Almost every marketplace seller in India has seen it: an order shipped weeks ago, and now a deduction for a "weight discrepancy". The parcel was re-measured somewhere along the way, it came out heavier or bigger than you declared, and you paid the difference. This guide explains how the weight that is charged is worked out, and a routine that keeps it from happening.
Two weights, and you pay the bigger one
Every parcel has two weights:
- Dead weight is what it weighs on a scale, packed, in kilograms.
- Volumetric weight is how much space it takes up. It is worked out from the box's length, width and height.
The courier charges whichever of the two is higher. That is the chargeable weight.
Working out volumetric weight
The usual formula in India is:
Volumetric weight (kg) = length x width x height (in cm) / 5000
The divisor, 5000 here, is set by the courier or the marketplace, and some use a different number for some services, so check your marketplace's own rate card. With 5000:
- A box of 30 x 20 x 10 cm is 6,000 cubic cm, so its volumetric weight is 1.2 kg. If the packed product weighs 0.6 kg, you pay for 1.2 kg.
- The same product in a box of 20 x 15 x 8 cm is 2,400 cubic cm, or 0.48 kg. Now the dead weight of 0.6 kg is the higher one, and you pay for 0.6 kg.
Same product, same buyer: half the chargeable weight, only because the box fits.
Why disputes happen
Most extra charges come from one of these:
- The weight was guessed. The listing says 500 g because the product weighs 500 g, but the packed parcel, with its box, bubble wrap and invoice, weighs 650 g.
- The box changed. You ran out of the usual box and used a bigger one, but the declared size stayed the same.
- Rounding. Most rate cards charge in slabs, often of 500 g. A parcel of 510 g is in the next slab up from one of 490 g.
- One weight for several units. Two units of a product in one parcel do not weigh exactly twice one unit, and they rarely fit in the same box.
- Several products in one parcel. Adding up the weights and sizes of separate products almost never matches the box they were packed in together.
A routine that stops it
Weigh the packed parcel, not the product. For each product, pack one exactly as you ship it, with the real box and filling, and weigh it on a digital scale. Note the weight in grams.
Measure the box, outside. Measure the length, width and height of the outside of the packed box, in centimetres, and round up to the next whole centimetre.
Save it per SKU. Keep those four numbers, weight, length, width and height, against the SKU, and use them for every order of it.
Save a separate entry for each quantity you ship together. Two units of a SKU in one box is its own parcel, with its own weight and size. Weigh it once and save it, so the next order of two uses the right figures.
Treat mixed orders one at a time. When an order has two different products, weigh and measure that parcel itself. Do not save it against either product, or the next single order of that product will be declared at the pair's weight.
Pick the smallest box that protects the product. It is the cheapest way to lower the chargeable weight, and the most often overlooked.
Re-check after any change. A new box size, a new supplier's packaging or a new filling material means a new weight and size.
If a charge has already come
Marketplaces give a window to dispute a weight charge, and they usually ask for proof: photos of the packed parcel on a scale with the weight readable, and of the box with a measuring tape showing each side. Taking those photos once per SKU, when you first weigh it, means you already have the proof when a dispute comes.
Let the card fill it in
The Sellerio Seller Toolkit keeps a weight and size for every SKU in My SKU Setup, a separate one for each quantity you ship together, and fills them in on Amazon Easy Ship and Flipkart as it processes each order1. When a SKU has no saved size yet, the card asks you once, on the order, and remembers your answer. An order with several different products is asked for on its own and is never saved against a SKU.
The weights and sizes the Toolkit enters are the ones you saved, so weigh and measure carefully: see our terms.
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