Knowledge hub
Reference articles on the parts of shipping that actually cost money: dimensional weight, customs paperwork, surcharge maths and carrier selection. Each one opens with the direct answer and shows its working.
Shipping
Use a rigid box no more than 5 cm larger than the contents on each axis, immobilise what is inside, seal the centre and edge seams with 5 cm packing tape in an H-pattern, and put one flat label on the largest face with every old barcode removed or covered. Cross-border parcels also need a commercial invoice in a wallet on the outside.
Tracking
A tracking status describes the last scan, not the parcel's live position. 'Label created' means the carrier has not collected yet and is normal for up to 24 hours. 'In transit' with no update for a day or two is normal on long lanes, because scans happen at handover points. 'Exception' is the one status that asks something of you: read the event detail, it names the cause.
Pricing
Retrospective surcharges almost always come from a remeasure. Carriers reweigh and re-dimension parcels on automated belts, and if the parcel differs from what was declared, the difference is billed after delivery. Address corrections and residential-delivery fees are the other two common late arrivals.
Customs
Under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) the sender pays duty and import tax up front at checkout. Under DDU or DAP the carrier bills the recipient before releasing the parcel. DDP costs more at the point of sale but is the only option that guarantees your recipient has nothing to pay.
Pricing
Volumetric weight is length x width x height divided by a carrier-specific divisor. Usually 139 for inches and pounds, or 5,000 for centimetres and kilograms. You are billed on whichever is greater: actual weight or volumetric weight. That figure is called the chargeable weight.