Shipping weight estimate
A parcel is billed on whichever is larger: what it weighs, or what its box displaces. Work out both before you submit, and see what the difference costs at your line’s rate.
The divisor is a convention, not a law: carriers publish their own. This tool leaves the rates blank because they change by line, season and destination.
Result
- Volumetric weight
- 4.000 kg
- Chargeable weight
- 4.000 kgbilled on volumetric weight
- Estimated cost range
- Not calculated — enter a rate
- No rate was entered, so no cost range is shown. Rates differ by line, season and destination, so this tool does not supply one.
Why a light parcel can be billed as a heavy one
Aircraft and vans run out of space before they run out of lifting capacity. A box of puffer jackets weighs very little and takes up a great deal of room, so carriers price the space instead. Volumetric weight converts the space a parcel occupies into a notional weight, and the parcel is billed on the larger of the two figures.
This is why a haul of light, bulky items can cost more to ship than a heavier parcel of dense ones. It is also why the estimate here shows three numbers rather than one: actual weight, volumetric weight, and the chargeable figure that comes out of comparing them.
The divisor is a convention, not a rule
Volumetric weight is length times width times height divided by a number. The number varies: 5000 and 6000 are both common, some lines use 8000, and a few use different divisors for different service levels. The tool defaults to 6000 and lets you change it, because using the wrong divisor changes the estimate by a fifth or more.
If you do not know which divisor your line publishes, the honest approach is to estimate with two of them and treat the higher figure as your planning number. The field is editable for exactly that reason.
Why there is no rate in this tool
Rates depend on the destination, the line, the season, whether the parcel contains branded goods, and sometimes on the account. A single number published here would be wrong for most readers and right for almost none, and it would be copied into decisions as though it were current.
Enter the low and high rate from the line you are actually considering and the tool does the arithmetic on top. Leave them blank and you still get the weight comparison, which is the part that does not change.
Where the estimate drifts
Dimensions you measure at home are not the dimensions the warehouse measures. Packaging adds bulk, and a parcel consolidated from several items is rarely a neat cuboid. Expect the billed figure to exceed your estimate on a multi-item parcel, and treat the difference as normal rather than as an error.
The estimate also excludes anything charged by weight bands rather than per kilogram, rounding up to the next half kilogram, and surcharges for remote destinations. Those are visible on the line’s own rate card; they are not something this tool can infer.
- The duty estimate — what may be added at the border, on top of the freight.
- The price column never included the expensive parts — where each charge appears in the sequence.
- The platform ledger — which platforms are still accepting orders while you plan the parcel.