So you just bought an amazingly plush, feather duvet for your bed to have shipped to your home across the pond. Surely, the cost of shipping feathers will be next to nothing, right? Sometimes
shipping costs of a tiny box weighing 5lbs. can cost less than a large rectangular box that weighs 2lbs. This is because of the way delivery services calculate actual weight versus dimensional weight, or what is known as DIM weight.
When you ship an item on FedEx, USPS, DHL, UPS or any carrier that uses a mode of transportation to ship your item to you, you will be charged DIM weight or the actual scale weight of the item – whichever is greater. Think of it like this, your package is renting space on their airplane and if your large rectangular box takes up much more room than that tiny, heavy box sitting next to it, your rent is going to be higher. It’s like your package just bought the penthouse on that plane. So, what’s the best way to calculate your DIM weight to see if your package will be charged DIM weight or actual scale weight?
Dimensional weight is based on the size of the package. MyUS.com has negotiated a significantly discounted DIM Factor that is offered to our customers. Our DIM Factor is 300, while most other package forwarding companies use a DIM Factor of 166. Use this formula below:
Length x Width x Height divided by 300 (MyUS DIM Factor) = Dimensional Weight
Example: A 10” x 12” x 15” box that has an actual scale weight of 3lbs. actually has a DIM weight of 6lbs. Because the DIM weight is greater than the actual scale weight, the delivery carrier will charge 6lbs. for shipping your package.
For those not operating daily in the shipping world, it can be a difficult concept to grasp and one that we do have to explain quite frequently. Hopefully this has helped you to better understand and now you are officially an expert in the world of DIM weight. So whether you want to ship to Australia or ship to Canada, you’ll be keeping up with our Savvy Shipping experts in no time! The more you understand how your
international shipping is calculated, the more efficient you can be with your shipments.