Volumetric Weight Calculator
Couriers bill the higher of actual and volumetric weight. Find out which applies.
Parcel
Courier divisor
5000 is the most common, but it varies by courier and service. Check your rate card rather than assuming.
Detail
This parcel is bulky for its weight. Reducing any one dimension lowers the volumetric weight proportionally.
How this works
Couriers charge for the space a parcel occupies as well as what it weighs, because a van fills up on volume long before it hits its weight limit. So they bill whichever is higher: the actual weight, or the volumetric weight worked out from the dimensions.
Volumetric weight is length × width × height in centimetres, divided by the courier’s divisor. A 30 × 25 × 10 cm box comes to 7,500 cm³, which at a divisor of 5000 is 1.5 kg — so a half-kilo item in that box is charged as 1.5 kg. That difference is pure packaging, and it is paid on every single order.
The divisor is not universal. 5000 is the most common, but 4000 and 6000 are both in use, and a lower divisor means a higher charge for the same box. It is an input here rather than a fixed number for exactly that reason.
If a parcel bills on volumetric weight, the fix is dimensional rather than material: a smaller box, or flat-packing to lose one dimension, cuts the chargeable weight straight away.