# Configuring Flat Rate Shipping in WooCommerce

> **Source video:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5N99INu6Fs

This guide covers everything flat rate shipping can do for your store, including how to add it to a zone and how to use its cost placeholders for quantity-based, percentage, and minimum-fee calculations.

## Adding Flat Rate to a Zone

Shipping zones are essential to use a shipping method like flat rate, so make sure you have created some first.

1. Hover over **WooCommerce**, then select **Settings** and the **Shipping** tab.
2. Find the zone you want to add flat rate to and select its name, or hover over it and select **Edit**.
3. Within the zone, select the **Add shipping method** button.
4. In the popup, choose **Flat rate** from the drop-down.

The method is added with a title, its status (whether it is enabled), and a description. You can change these details by selecting the title, or hovering over it and selecting **Edit**.

## Setting Up the Flat Rate

In the edit popup you can:

- Change the method title
- Choose whether or not it is taxable
- Set the cost

## Using Cost Placeholders

You can set a simple flat rate like `$5`, but there is more to the cost field than meets the eye. There are three placeholders you can use to calculate a flat rate:

- `[qty]` — for the quantity of the items
- `[cost]` — for the total cost of the order
- `[fee]` — for a percentage-based fee

Here are examples using each placeholder:

**Charge per item:** To charge $3 for each item in the cart, type the quantity placeholder `[qty]`, then a space, an asterisk, another space, and your desired rate of `3`:

```
[qty] * 3
```

**Charge a percentage of order cost:** To charge 10% of the total cost for shipping, start with the cost placeholder `[cost]`, then a space, an asterisk, and the desired percentage rate:

```
[cost] * 10
```

**Percentage with a minimum fee:** To charge 15% of the order's total cost but also require a minimum shipping fee of $10, use an opening bracket, the fee placeholder with the percentage in quotes, then a space and `min_fee` with the minimum cost in quotes, then a closing bracket:

```
[fee percent="15" min_fee="10"]
```

Once you've set the flat rate for the zone, select **Save Changes**.