The Smartest Way to Apply Tariff Surcharges on Shopify
The best way to pass on tariffs to customers on Shopify is with a clear strategy that communicates the fee at every step of the buying journey. By being transparent on your homepage, product pages, and at checkout, you can help customers understand the charge and avoid surprises. An app like Magical Product Fees helps you do exactly that, by showing the fee as a separate line item, displaying both the percentage rate and final fee, and using app block messages to explain the charge directly on your store.
Why Transparency Is the Key to Keeping Customers When Adding Tariffs
Tariffs are frustrating for both you and your customers. As a merchant, you face higher import costs, but passing those costs onto your customers comes with risks. If you hide the fee in your product price, shoppers may feel you are overcharging. If you spring the fee at checkout without explanation, they may abandon their cart.
It’s important to have a strategy that communicates tariff surcharges to your customers. Part of that strategy is to use an app like Magical Product Fees to separate the tariff surcharge from your product price and show it clearly during checkout. This keeps your pricing transparent and helps customers understand the reason for the extra charge.
In this article, I’ll show you some tips and tricks that will help you convey the right message. Customers will see you’re being upfront and not trying to take advantage of them. This makes them more likely to complete their purchase, even with the added fee.
Key Benefits of Magical Product Fees
An app like Magical Product Fees offers the easiest way to communicate tariffs with customers:
- Show the tariff as a separate line item so customers understand what they are paying for.
- Apply tariffs by product or collection so customers only see fees on products that are actually subject to them.
- App blocks show both the percentage rate and final fee on your product pages, increasing transparency.
- App blocks explain the fee directly on your product page and in checkout, reinforcing that it is external and unavoidable.
- Avoid surprising customers with charges and maintain confidence in your store’s pricing.
- Install the app and start passing on tariff costs in just a few minutes, no coding required.
Video Explainer
I’ve personally worked with Shopify merchants who have expressed concern over how to handle tariffs. In this short video, I explain the best way to communicate tariffs with customers.
What Merchants Are Saying
Merchants trust Magical Product Fees to help them apply and explain tariff surcharges without losing customer trust.
★★★★★
Paint With Diamonds, United States
“Super responsive and helpful support. Very useful app when it comes to being transparent about tariffs.”
★★★★★
Creating Perfume, United States
“Such an amazing app. Was looking for months how to add extra fee to the products. The support is also amazing. They helped me with the needed information. GREAT!”
If you’re charging tariff fees, Magical Product Fees helps you apply them with transparency, so your customers stay informed, confident, and more likely to convert.
Overcome Tariffs by Building Trust, Loyalty, and Value
Build Trust with Transparent Pricing
Displaying tariffs the wrong way, either by hiding them in product prices or springing them on customers at checkout, can lead to confusion and lost sales. The better approach is to show fees clearly and explain them upfront, which builds trust and improves conversion.
Here are 3 things you can do to keep your tariff fees transparent:
1. Show the Tariff as a Separate Line Item
Instead of hiding the fee inside your product price, display it clearly on product pages, in the cart, and at checkout.
Label it as “Tariff Surcharge” or something similar. When the fee appears on its own line, your original product price stays intact. Customers can immediately see exactly how much the fee is, which helps them understand it’s a government-imposed cost, not an arbitrary markup.
Shopify doesn’t natively support applying tariff surcharges as a separate line item. Apps like Magical Product Fees allow you to easily separate fees from product prices.
2. Show the actual percentage to the customer, not just the final dollar amount.
Displaying only the calculated dollar amount of the tariff surcharge can leave customers guessing how the fee was determined. By showing both the percentage rate and the final fee, customers immediately understand how the surcharge is calculated.
If products on your store have varying percentages, apps like Magical Product Fees make it easy to add a block to your product page which automatically displays the correct percentage.
3. Position the Fee as Temporary or External
When displaying fees, a short text message will give you an opportunity to explain why the fee is being charged. You’ll want to emphasize that the cost is out of your control and shared across the market.
Instead of saying “Additional fees apply at checkout” you could say, “Due to current government tariffs, a temporary surcharge of 20% applies to imported items valued over $800.”
In this statement, you are framing the fee as external and out of your control (due to current government tariffs) which reinforces that the inconvenience is shared between you and your customers.
The word “temporary” is optional. Framing the tariff as time-bound helps to alleviate long-term resentment.
With Magical Product Fees, you can easily update the fee message on any product page that includes a surcharge; I’ve helped several merchants do exactly this to keep their messaging clear. Or, you can add a general message across all your product pages using the theme editor, but keep in mind this will apply to all products, even those that don’t have a tariff.
Build Loyalty by Educating Customers on Tariffs
Many customers don’t understand tariffs, and when left confused, they often assume the worst about added fees. By proactively explaining the reason behind the surcharge, you build trust and help customers feel confident continuing with their purchase.
Here are 3 ways you can educate customers on tariffs:
1. Proactively Explain the Tariff to Customers on a Dedicated Page
Create a dedicated page on your website that explains tariffs in more detail, including what tariffs are, how they impact your pricing, and most importantly, how you’re actively protecting your customers’ experience while being transparent about the unavoidable nature of these costs.
Make it about your customers. The page should answer the questions they’re really thinking:
- Is this fair? Am I paying more than I should be for this product?
- Is this unavoidable? Should these tariffs really be passed on to me?
- Are you still looking out for me? Is this merchant just trying to take advantage of me?
Link this page in your main menu so it’s easy for customers to find.
You can also treat this as an FAQ page by listing your most common customer questions about fees. This serves as a helpful hub for both your customers and your staff, giving everyone clear, consistent answers.
Shopify store Rollacrit has a tariff page you can view as a real-world example.
2. Train Your Support Team (or Yourself) to Handle Tariff Questions Confidently
If you’ve created the dedicated page above with FAQs, you’re already off to a good start. Taking the time to craft thoughtful answers not only helps customers but also arms your support team with clear messaging. Make sure your staff are familiar with the FAQ page and know how to refer to it confidently.
You can also train them to use email templates that provide clear, consistent answers to common tariff questions. This ensures your team is always aligned with your company’s messaging, and prepared to handle tough objections from customers who may be skeptical about the fees.
3. Prepare Customers for Tariffs Before They Start Shopping
The earlier you educate customers about tariffs, the better. The moment someone lands on your homepage, you have an opportunity to set expectations so there are no surprises later in their shopping experience.
You can create a message using:
- A homepage popup
- A site-wide banner
- A top-of-site announcement bar
You can use the same messaging from your Magical Product Fees set up to ensure consistency across your banners and popups.
Don’t wait for customers to stumble upon this information…surface it upfront.
Build Value by Making Tariffs Work for You
Tariffs can leave you feeling pinned down, at the mercy of a volatile and unpredictable economic policy. Passing on tariffs to customers eats into their willingness to spend, leaving you with fewer sales.
Make tariffs work for you. Spin the situation by building value. I’ll explain how below:
1. Bundle Perceived Value with the Tariff Fee
Your customers likely feel like they’re “getting less” by paying more for the same product. Counteract it by increasing perceived value alongside the fee.
One way to do this is to add a small bonus or service add-on.
- “To offset rising tariffs, we’ve added complimentary expedited handling on all orders.”
- “All orders subject to tariffs are prioritized for fastest processing.”
- “You’ll earn double loyalty points on all orders impacted by tariffs.”
This helps neutralize the pain of the fee by layering in perceived value. If they feel like they’re getting something extra, they’re less likely to feel ripped off.
You can even customize your fee label with Magical Product Fees to mention the added value, like “Tariff Surcharge (Includes Expedited Handling).” Small details like this make the added value visible right at checkout.
2. Offer a Spend Threshold for Tariff-Free Orders
As a merchant you may welcome discounts for large orders. Use this to your advantage to offset the tariff burden if customers spend a certain amount.
For example, “Orders over $1500? We’ll cover the import fee.”
People love free thresholds (free shipping, free returns). It motivates higher spending and absorbs the fee as a perk, increasing average order value (AOV) and and softening the pain of the tariff fee.
If you do this, you can show the fee as $0 at checkout. This keeps things transparent while also helping customers feel like they got a great deal.
3. Bundle Tariffed Items with Non-Tariffed Items
The bundling effect is when customers focus on the total value of a package rather than the cost of individual items, which helps soften price sensitivity.
If possible, create bundles that mix tariff-impacted items with non-impacted ones, so the overall value of the bundle feels stronger and diffuses focus on the surcharge.
Example: “Bundle and save, get our new [insert tariffed good here] with our locally made accessories at a special price.”
This reduces pricing scrutiny and encourages customers to focus on the total perceived value of the bundle, rather than individual line-item costs.
Each of these 3 tactics is about psychologically balancing the pain of the fee by giving customers something in return, whether it’s added value, a clear incentive to spend more, or a stronger deal on bundled products.
Key Takeaway
If you’re passing on tariffs to customers, the most effective way is to use an app like Magical Product Fees to apply and display surcharges clearly. Without a strategy for communicating these fees, you risk abandoned carts and lost sales. With the right setup, you can keep customers informed and protect your margins.
Magical Product Fees
The Magical Product Fees app is a fast and easy way to build, customize, and attach fees to products or entire orders.