--- title: "Split shipment: definition, formula and example" description: "One order sent in more than one parcel. Every per-parcel cost, the label above all, is paid again for each parcel." url: https://offersuite.io/glossary/split-shipment updated: 2026-10-13 --- # Split shipment One order sent in more than one parcel. Every per-parcel cost, the label above all, is paid again for each parcel. ## In plain words A split shipment is an order that leaves in two or more parcels. It happens when items are stocked in different warehouses, when one item is out of stock and follows later, or when an order is too large for one box. The customer paid once. You pay the per-parcel costs once per parcel: a label and a box each time. A bundle whose whole case rests on sharing one label loses that case the moment it ships in two. ## Formula - Per-parcel costs of an order = (label + packaging) × parcels shipped ## Worked example Three bags in one parcel keep $48.06 of the $102.00 the customer paid. Shipped in two parcels, the engine charges the box and the label twice, $1.00 and $15.00. The same order now keeps $40.06. Its margin fell from 47.1% to 39.3% without anything about the offer changing. ### 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. ## A split shipment is not two orders There is one sale, one payment and one card fee. Only the costs charged per parcel repeat. Counting the second parcel as a second order would double the per-order fees too, and overstate the damage. ## Using it Find out how often your multi-item orders split, and which offers cause it. Gifts stocked in a different warehouse from the product are a common cause. If an offer splits often, price it with two labels, or change what it contains. A forecast that assumes one parcel is only right for orders that ship in one. ## In Offer Suite Offer Suite counts an order's parcels from its fulfilments. Per-parcel cost kinds are charged once per parcel, and once before the order ships, which is also what every forecast assumes. Source: Offer Suite's margin engine and its cost grains. ## 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 **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 **Cost grain: definition, formula and example** The level a cost is charged at: per unit, per parcel, per order or as a share of revenue. Counting a cost at the wrong grain misprices every bundle.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/cost-grain) - [Glossary **Packaging cost: definition, formula and example** The box, mailer, fill and tape an order ships in. Charged per parcel, and it steps up when an order outgrows its box.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/packaging-cost) - [Glossary **Actual fulfilment cost: definition and formula** What an order really cost to ship, from the warehouse's or carrier's own charge, in place of the estimate the forecast used.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/actual-fulfilment-cost)