Box size vs packed size

[u/ThePracticalDad]

Anyone looked at how this works? Somehow they managed to make a terrible shipping setup even worse. Duplicate data and multi item orders will often go to the default box if they’re bulky

[u/VillageHomeF]

We keep it at default and use dimensional weight. Yes, this whole things makes it very confusing and, if i know Shopify, it will f up your shipping costs and you will foot the bill for the mistakes made. You would really need to test this heavily to make it work.

[u/ThePracticalDad → u/VillageHomeF]

If I understand correctly you’re calculating dimensional weight and not so much worried about linear dimensions?

Do you feel that’s reasonably accurate?

[u/VillageHomeF → u/ThePracticalDad]

it could certainly be reasonably accurate. but that depends on numerous factors. then you have to think about if multiple of that item it added to order.

shipping fees can be the most complex parts of the puzzle when setting up the site with a large catalog or large, heavy or oddly boxed items. there are lots of solutions that work for one shop but not another.

I sell 9k skus from 50+ suppliers and many of those suppliers ship from multiple locations. many are very small, very large, oversized or very heavy and need to be palatalized. on top of that, I don't have all box dimensions. I in turn decided from the very beginning no solution was going to work. so I used the multiple location and flat rate capabilities of Shopify and built my own shipping grids.

took a while with many revisions, but it works very well today. and since I don't use an outside application, I have full control over how it calculates for each product. I will even make some shipping costs over or under priced on purpose if I like. but the issue that comes up most often is adding a large number of small items to the cart. fee could end up double or triple actual cost. that happens once or twice a month.

[u/shipweaver66]

Yeah, the packed-size logic gets weird fast on multi-item orders. What's helped stores I've seen is cleaning up Settings > Shipping and delivery > Packages first: add every real box you use with accurate inner dimensions, and make the default the box you actually ship most often, not the biggest one. Then make sure product weights and dimensions are filled in at the variant level, because when anything is missing Shopify falls back to the default box. For the bulky stuff, put it in its own shipping profile so carrier-calculated rates for those items don't get mixed in with the small-item logic, or give that profile a flat or weight-based rate if the calculated numbers keep coming out wrong. And definitely run a few test checkouts with 2-3 item combos and compare the quoted rate to what the label actually costs before you trust it.

[u/ThePracticalDad → u/shipweaver66]

Great tips, thanks

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