What is dimensional weight?

Dimensional weight is also referred to as DIM weight, volumetric weight or cubed weight. It reflects a package’s density, which is the amount of space it occupies in relation to its actual weight. To better understand your shipping costs, find out what it's used for and how it's calculated.

What is it used for?

It’s used by carriers to determine the weight of a package, which determines the shipping costs. The bigger your shipment, the higher the dimensional weight. But if the actual weight is higher than the dimensional weight, then carriers use the actual weight.

How is it calculated?

You can work out the DIM weight of your package pretty easily. But first you need to know which weight divisor your chosen shipping company uses as it varies from carrier to carrier. The most common divisor is 5000 (139 for imperial) so we’ll use this as an example.

To calculate the dimensional weight of a package you multiply the length by width by height and divide it by the dimensional weight divisor.

So for example, if you have a box that’s 36 cm x 25 cm x 16 cm and your carrier uses a dimensional weight divisor of 5000, your DIM weight is 3 kg.

It’s the same principle with the imperial system. If you have a box that measures 15 in x 10 in x 6 in, just multiply these values and divide it by 139. This will give you a DIM weight of 7 lb.

Can I reduce the DIM weight?

Unlike the actual weight of your package, you can reduce the DIM weight by choosing a smaller package. This will also cut down your shipping costs.