What will your gift order cost to deliver?

Get a packing list before asking for a rate

• For every carton: SKU, units, external length × width × height in centimetres, gross weight in kilograms and whether it contains retail boxes, inserts or loose accessories.
• For the shipment: collection address, delivery postcode, commercial or residential address, unloading/access needs and the date it must be usable, not just landed at an airport.
• For the goods: material, function, value, origin and any battery, liquid, aerosol or magnetic component. Give the forwarder enough information to classify and accept the actual contents.
• For the quote: currency, validity, service, billable-weight rules, fuel and other surcharges, customs scope, destination charges and named delivery endpoint.

Actual weight and dimensional weight are different inputs

A carrier can charge for occupied space as well as mass. DHL Express’s published measuring guidance uses length × width × height in centimetres ÷ 5,000 and compares this with actual kilograms. That factor is a service example, not a universal air-freight rule.

Use the factor and rounding in your own quotation. Ask whether calculations are made per piece or for the shipment and whether minimum or oversize charges apply. Do not apply an express formula to sea LCL, which has a different quote basis.

DHL Express: measuring parcels and chargeable weight ↗

Worked example: the same 300 gifts, two presentation packs

Illustrative arithmetic prepared on 2 October 2026, not a supplier or carrier quote. Assume 300 identical non-fragile metal keyrings in protective sleeves, shipping from Yiwu to one London business address. All amounts are USD. The two options use the same goods and sleeves; only the presentation boxes and assembly location differ.

Option A, assembled gift boxes: 6 cartons of 50 gifts, each 60 × 40 × 40 cm and 8 kg gross. Total volume is 0.576 m³; actual weight is 48 kg. At the assumed divisor of 5,000, each carton is 19.2 dimensional kg, or 115.2 kg total before rounding.

Option B, boxes supplied flat alongside sleeved gifts: 3 cartons of 100, each 50 × 40 × 30 cm and 16 kg gross. Total volume is 0.180 m³; actual weight is 48 kg. Each carton is 12 dimensional kg, so actual weight governs at 48 kg total in this model.

Assume an invented transport charge of $6 per chargeable kg, no minimum and no rounding: A costs $691.20; B costs $288. Add assumed packing/assembly costs of $90 for A, or $45 origin packing plus 5 hours of destination assembly at $20/hour for B. The compared packing-and-transport totals are $781.20 and $433.00, a $348.20 difference.

This is a partial comparison, not a landed-price claim. Both exclude goods, printing, domestic collection, agent/QC fees, duty, import VAT, clearance, fuel surcharge, final delivery, storage and any loss or rework. Obtain those lines for both options; tax treatment may also change with freight. The apparent saving is irrelevant if flat boxes arrive creased or the venue lacks assembly time.

Compare routes on one complete cost sheet

• Origin: goods and print charges; China domestic freight; checking, storage, repacking, export documentation and pickup.
• International transport: named service; confirmed billable measure; minimums; fuel/security/remote-area or special-handling charges that apply.
• Destination: clearance, port/terminal or handling charges, duty and applicable taxes, delivery, unloading and appointment fees. Mark each as included, excluded or not yet known.
• Timing: cargo-ready date, booking cutoff, departure, estimated arrival, customs allowance and delivery appointment. Air and sea estimates must end at the same address.
• Loss and damage: insurance scope, exclusions, deductible, claim deadline and required photographs. Avoid counting a possible claim as a guaranteed cash refund.

Check restricted contents before combining shipments

Battery gifts are not automatically unshippable. IATA guidance distinguishes battery chemistry, rating and whether batteries are alone, packed with equipment or installed. Ask the carrier for written acceptance, packaging and document requirements for the exact configuration before ordering.

Likewise, a liquid, candle or magnet does not automatically incur the same surcharge or restriction. Supply the product information requested by the carrier. Removing a label or calling a battery product a “gift” does not change its transport classification.

IATA: battery transport guidance and current documents ↗

For event stock, set a switch-to-local date

Work back from the venue’s latest receiving date. Reserve time for count checks, assembly and corrections after delivery. Separate sample approval, production, origin checking, carrier acceptance and transport in the schedule.

Ask what happens if one supplier is late: hold everything, dispatch ready stock separately, or replace that line locally. Compare the extra shipment cost with the consequence of missing the event. Do not assume a consolidated shipment is always cheaper or faster.

Use the shipping calculator on this site only to screen scenarios with your measured inputs. Request a dated, itemised quote before committing; an estimate does not promise a final invoice, delivery guarantee or automatic credit.

Release the dispatch only when three records agree

Reconcile the approved gift variant schedule, the counted packing list and the carrier quotation. Mixed gift sets need their battery, liquid, magnet or other special contents disclosed by exact product and configuration before booking; changing the contents can change acceptance.

Hypothetical hold: the final carton contains 24 presentation boxes instead of the quoted 30, so carton count increases. Recalculate total freight and receiving quantity before release. A freight quote based on the old pack is no longer the comparison you approved. Record actual carrier collection separately from label creation.