Shipping & Packaging

Shipping & Packaging Cost Calculator

Freight, surcharges and packaging in one total - what it actually costs to get one order out of the door.

16 inputs Free, no sign-up

Your figures

Only couriers that are switched on appear here. Choose "enter a rate myself" to use a figure from your own contract.

Express and surface are priced differently by every courier.

Zones are each courier's own definition. The zone calculator works one out from a city or PIN code.

Where the rate comes from

Your own contract rate is always more accurate than a published tariff.

What your courier actually charges for a parcel like this.

Payment

COD charges apply only where one has been configured.

Used where a COD or insurance charge is a percentage of the order value.

The packaging cost calculator works this out from your bulk pack prices.

The parcel

What the packed parcel weighs on a scale.

From your courier's rate card. 5000 and 4000 are both common, and the difference is 25% of the billed weight - so check rather than assume.

Try an example

Result

Your result

Enter your figures and the result appears here.

Estimates only. Rates, fees and specifications change. Confirm against the official source before you rely on a figure — see our disclaimer.

About this calculator

Freight is not the cost of fulfilling an order. The carton, the wrap, the tape and the label are paid per order too, and a seller who prices against the courier rate alone is short by twenty to forty rupees on every parcel without noticing.

This adds the two together. Freight comes from the configured rates or from a contract rate you enter; packaging comes from a per-parcel figure the packaging cost calculator works out from your bulk prices.

How to use this calculator

  1. Work out your packaging cost per parcel first, if you have not already.
  2. Choose the courier, or "enter a rate myself" for a contract rate.
  3. Enter the parcel weight and dimensions, and the destination zone if you know it.
  4. Enter the packaging cost per parcel and how many parcels the order is.
  5. Read the total. Every line shows what it was charged on.

The formula

Chargeable weight = greater of actual and volumetric, rounded
Freight           = base rate + fuel + COD and any other surcharges
Packaging         = packaging per parcel x parcels
Total             = freight + packaging

Packaging is per parcel, so an order that ships in two boxes pays for two sets. Freight is worked out per parcel too, which is why splitting one order into two parcels usually costs more than the weight saving returns.

SymbolMeaningUnit
Freight Courier charge including surcharges Rs
Packaging Your own cost, per parcel Rs
Parcels Boxes this order ships in

Worked example

A contract rate of ₹68 a parcel with ₹23.20 of packaging, on a single-parcel order:

Freight            = 68.00
Packaging          = 23.20
Total fulfilment   = 91.20

Priced against the freight alone, the same order looks like it costs ₹68 — an understatement of 34%.

Notes and limits

  • This is the cost of shipping one order once. Returns are not in it; the RTO calculator covers those.
  • Marketplace fees are not in it either. The e-commerce shipping calculator adds them.
  • Packaging per parcel is a figure you supply. It is not estimated, because it depends entirely on what you buy and at what volume.
  • Where a required freight charge has no configured rate, the total is withheld rather than being quietly short by that line.

What this calculation assumes

  • One successful delivery, with no return and no reattempt.
  • Packaging is the per-parcel figure you enter, multiplied by the number of parcels.
  • Marketplace fees, payment gateway charges and taxes are not included.

Frequently asked questions

What does it cost to fulfil an order in India?

Freight plus packaging, and for most small-parcel sellers that is roughly sixty to a hundred and twenty rupees for a light domestic parcel. It varies enough by weight, zone and contract that the only useful figure is your own.

Should packaging go into my product price?

It has to go somewhere. It is incurred per order, so it belongs in the cost of the sale alongside freight, not in overheads where it gets lost.

Why is my fulfilment cost higher than this?

The usual reasons are returns, reattempted deliveries, parcels heavier than planned, and remote-area surcharges. This prices one successful delivery of one parcel.

Does splitting an order into two parcels save money?

Rarely. Each parcel pays its own freight, its own minimum charge and its own packaging, so two light parcels normally cost more than one heavier one.

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