed with corner protectors and foam. If the glass arrives cracked, send a photo of the box and frame within 48 hours and we'll send a replacement."
Only describe a process you actually follow, and keep the time limit realistic for your customers.
Be honest about where you deliver, and what happens at the border
"We ship worldwide" is rarely the whole truth. Different places mean different couriers, different tracking, different costs and sometimes customs charges.
Say clearly where you deliver and where you don't, per product type if it differs. Atlantic Prints sends unframed prints to the UK and EU, but framed prints only to Ireland and the UK, because the courier's rates and breakage risk outside that area made it unworkable.
For deliveries that cross a customs border, only tell buyers they may need to pay import charges if you know that's accurate for their destination. If you're not sure, point them to a way to ask before ordering rather than guessing.
The gift-date question: the answer people need most and are given least
A large share of art print orders are gifts. For those buyers, the arrival date is the whole point.
Most pages only say "ships in 2 to 3 days" and leave the buyer to count working days and guess the courier.
Atlantic Prints now adds a short, dated note in busy seasons: "Order framed prints by 8 December for delivery in Ireland before Christmas." The date comes from working backwards from the courier's last reliable delivery day, the five-day framing time and a margin for the busiest week.
They also invite urgent questions: "Need it by a particular date? Email before ordering and we'll tell you honestly." An honest "it won't make it" saves a disappointed customer.
And the dated notes come down the day they expire. An old cut-off banner left up in January looks careless.
Make every delivery message tell the same story
A buyer meets your delivery information in many places: the product page, the basket, checkout, the confirmation email, the dispatch email, the help page, saved replies, banners and social posts.
To them, all of these are one promise. So they need to agree.
Atlantic Prints' confirmation email said "Your order will be dispatched within 2 working days" for every order, including framed prints. Someone who'd read "about 5 working days" on the page then got an email promising 2. When the print didn't arrive on time, they assumed something had gone wrong.
The fix was two confirmation templates: one for unframed prints, one for framed. Check every place your delivery wording appears whenever a rule changes.
Clear delivery information is also a trust signal for a shop people don't know
For a new visitor who's never heard of you, specific delivery information does more than answer a practical question.
Specific times, a named way of sending, a clear charge and a visible route for help all quietly say: this is a real business, and it'll look after my order. Vague or missing delivery details suggest the opposite, even when the products are excellent.
For a small brand, clear delivery wording is one of the cheapest ways to make a stranger comfortable enough to buy.
Give returns their own short line, next to delivery but not inside it
Buyers often look for returns information in the same place as delivery. So put one short line beside the delivery note, but keep the two separate.
For Atlantic Prints:
"Changed your mind? Unframed prints can be returned within 30 days. Framed prints are made to order, so see our returns policy for what applies."
Then link to the full policy. Delivery time tells someone when it arrives. It doesn't tell them who pays to send it back or how long they have. Consumer rights on returns depend on where you and your buyers are, and on whether an item is made to order, so check current guidance for what you're required to offer.
Put the same delivery and help details on the packing slip
When a parcel is late or damaged, the customer often can't find the confirmation email. So Atlantic Prints prints the key details on every packing slip: the help email address, what to do if the glass is cracked, and the 48-hour window.
The customer has the right route in their hands at the exact moment they need it.
Keep delivery answers fresh, because they change more often than anything else
Couriers change prices. Bank holidays come round. You add a new country or a new product type.
Decide in advance what makes you recheck your delivery wording:
- A new courier or service
- A change in rates
- New packaging
- A new destination
- A seasonal cut-off
- A new kind of product, like Atlantic Prints adding framed work
When one of these happens, run the basket and address tests again and update every place the wording appears. Keep a dated copy of the old wording, so you know what you promised anyone who ordered before the change.
Your next step this week
List the different kinds of product you sell, and write down how each one really ships: preparation time, carrier, charge, destinations and what happens if it's damaged.
If two kinds ship differently but share one delivery line, that's your first fix.
Then open one product of each kind on your phone. Can you see, beside the button, when it'll be ready, roughly when it'll arrive and how the charge works?
Finally, add it to your basket with a real address and check that the basket and the confirmation email say the same thing as the page.
Keep going
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