Advanced Automation Rules
Create sophisticated shipping rules that make complex decisions automatically. Set up conditional logic based on weight, dimensions, destination, customer type, and more to remove the repetitive manual decisions your team makes on every order. A single rule can right-size the box, rate-shop for the lowest-cost eligible service, and sync the result to your other tools through integrations.
Stop Making the Same Decisions Over and Over
This rule engine was built inside the founder's own operation — a 1,000–2,000-order-a-day ShipStation account where every decision below was somebody's manual job.
- The right box, chosen by hand
- Multi-item orders don't box themselves. Someone sized a package for each one so carriers weren't billed for shipping air.
- The right carrier, shopped by hand
- Each order compared against the right accounts for every dropshipper's setup — one order at a time, all day.
- The right slip, edited by hand
- Home Depot, Macy's, and Lowe's each dictate their own packing-slip spec, and a single miss is a scorecard ding or chargeback.
Rule Examples
Rules you can build
- 🏃♂️ Express Orders
-
IF order value > $200 AND order tag = "VIP"
THEN set service to FedEx Overnight + add tag "express" - 📦 Fragile Items
-
IF order weight > 80 oz AND order tag = "fragile"
THEN set box + add internal note - 🌡️ Cold Weather Shipments
-
IF destination forecast < 40°F AND item name contains "plant"
THEN set service to 2-day + add internal note
How to automatically add heat packs in ShipStation - 💰 Cost Optimization
-
IF order value < $50
THEN rate shop for the lowest-cost eligible service + calculate package
Powerful Rule Engine Features
- Conditional Logic
- Complex IF/THEN statements with AND/OR operators for sophisticated decision trees
- Multi-Factor Rules
- Consider weight, dimensions, destination, customer type, product category, and more
- Real-Time Processing
- Process arriving orders or run a batch. Total time depends on actions, batch size and ShipStation API pacing.
- Rule Analytics
- Track which rules fire most often and optimize your automation logic
- Dry Run Testing
- Preview what changes rules will make before applying them to live orders
- Rule Priorities
- Set rule execution order for complex scenarios
Automation Results
The figures below come from the operation ShipExtension was built inside — not projections.
Figures from PPC International, the founder's own operation — no extrapolation. *Rate-shopping savings measured against orders shipped without rate shopping; if you already use ShipStation's Rate Shopper, expect less.
How It Works
From connected account to automated orders in three steps
Connect ShipStation
ShipExtension links to ShipStation over its API and reads your orders, stores, tags, and products — no change to your setup.
Build a rule
Set conditions — customer, product, destination, tag, even destination weather — and the actions that follow. Chain as many as you need.
Run automatically
Rules run on a schedule, across bulk batches, or in real time via webhook, writing every change straight back to ShipStation.
Doing it in ShipStation vs ShipExtension
Automating a shipping decision
ShipStation
Static if-this-then-that rules, limited to the data ShipStation already stores
ShipExtension
Chained, conditional rules that react to weather and other external data and run on a schedule or webhook
FAQ
ShipStation automation rules FAQ
- Does ShipStation have automation rules?
- ShipStation includes basic automation rules for simple actions. ShipExtension adds an advanced rule engine that runs conditional logic across whole batches of orders and reacts to conditions ShipStation can't see on its own.
- What can ShipStation workflow automation do with ShipExtension?
- You can match orders by customer, product, destination, tag, or even destination weather, then automatically tag them, add notes, set custom fields, adjust weight and dimensions, pick the right box, and rate-shop carriers — all in one pass.
- How are ShipExtension automation rules different from ShipStation's?
- They chain together so one rule builds on the last (for example, pick a box, then rate-shop that package), they respond to data ShipStation doesn't track like destination forecasts, and they can re-run on a schedule or in real time after import — while ShipStation's native rules fire once at import.
- Can rules run automatically on new orders?
- Yes. Rules can run on a schedule, across bulk batches, or in real time as orders arrive through a webhook, so new orders are processed without anyone pressing a button.
- Will the rules change my orders in ShipStation?
- Rules only modify the orders inside the groups you define, and only in the ways you configure. The rest of your ShipStation setup — stores, carriers, and untargeted orders — is left untouched.
Ready to automate your shipping decisions?
Start creating intelligent automation rules that handle complex shipping logic
Related comparisons
ShipStation automation rules vs ShipExtension
A side-by-side of what ShipStation's native rule engine covers and which decisions still need an extension — multi-SKU conditions, cartonization, and batch re-passes.
ShipStation Rate Shopper vs ShipExtension
Native Rate Shopper compares services, not package types. Here's what changes when box choice comes first.
Your first workflow
Technical details
- The recurring task
- Your team repeatedly fixes the same SKU combinations or shipping exceptions. Configure matching conditions and the specific actions to apply.
- Representative input and result
- An order matching your configured conditions can preview a service, dimensions, custom field or note. The dry run lists matched orders and proposed changes.
- Information needed
- A representative awaiting-shipment order, exact conditions, target values, rule order and store scope. Product-based conditions may need imported products.
- Verification and limitations
- Run the rule's Dry Run and inspect each change. No-match and error results are not verification. Some actions, including rate shopping and outgoing webhooks, describe intentions only and need assisted verification. Apply and enable are explicit live operations.
- ShipStation API scope
- V1 supplies orders and standard order writes. V2-only operations such as batch assignment require a V2 token. Supported fields depend on the chosen action; not every V1 field has a V2 equivalent.
- Subscription and setup
- Automate: $179/month for up to 2,000 orders. Optimize: $499/month for up to 10,000 orders. Packing slips are a separate add-on. Initial setup help is available; custom implementation scope is confirmed separately.
Total processing includes fetching orders and any API operations. Time varies with batch size, actions and API pacing; no fixed completion time is guaranteed.