# Free shipping for retail customers, not wholesale, in Shopify

To give free shipping to retail customers but not wholesale buyers, tag your wholesale customers `Wholesale` and add the condition **Customer tag** **Does not contain** Wholesale to your shipping discount. Retail shoppers and guests get free shipping. Signed-in wholesale buyers pay normal shipping. Shopify's own [free shipping discount](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/discount-types/free-shipping) has no customer tag condition. [RM: Advanced Free Shipping](https://apps.shopify.com/better-free-shipping) reads the tag at checkout and pairs it with a threshold, the rates you choose, or any other condition. The app is $9.90 USD every 30 days, with a 7-day free trial, billed by Shopify.

One merchant, Joy Lane Farm, put it this way in their review: "We used this to separate our free shipping for retail customers from our wholesale customers. It works perfectly, super easy to use."

## What the customer gets

In this example retail customers get free shipping over $75. Standard is $8.90.

- **Qualifies.** A retail shopper checks out as a guest with an $80 cart. Standard shows $8.90 crossed out and free. The customer pays $80.
- **Doesn't qualify.** A wholesale buyer, signed in, places a $500 order. The tag blocks the discount, so they pay $500 + $8.90 = $508.90.
- **Doesn't qualify.** A retail shopper with a $60 cart is under $75. They pay $60 + $8.90 = $68.90.

## Set it up

1. In Shopify admin, add the tag `Wholesale` to each wholesale customer. See Shopify's guide to [using tags](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-admin/productivity-tools/using-tags). Wholesale apps that tag customers in Shopify work too.
2. In the app, click **Create Shipping Discount**.
3. Under **Discount method**, choose **Automatic discount**. New discounts start on **Discount code**, and the method can't be changed later. Enter a **Title** such as "Free shipping over $75".
4. In **Conditions**, click **Add condition** and choose **Customer tag**. Set the operator to **Does not contain**, then type `Wholesale` and press Enter.
5. Click **Add condition**. Choose **Cart total**, set **Is at least** and enter `75`.
6. In **Discount setup**, set **Delivery type** to **Shipping**, **Which rates** to **All shipping rates** and **Discount value** to **Free**.
7. Click **Create discount**.

![A Customer tag condition set to Contains, with the tag VIP added](/images/customer-tag.png)

The screenshot shows the Customer tag condition with **Contains** and the tag VIP. For this offer, switch the operator to **Does not contain** and enter Wholesale.

## Variations

- **Leave out several groups:** add every tag to the same condition, for example `Wholesale`, `Trade`. **Does not contain** means the customer has none of them.
- **A flat rate for wholesale instead:** create a second discount with **Customer tag** **Contains** Wholesale and **Discount value** **Fixed Price** 5. Their $8.90 Standard becomes $5.
- **Wholesale ships free over a bigger order:** create a second discount with **Customer tag** **Contains** Wholesale and **Cart total** **Is at least** 1000.
- **Free Standard only for retail:** set **Which rates** to **Choose specific rates** and select Standard.
- **Count the $75 before discount codes:** use **Cart subtotal** instead of **Cart total**.

## Good to know

- **To make sure wholesale buyers are excluded,** ask them to sign in at checkout. A guest has no tags, so a wholesale buyer who checks out as a guest, or with another email, gets the retail offer.
- **To target B2B buyers,** tag them `Wholesale` (or your own tag) on their customer profile and use the tag condition.
- **To test both sides,** check out once as a guest and once signed in to a test account tagged Wholesale. In **Test mode**, use `ABC123` as the shipping first name.
- **To run the opposite offer,** use separate discounts. Keep one Customer tag condition per discount.
- **When a buyer qualifies for two shipping discounts,** Shopify applies the one that saves them the most on each rate.

## Related

- [Free shipping for VIP customers](/guides/free-shipping-for-vip-customers.md)
- [Free shipping over $100](/guides/free-shipping-over-100.md)
- [Flat rate shipping over an amount](/guides/flat-rate-shipping-over-amount.md)
- [Conditional free shipping on Shopify](/conditional-free-shipping.md)

[Install RM: Advanced Free Shipping from the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/better-free-shipping).