Merchants with customers outside the continental United States often run into complications with dropshipping suppliers. Flat-rate shipping promises frequently come with an asterisk — "continental US only" — that excludes Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and military APO/FPO addresses. If you are building a Shopify book store that serves a broad US audience, it is worth knowing exactly what BooksCloud covers before a customer in Honolulu places an order.
The Short Answer
BooksCloud ships to all 50 US states — including Hawaii and Alaska — at the same $7 flat rate. There is no surcharge for non-continental delivery.
Beyond the 50 states, BooksCloud also covers:
- US territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands
- APO/FPO/DPO addresses: Military and diplomatic addresses that use USPS for delivery
The $7 flat rate applies to all of these locations. There is no tiered pricing based on geography.
Why This Is Possible
BooksCloud ships via USPS, and USPS Media Mail rates are structured nationally. The postal service was designed to provide consistent service across all US jurisdictions, including territories and military addresses. Because BooksCloud uses USPS as its carrier, the coverage area and rate structure reflect USPS's own policies rather than the more complex commercial carrier surcharges that UPS and FedEx charge for non-continental destinations.
What About Delivery Time?
The standard 3–7 day delivery window applies to most US locations. For Hawaii, Alaska, and US territories, actual transit times may run toward the longer end of that range or occasionally slightly beyond it, depending on routing. USPS does not guarantee specific delivery windows for Media Mail, so some variability is expected. Print-on-demand titles always carry a longer window of 4–12 days regardless of destination.
What BooksCloud Does Not Cover
BooksCloud has no international shipping. If a customer provides a Canadian, UK, or any other non-US address at checkout, BooksCloud cannot fulfill the order. Merchants should configure their Shopify store's shipping settings to restrict checkout to US addresses only (including territories) to avoid orders that cannot be fulfilled.
Addresses must also be USPS-compliant. If a customer provides an address that USPS cannot deliver to — such as a P.O. Box that does not accept Media Mail, or an incorrectly formatted military address — the order will not ship, and BooksCloud's refund policy for incorrect addresses applies (no refund; merchant must re-order with a corrected address).
Setting Expectations at Checkout
If a meaningful portion of your customer base is in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or other non-continental locations, it is worth adding a brief note in your shipping policy page that orders ship via USPS and that delivery to non-continental US locations may take up to 10–12 days. That small transparency step prevents support tickets and negative reviews from customers who expected faster transit.
The key takeaway: BooksCloud's $7 flat rate is genuinely flat across all US jurisdictions. There are no geographic surcharges to plan around.
Install BooksCloud free → https://apps.shopify.com/bookscloud