A full product discount still leaves shipping to pay

Find where the remaining balance sits

Take the affected checkout summary or saved order and separate the product subtotal, product discount, shipping, tax, any other named charges and final amount due. Keep the currency and observation time with the record. Confirm that the coupon actually covered every product rather than inferring that from the coupon name or a banner.

Use amounts from the same stage of the order. Comparing an earlier cart estimate with a later order total can conceal what changed. Preserve whether each displayed amount includes tax, and avoid adding a separately displayed tax amount again if it is already included. The purpose is to reproduce the store's recorded breakdown, not to invent a tax formula.

If the product subtotal and product discount offset each other but shipping remains, the remaining shipping line fits the documented separation between product discounts and shipping. If the final amount exceeds the identified remaining lines, leave the unexplained difference visible. The coupon rule alone does not explain every component of an unseen order.

A product coupon does not pay for shipping

WooCommerce's coupon guide states that coupons apply to cart items and do not affect shipping, with free-shipping coupons as the documented exception. Raising a product discount to cover a shipping amount is therefore not the same configuration as granting free shipping. The discount's product scope and the shipping method's charge must be inspected separately.

For an intended free-shipping offer, inspect Allow Free Shipping on the coupon and the linked free-shipping method setup. The checkbox is used with that method; it is not evidence that every paid shipping option becomes free. Record which shipping method was actually selected and what the available method required for this order. A free option that was not selected is a different investigation from no qualifying free option being available.

If a shipping or coupon extension controls the offer, identify that component and its installed version before applying the core rule as a complete diagnosis. The official coupon guide describes core behavior and notes that plugins or customizations can change the settings. Preserve the observed shipping result for the owner of the actual implementation.

Keep tax and additional charges explicit

The coupon guide describes product discounts being applied before tax calculation. It does not determine the merchant's tax obligations or guarantee that the entire order's tax becomes zero. Read the actual resulting tax lines and their display basis. Any disputed tax amount needs the store's relevant configuration and applicable advice, rather than an assumption that free products make every charge disappear.

Other remaining amounts need their own labels and evidence. Identify the setting or extension responsible for a charge before explaining it to the buyer. If all recorded product charges are removed and shipping is the only remaining amount, say that precisely. If tax or another charge remains too, do not describe the balance as shipping only.

Resolve the promise as well as the configuration

Compare the result with the actual promotion, product page and checkout wording. An offer that expressly covers product prices has a different scope from one promising nothing to pay. If the published promise includes shipping but the configured offer leaves a shipping charge, name the discrepancy for the merchant's offer owner. A technically explainable total can still conflict with the store's own promise.

The offer owner should decide the intended terms and authorize the corresponding wording or settings correction. Preserve the wording and totals that applied to existing orders instead of treating a later edit as proof of what an earlier buyer saw. This guide does not decide refunds or how an existing commitment must be resolved.

For a Prism checkout consultation, summarize the offer, the product discount and the remaining charge without sending customer records. Confirm the requested review or implementation scope, responsibilities, fees and terms before work begins. The useful starting question is which part of the stated offer and actual total needs to be brought into agreement.

Remaining-balance explanation

Use one real checkout observation or saved order throughout. Enter amounts with their currency and tax-display basis. The final column should let you identify every remaining charge; an unexplained difference is a finding to investigate, not a figure to fill by guessing.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.