--- title: "Shipping cost calculator by weight and zone" description: "What a parcel's label costs in each of USPS's nine zones at its weight, from USPS Ground Advantage's commercial prices effective 4 October 2026, and what each zone leaves of the order." url: https://offersuite.io/calculators/shipping-cost-by-weight-and-zone updated: 2026-10-13 --- # Shipping cost by weight and zone The same order costs a different amount to ship to every customer: the label is priced by the parcel's weight and by how far it travels. This weighs your parcel, reads USPS Ground Advantage's published commercial price for it in every zone, and shows what the order keeps in each one. ## Result A 15 oz parcel is priced as under 1 lb: the label is **$8.24** to zone 5, from $7.33 in zone 1 to $8.95 in zone 9. Shipped to zone 5, this order keeps **$14.62**. ### Zone 5 Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $14.62 (36.5%) Revenue $40.00 Cost of goods −$12.00 Pick and pack −$1.18 Packaging −$0.50 Shipping label −$8.24 Card fee per order −$0.30 Refunds −$2.00 Card processing −$1.16 Contribution margin $14.62 2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option Margin per order, shipped to zone 5 | Per order | Zone 5 | | --- | --- | | Revenue | $40.00 | | Cost of goods | −$12.00 | | Pick and pack | −$1.18 | | Packaging | −$0.50 | | Shipping label | −$8.24 | | Card fee per order | −$0.30 | | Refunds | −$2.00 | | Card processing | −$1.16 | | Contribution margin | $14.62 | | Margin % | 36.5% | The same 15 oz parcel in every zone | Zone | Label | Contribution margin | Margin % | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Zone 1 | $7.33 | $15.53 | 38.8% | | Zone 2 | $7.34 | $15.52 | 38.8% | | Zone 3 | $7.70 | $15.16 | 37.9% | | Zone 4 | $7.86 | $15.00 | 37.5% | | Zone 5 | $8.24 | $14.62 | 36.5% | | Zone 6 | $8.41 | $14.45 | 36.1% | | Zone 7 | $8.62 | $14.24 | 35.6% | | Zone 8 | $8.95 | $13.91 | 34.8% | | Zone 9 | $8.95 | $13.91 | 34.8% | More units in the parcel, to zone 5 | Units | Parcel weight | Priced as | Label | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | 15 oz | under 1 lb | $8.24 | | 2 | 1 lb 11 oz | 2 lb | $10.50 | | 3 | 2 lb 7 oz | 3 lb | $12.12 | | 4 | 3 lb 3 oz | 4 lb | $13.89 | | 6 | 4 lb 11 oz | 5 lb | $14.53 | 15 oz to zone 5 $8.24. The order keeps $14.62 ## Your numbers **The parcel** Packed weight of one unit, in ounces 12 Units in the order 1 Box and packing weight, in ounces 3 Zone you ship to 5 USPS zones run from 1, nearby, to 9. A parcel's zone depends on the distance between the two ZIP codes. **The order** What the customer pays for products $40.00 Product unit cost $12.00 Shipping charged $0.00 **Fulfilment and payment** Pick and pack, per order $1.18 Each extra item picked $0.20 Box and packing, per parcel $0.50 Card processing rate 2.9% Card fee per order $0.30 Refund reserve 5% The share of revenue you expect to refund. [Reset to the example](https://offersuite.io/calculators/shipping-cost-by-weight-and-zone) ## How it's calculated - Parcel weight = packed weight of one unit × units + box and packing weight - Under a pound, the parcel is priced at the ounce rows. From a pound up, its weight is rounded up to the next whole pound - Label = the price USPS prints for that weight in the zone - Contribution margin in a zone = revenue − unit cost × units − pick and pack − extra picks − packaging − that zone's label − card fees − refund reserve Every figure on this page comes from Offer Suite's own margin engine, the same code the product uses to forecast each offer's and option's profit and to compute realized margin on orders. Money is computed in whole cents. ## Worked example A 12 oz bag of coffee in a 3 oz mailer makes a 15 oz parcel, priced as under 1 lb. USPS Ground Advantage's commercial price for it is $7.33 in zone 1 and $8.95 in zone 9; to zone 5 it is **$8.24**. The bag sells at $40.00 with free shipping. Shipped to zone 5 the order keeps $14.62; the same order keeps $15.53 in zone 1 and $13.91 in zone 9. A second bag makes the parcel 1 lb 11 oz, priced as 2 lb: $10.50 to zone 5, not twice the first label. ## Assumptions - Label prices are USPS Ground Advantage's commercial parcel prices in Notice 123, effective 4 October 2026 and read 13 October 2026. USPS changes them several times a year; the notice has the current ones. - Commercial prices are what a shipping app or a postage account pays. Retail prices at a post office counter are higher, and a negotiated contract can be lower. - A parcel is priced on its weight alone. One larger than a cubic foot is priced on its size if that comes out heavier, and one over 70 lb is not carried by this service; neither is priced here. - Every unit ships in one parcel. - Pick and pack $1.18 per order and $0.20 for each extra item are the defaults of the engine's DTC-US profile, a typical third-party warehouse contract. Use your own contract. - Card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 is Shopify Payments' online rate for a standard card on the Basic plan in the United States. The Shopify Payments fees pages list every plan and country; enter yours. - The refund reserve (5%) is a share of revenue set aside for refunds. Cost is not reduced by a refund, because the goods were already picked and shipped. ## Questions ### How is shipping cost calculated by weight and zone? Weigh the packed parcel, round it the way the carrier does, and read the price for that weight in the zone of the destination. USPS Ground Advantage prices a parcel under a pound at one rate per zone and every pound above it at its own, in nine zones. ### What is a shipping zone? A band of distance between the ZIP code a parcel leaves from and the one it goes to. USPS uses zones 1 to 9: 1 is local, 8 is the far side of the country, and 9 covers a few Pacific destinations. The same parcel costs more in a higher zone. ### Why does a second unit not double the shipping cost? Most of a label's price is for the parcel existing at all. Two 12 oz bags in one box weigh under two pounds and ship to zone 5 for $2.26 more than one, not for twice its label, which is why a bundle earns more per order than two singles. ### Which zone should I plan on? Your shipping app reports the zones your parcels went to: use the one most of them fall in, and read the table for the rest. Shipping from a second warehouse lowers the zones, and the table shows what a lower zone saves per order. ## Embed this calculator Paste this where you want the calculator. It opens on the numbers above, recalculates as your readers change them, and links back to this page. **Show the embed code** ``` ``` ## See what your own offers earn. Offer Suite opens to Shopify brands a few at a time. Join the waitlist, or ask for a free profit audit of your past orders: realized profit per item and per offer option, what each costs you, and where margin leaks. [Join the waitlist](https://offersuite.io/waitlist) [Request a free profit audit](https://offersuite.io/profit-audit) ## Related - [Calculators **Profit calculators for Shopify offers** Calculators for contribution margin per order, break-even discounts, average order value, shipping by weight and zone, card fees, Amazon and TikTok Shop fees, break-even ROAS and CPA, upsell funnels, gifts, subscriptions, bundles and free-shipping thresholds, each run on Offer Suite's margin engine.](https://offersuite.io/calculators) - [Feature **A cost ledger that restates the past** Costs live in an append-only, dated ledger: a correction recosts past orders in the current view; the as-recorded view keeps what each order was booked with.](https://offersuite.io/features/costs) - [Feature **Forecast and realized profit per offer option** Forecast and realized profit per offer, option, version, item and traffic source from one margin engine in whole cents, with ad spend, realized CAC and subscription LTV.](https://offersuite.io/features/profit) - [Calculator **Free shipping threshold calculator** Price a free-shipping threshold with the shipping you give away on orders that already reach it, and the share of smaller orders that must top up to pay for it.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/free-shipping-threshold) - [Calculator **Bundle pricing calculator: shipping, subscriptions** Price a bundle against a single unit, one-time and subscribed, with the shipping and pick costs it saves, and the conversion it can lose and still earn as much.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/bundle-pricing) - [Calculator **Contribution margin per order calculator** What one order keeps after product cost, pick and pack, packaging, the label, card fees and a refund reserve, as an amount, a share of revenue and the ROAS your ads break even at.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/contribution-margin-per-order)