Freight Math: What Shipping Actually Costs

Freight is where a cheap order turns expensive and an expensive order stays cheap. It is arithmetic, not mystery. Here is the arithmetic.

Weight, the real kind

Carriers charge the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight: length × width × height in cm, divided by 6000 (some lines use 5000). A boxy hoodie is mostly air — its volumetric weight usually wins.

Worked example

Two hoodies and one pair of trousers, actual weight 2.1 kg. Boxed: 40 × 30 × 20 cm = 24,000 / 6000 = 4 kg volumetric. You pay for 4 kg. This is why consolidation matters: the same items in one 45 × 35 × 25 box come to 6.5 kg volumetric for what might be six items — per-item cost collapses.

Lines, briefly

Budget lines (2–5 weeks): cheapest per kg, weakest tracking. Standard lines (1.5–3 weeks): the everyday choice. Express (5–10 days): for when it must arrive. Agents publish per-line price tables; the compare page links each one.

Duties

Depends on your country and the declared value. Below your country's de-minimis, nothing is owed. Above it, expect VAT plus a handling fee. We do not advise creative undervaluing — parcels get opened, and then you lose weeks.

The honest sum

Before ordering, add: item + agent service fee + freight estimate + likely duty. That is your landed cost. Every entry in the find file shows the item leg so you can run the rest yourself.