- Short answer
- Shopify sells label insurance for parcels shipped from the US; the checkout shipping protection fees we found come from apps.
- Label insurance
- From-US shipments only; up to $200 included on Grow, Advanced or Plus with Shopify Payments and/or Managed Markets.
- Shopify Protect
- Helps protect eligible Shop Pay orders of US merchants against fraudulent and unrecognized chargebacks — not lost or damaged parcels.
- Shop Promise
- Not loss cover; its late-delivery Shop Cash is ending, with claims on earlier orders by December 16, 2026.
- Checkout add-on rule
- App Store requirement 1.1.9: no pre-selected fee; the buyer must explicitly consent first.
- As of
- Shopify and Shop Help Centers, shopify.dev, App Store listings: September 26, 2026; Shop Promise: October 29.
What does Shopify itself sell against lost or damaged parcels?
If you ship orders from the United States and buy the label in Shopify's shipping labels, you can buy shipping insurance for up to $5,000 USD of coverage against loss, theft, or damage. You add it to the label you buy, so it protects your side of the shipment.
On some plans part of it is already paid for: if you're on the Grow, Advanced, or Plus plan and use Shopify Payments and/or Managed Markets, Shopify automatically includes up to $200 USD of shipping insurance on each eligible shipment at no extra cost. For what coverage above that costs, see what insurance costs when it is not included.
You file an insurance claim from your Shopify admin, and Shipsurance, not Shopify, helps with it. Shipsurance is the insurance administrator for coverage you buy through Shopify; Shopify doesn't support insurance claims, so if you need help with one, you contact Shipsurance support directly. For a parcel worth more than $5,000, see when you need more than $5,000.
Are Shopify Protect and Shop Promise shipping protection?
Shopify Protect is free chargeback protection from fraud: it helps protect eligible orders against fraudulent and unrecognized chargebacks on Shop Pay orders, for merchants located in the United States with a United States Shopify Payments account. It answers a fraudulent chargeback, not a lost or damaged parcel — see which Shop Pay orders it still leaves out.
Shop Promise never covered loss, and its lateness credit is ending: the updated Shop Promise, which stores move to gradually, doesn't include a delivery guarantee, so orders placed after your store moved earn the buyer no Shop Cash when they arrive late. On eligible orders placed before the move, a buyer whose order arrived late may still get $5.00 USD in Shop Cash, claimed no later than December 16, 2026. If you've seen "Shop Protect" mentioned, no Shopify or Shop help page we read on September 26, 2026 — the Shopify Protect pages and Shop's Shop Promise, shopping-safely and delivery-tracking pages — describes a buyer product by that name.
Where does a shipping protection fee at checkout come from?
None of the Shopify pages we read on September 26, 2026 — the shipping insurance guide with its claims and Managed Markets pages, and Shopify's Protect page — describes a first-party checkout line sold to buyers as shipping protection. Some apps on the Shopify App Store add a shipping protection line at checkout; two listings, read the same day, show the range.
Route is "Free to install", with "Additional charges may apply" and a pointer to Route's own pricing page. Navidium's listing, as of September 26, 2026, charges your store $0 for up to 50 orders a month, then $29.99 a month for fewer than 501 orders, up to $99.99 a month for unlimited orders.
Navidium's listing says it doesn't underwrite claims: you collect the fees and manage your own claims. Route's listing describes "licensed package protection" without saying who pays a claim. Whichever app you pick, read its own terms before you install it.
What must an app do before it adds that fee to a cart?
For apps on the Shopify App Store, requirement 1.1.9 sets the rule for any optional charge added to a buyer's cart:
Apps can't automatically add or pre-select optional charges to a buyer's cart that increase the total checkout price. Apps can only add optional charges to carts or at checkout after displaying the additional cost in a manner that is clear to the buyer, and upon obtaining explicit buyer consent.
Requirement 5.6.5 repeats it for checkout customization apps: get explicit customer consent prior to making any changes that affect the order total. Under these rules, an App Store app can't add the protection line pre-selected; the buyer has to opt in.
What each option covers
| Option | What it answers | Who it serves | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shipping insurance | Loss, theft or damage | You, as insurance on the label | Shipments from the US |
| Shopify Protect | Fraudulent and unrecognized chargebacks | You, free | Shop Pay orders, US merchants |
| Shop Promise | A missed delivery date, on older orders only | The buyer: may get $5.00 USD in Shop Cash, claimed by December 16, 2026 | Eligible orders placed before the store moved to the updated program |
| Protection app | Whatever its own terms say | You and the buyer who opts in; claims per the app's terms | App Store listing; opt-in rule 1.1.9 |
Read on the Shopify Help Center, Shop Help Center, shopify.dev and Shopify App Store, September 26, 2026; the Shop Promise row re-read October 29, 2026.
This page was written by AI. Separate AI agents that did not write it check its figures and claims against official sources and test its links and interactive tools. A human editor sets the site's editorial direction, topics and rules and checks that pages are complete and display correctly, but does not check their facts or edit their text. Details may change — always confirm critical data at shopify.com.
Editorial Policy