--- title: "Billable weight: definition, formula and example" description: "The weight a carrier charges for: the parcel's weight rounded up to the next step. A few ounces over a step costs the whole step." url: https://offersuite.io/glossary/billable-weight updated: 2026-10-13 --- # Billable weight The weight a carrier charges for: the parcel's weight rounded up to the next step. A few ounces over a step costs the whole step. ## In plain words Billable weight is the weight a carrier prices a parcel at. Carriers charge in steps, commonly whole pounds, and round every parcel up to the next step. A parcel of 1.1 pounds is billed as two pounds. For bulky parcels the billable weight can be a figure worked out from the box's dimensions, when that is higher than what the parcel weighs. Either way, the rate follows the step, so what an extra item costs to ship depends on whether it pushes the parcel over one. ## Formula - Billable weight = the parcel's weight rounded up to the carrier's next weight step - Label cost = the carrier's rate for that billable weight ## Worked example A coffee bag packed for shipping weighs 0.85 lb. The engine rounds it up to 1 lb, and on an example rate card the label is $7.50. Add a free mug of 0.75 lb and the parcel is billed at 2 lb: the label rises to $8.90. The mug cost $4.00 to buy, and then it cost the step. ### The example order A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $15.36 (38.4%) Revenue $40.00 Cost of goods −$12.00 Pick and pack −$1.18 Packaging −$0.50 Shipping label −$7.50 Card fee per order −$0.30 Refunds −$2.00 Card processing −$1.16 Contribution margin $15.36 2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option Computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from a $40.00 bag of coffee with a $12.00 unit cost. ## Billable weight is not the product's weight The weight on the product page leaves out the box, the fill and anything else in the parcel. The carrier weighs all of it, then rounds up. Margins worked out from product weights are routinely one step too optimistic. ## Using it Weigh your common orders packed, and note which sit just under a step. Those are the orders where a gift, an insert or a heavier box will cost a full step. Sometimes a lighter gift or a smaller box keeps the parcel under the line, and that is worth more than a cheaper gift. ## In Offer Suite Offer Suite's engine adds up the shipping weight of every unit in the order, gifts included, rounds it up to the whole pound and reads the label from the brand's freight table. Source: Offer Suite's margin engine. ## Related - [Glossary **Glossary of offer economics** The terms behind offer profit, defined plainly with their formulas and a worked number: contribution margin, profit per visitor, break-even lift and more.](https://offersuite.io/glossary) - [Calculator **Gift with purchase profit calculator** What a free gift costs per order, after its unit cost, its extra pick and its handling, and how much conversion it has to add to pay for itself.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/gift-with-purchase-profit) - [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) - [Glossary **Shipping cost: definition, formula and example** What the carrier charges you to deliver a parcel. A cost per parcel set by weight and distance, whatever the customer was charged for shipping.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/shipping-cost) - [Glossary **Fulfilment cost: definition, formula and example** What it costs to get an order out: pick and pack, extra picks, the box and the label. Charged per order or parcel, which is why bundles and gifts change it.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/fulfilment-cost) - [Glossary **Gift with purchase: definition, formula and example** A free item added to an order to win the sale. It leaves the price alone and adds a unit cost, a pick and sometimes a heavier parcel.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/gift-with-purchase)