How To Calculate Shipping Costs For A Product

If you own a small business or are maybe starting to sell some handmade products of your own, being able to calculate the shipping cost for a product is very important. As an artist, I ship paintings around the world. Knowing how much shipping is going to cost is very important as rates will vary depending on size and destination.

There are five main things you need to consider when shipping a product:

1. Which courier are you going to use?
2. What is the size of the packaged item?
3. What is the weight of the packaged item?
4. Where is the package going to?
5. Are there any extras that need to be added on?

Let’s briefly go through each of these and I will discuss them in a little more detail.

1. Which courier are you going to use to ship your product?

Deciding on a courier for your product can be very simple, or very difficult depending on how many options you have. Where I live, I have a handful of different options I could use such as Canada Post, FedEx, Purolator, and UPS. Where you live there could be others as well. I find Canada Post to be the most economical and reliable for my needs.

The reason it is important to know who you are going to use as a courier is that each of them has its own rate calculator on its website. You can use this calculator to determine the shipping cost before needing to actually ship an item. You can take the time if you would like to try each of them to see which one would be the most economical for you.

2. What is the size of the packaged item?

When using a rate calculator on any postal website, you will need to know the size of the packaged item. This is not just the item outside of the envelope, box, or crate, it is the size once it is all packaged up. If you are unsure what size it will be, package one up as a trial so you can measure it.

As an artist, I mainly sell paintings, prints, and paint-by-number kits. For paintings, I can easily estimate the size of the package by just going an inch or two larger for each of the dimensions of the painting. Prints are the same idea. However, most of the time the company that makes my prints just ships them for me. And paint-by-number kits are always the same size so I use the box dimensions that I package those in.

3. What is the weight of the packaged item?

Another important factor that plays into calculating the shipping cost of products is the weight of the packaged item. Again, this isn’t just the item by itself, it is the item in its packaging. It usually doesn’t add too much, but having the official weight can be important when sending it off with the courier. If you measure too low, they can be sticky about accepting it.

I have a food scale that I use for packages up to 5 kg. Anything larger, I just take it to the post office for them to measure. You can easily purchase scales that can measure more though that give more exact measurements than a bathroom scale.

This number will also be used when using the rate calculator on your courier’s website.

If you need help packaging a painting, check out this video where I show how to roll and package a painting in a mailing tube: https://briansloanartist.com/how-to-art-how-to-package-a-painting-to-ship/

4. Where is the package going?

Perhaps the most important detail when calculating the shipping cost of an item is the destination. Alongside this, is also the product origin or your location. Living in Alberta, Canada, anything on the west coast doesn’t cost as much as shipping to the east coast. Then anything overseas costs even more. I know that shipping in Canada and United States is relatively similar for me. Depending on where you are and where you are shipping products will greatly influence the cost.

In most rate calculators, you can input the shipping origin and the destination location as well.

5. Are there any extras that need to be considered when calculating the shipping costs of products?

When calculating shipping costs there are a few other things to consider. 

How much are the materials you are using to package the product? 

I often use mailing tubes to ship paintings. They can range in cost from $3-$20 depending on the size. That number will be included in my shipping cost. Consider the cost of bubble wrap and other packaging materials you may use.

Do you need to purchase extra shipping insurance?

When I ship with Canada Post, they include insurance up to $100. Anything over and above is an extra cost. Depending on the value of the product that you are shipping, you may need to purchase extra insurance. There is a spot for the amount of insurance coverage you want in the rate calculator. Read through the terms and conditions carefully to really see what it covers.

I hope this has helped you prepare to ship your products around the world. Whether they be paintings like me or some other product you sell.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am always more than happy to help where I can.

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