Understanding Your Order Data

When calculating shipping rates, your Liquid template has access to detailed information about the order through the shopify_rate_check object. This page explains what data is available and how to use it.

The rate check object

In the top right panel of Rate Lab, you’ll see a JSON object containing all the order information Shopify provides. Your Liquid template accesses this data to make shipping decisions.

Basic structure

shopify_rate_check
  ├── rate (origin information)
  ├── items (or line_items - the products being ordered)
  ├── destination (shipping address)
  ├── currency
  └── locale

Line items (products in cart)

Access products using shopify_rate_check.items or shopify_rate_check.line_items:

{% for item in shopify_rate_check.items %}
  {{ item.name }}         <!-- Product name -->
  {{ item.quantity }}     <!-- How many -->
  {{ item.grams }}        <!-- Weight per unit -->
  {{ item.price }}        <!-- Price per unit in cents -->
  {{ item.sku }}          <!-- Product SKU -->
  {{ item.vendor }}       <!-- Product vendor -->
  {{ item.requires_shipping }}  <!-- true/false -->
{% endfor %}

Common patterns with items

Calculate total weight:

{% assign total_weight = shopify_rate_check.items | sum: "grams" %}

Calculate cart subtotal:

{% assign subtotal = 0 %}
{% for item in shopify_rate_check.items %}
  {% assign line_total = item.price | times: item.quantity %}
  {% assign subtotal = subtotal | plus: line_total %}
{% endfor %}

Count items by SKU:

{% assign kayak_items = shopify_rate_check.items | where: "sku", "KAYAK-01" %}
{% assign kayak_count = kayak_items | size %}

Filter by vendor:

{% assign acme_items = shopify_rate_check.items | where: "vendor", "Acme Corp" %}

Check for specific products:

{% assign has_hazmat = false %}
{% for item in shopify_rate_check.items %}
  {% if item.properties contains "hazmat" %}
    {% assign has_hazmat = true %}
  {% endif %}
{% endfor %}

Destination (shipping address)

Access shipping address details:

{{ shopify_rate_check.destination.country_code }}  <!-- US, CA, GB, etc. -->
{{ shopify_rate_check.destination.province_code }}  <!-- State/province (NY, ON, etc.) -->
{{ shopify_rate_check.destination.city }}
{{ shopify_rate_check.destination.postal_code }}

Geographic logic examples

Charge more for Alaska/Hawaii:

{% assign base_price = 995 %}
{% if shopify_rate_check.destination.province_code == "AK" or shopify_rate_check.destination.province_code == "HI" %}
  {% assign base_price = 1995 %}
{% endif %}

Block PO boxes:

{% assign address = shopify_rate_check.destination.address1 | downcase %}
{% if address contains "po box" or address contains "p.o. box" %}
  <!-- Return no rates or a special handling rate -->
{% endif %}

International surcharge:

{% assign surcharge = 0 %}
{% if shopify_rate_check.destination.country_code != "US" %}
  {% assign surcharge = 1500 %}
{% endif %}

Currency

The order’s currency is available at:

{{ shopify_rate_check.currency }}  <!-- USD, CAD, EUR, etc. -->

Always return rates in the same currency:

{
  "rates": [{
    "service_name": "Standard Shipping",
    "service_code": "STANDARD",
    "currency": {{ shopify_rate_check.currency | json }},
    "total_price": 995
  }]
}

Product properties and metafields

Items can have custom properties and metafields that you can use in your logic:

{% for item in shopify_rate_check.items %}
  {% if item.properties.gift_wrap == "true" %}
    <!-- Add gift wrap fee -->
  {% endif %}
{% endfor %}

Advanced: Working with variants

Some rate checks include variant information:

{% for item in shopify_rate_check.items %}
  {{ item.variant_id }}
  {{ item.product_id }}
  {{ item.variant_title }}
{% endfor %}

Testing different scenarios

In Rate Lab’s top right panel, you can edit this data to test how your rates respond: Test heavier orders: Change "grams": 500 to "grams": 5000 on an item Test international shipping: Change "country_code": "US" to "country_code": "CA" Test high-value orders: Change item prices or quantities to create a large cart total Test specific products: Add or remove items, change SKUs, modify vendor names

Prices are always in cents

Remember: all price values in Rate Lab are in cents (or smallest currency unit):

"price": 1995 = $19.95
"price": 50 = $0.50
Your total_price should also be in cents

Next steps

Now that you understand what data is available, explore how to use it:

Shipping Examples - See real-world examples using this data
Cart & Pricing - Calculate rates based on cart value and weight
Destination Controls - Adjust rates by geography
Product Qualifiers - Use SKUs, vendors, and properties

Getting Started

Using Rate Lab

Shipping Logic Examples

Reference

Live updates

Understanding Your Order Data

The rate check object

Basic structure

Line items (products in cart)

Common patterns with items

Destination (shipping address)

Geographic logic examples

Currency

Product properties and metafields

Advanced: Working with variants

Testing different scenarios

Prices are always in cents

Next steps

​Understanding Your Order Data

​The rate check object

​Basic structure

​Line items (products in cart)

​Common patterns with items

​Destination (shipping address)

​Geographic logic examples

​Currency

​Product properties and metafields

​Advanced: Working with variants

​Testing different scenarios

​Prices are always in cents

​Next steps

Understanding Your Order Data

The rate check object

Basic structure

Line items (products in cart)

Common patterns with items

Destination (shipping address)

Geographic logic examples

Currency

Product properties and metafields

Advanced: Working with variants

Testing different scenarios

Prices are always in cents

Next steps