Hidden checkout fees: what Merchant Center allows
Here’s a rule Google writes with no wiggle room: a fee that shows up only at checkout has to be in your Merchant Center shipping costs and on the page first. Anything else that raises the total at checkout, government charges aside, is a violation in Google’s own words. So walk the whole payment path yourself, down to the card statement.
You run this check yourself
Our scanner can’t see inside your Google accounts, so this one’s on you. Work through the checklist below without running a scan.
Why this matters
Google's “Checkout requirements and best practices” page is unusually plain about this: “With the exception of government mandated fees, adding any additional products or services at checkout that increases the total price is a violation.” The price “must not increase at checkout, but it can be reduced after the product is added to the cart if a promotion is applied.”
Fees you do charge have a place to go, and it is not a surprise line on the payment screen. The same page says: “Any additional fees charged during checkout that are not government-imposed must be disclosed in Merchant Center by bundling them with the applicable shipping costs.” Its examples are service, handling and carrier-related fees, submitted in the [shipping] attribute or your shipping settings; the “Price [price]” page adds processing and activation fees to the list, and a minimum-order surcharge belongs in the shipping settings too. And the shopper sees them in advance: “Clearly show customers any mandatory fees required to purchase a product.”
The Misrepresentation policy covers the same ground from the other side. Under “Omission of relevant information” it lists “Failure to clearly and conspicuously disclose the payment model and full expense that a customer will bear before and after purchase”. A card surcharge that first appears on the payment screen is that omission.
The free scan walks your public checkout as far as it can and flags a basket price higher than the product page, a paid add-on already ticked, a free-shipping promise the checkout then charges for, and a checkout that shows no tax line before payment. The last step, payment to card statement, is yours to test. To walk the whole path in order, use the step-by-step checkout audit. See every checkout check on the misrepresentation checker.
Typical evidence
The fee that only the bank statement knows about
No scanner can follow a live checkout to the charge — mine included. So a surcharge that wakes up after “Proceed to payment” lives in a blind spot until you do the one thing automation can’t: buy something and read the statement.
The public signals this check looks for:
A “handling fee”, “service fee” or “small order fee” line appears at checkout that the pro…
A “handling fee”, “service fee” or “small order fee” line appears at checkout that the product page and cart never mentioned.
Your payment provider or a checkout app adds a card surcharge at the payment step
Your payment provider or a checkout app adds a card surcharge at the payment step.
A shipping-protection, insurance or priority-handling line is pre-ticked and adds to the t…
A shipping-protection, insurance or priority-handling line is pre-ticked and adds to the total unless the shopper spots it.
Orders under a minimum value get a surcharge that is not in your Merchant Center shipping …
Orders under a minimum value get a surcharge that is not in your Merchant Center shipping settings.
International orders pick up a fee at the last step that no earlier page mentions
International orders pick up a fee at the last step that no earlier page mentions.
What it looks like once it is right
The same store drops the protection line and the card fee and folds a £1 handling charge into its shipping: £4.99 in Merchant Center, £4.99 in the cart, and £34.98 at payment and on the statement.
Common mistakes
Common mistake
Self-check steps
Buy one through every method, then read the statement
The only instrument that finds a hidden fee is a real order reconciled against the bank. Run one small purchase per payment method, line up the approved total against what actually left the account, and the surcharges have nowhere to hide.
Investigator’s note
StoreVerifier compliance desk
Questions merchants ask
Can I add a handling or service fee at checkout for Google Shopping?
Only if it is disclosed. Google's checkout requirements say fees charged at checkout that are not government-imposed must be included with your shipping costs in Merchant Center, in the [shipping] attribute or your shipping settings, and that mandatory fees must be shown clearly to customers.
Are pre-ticked add-ons like shipping protection allowed?
Not if they raise the total by default. Google's checkout requirements say that, with the exception of government mandated fees, adding any additional products or services at checkout that increases the total price is a violation. Offer protection or insurance as an unticked choice the shopper opts into.
Can the price go down at checkout?
Yes. Google's checkout requirements say the price must not increase at checkout, but it can be reduced after the product is added to the cart if a promotion is applied, for example by a discount code.
Remediation
Risk signal
Similar cases
Sources
Last reviewed 25 Sep 2026.
That is one issue. The library documents 134.
The free scan lists what it finds on your store. The paid report adds the affected pages, captured evidence and step-by-step fixes. Start free, with no account needed.