Boxes
Build your box library with outside dimensions and empty weights, then assign boxes to products.
Updated October 28, 2026
The Boxes page holds your box library: every box, mailer, tube or crate you ship in. You add each box once, then assign it to products on the Products page. Parcello uses a box’s size and weight for every rate and label.
Add a box
- Go to Boxes.
- Click Add box.
- Fill in the fields below.
- Click Add box.
The box appears in the Box Library table and can now be picked on the Products page.
Fields
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Box Name | A unique name, like “36in Wheel Box”. Names are compared without case, so “Mailer” and “mailer” can’t both exist. Excel imports find boxes by this name. Required. |
| Length, Width, Height | Outside dimensions in inches. Required. |
| Empty Box Weight | The weight of the empty box and its packing material, in pounds. Zero is allowed. Required. |
| Checkout surcharge | (Advanced plan.) A flat amount added to live checkout rates for each box of this type in the cart. Doesn’t change what you pay for labels. Leave blank for none. |
| Status | Active or Inactive. See Deactivate a box. |
The form also has a Limits group, on every plan. See Box limits. On the Operations plan it has an Automatic packing section too. See Automatic packing fields.
How Parcello uses each field
Dimensions. Carriers price by size as well as weight. Parcello sends the box’s outside dimensions on every rate request and label, so measure the outside of the box, not the inside. Large boxes can trigger carrier surcharges for size; if a box sits close to a carrier’s size limit, measure it carefully, because the carrier re-measures and bills what it finds.
Empty weight. A packed box weighs its empty weight plus the weight of what’s inside. You enter the contents’ weight per unit on the Products page. For example, a 0.5 lb mailer holding 2 mugs at 1.2 lb each is sent as 2.9 lb.
Checkout surcharge. Use it to recover a cost the carrier rate doesn’t cover, like a crate or extra padding. A cart that packs into two of this box gets the surcharge twice. See How checkout prices a cart.
Box limits
The Limits group in the box form caps what one box of this type can hold. Both fields are optional and apply on every plan, at checkout and on orders.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Max weight | The most the box may weigh, box and contents together, in lbs. Parcello starts a new box before going over it. Blank means no limit for box rules. Automatic packing uses 150 lbs when it’s blank. |
| Max pieces when products share this box | When Combine different products into shared boxes is on, a box holding two or more different products holds at most this many pieces in total. Each product also stays within its own Max qty per box. Blank means products share the box in proportion to their limits. |
Max weight
The weight limit applies on top of Max qty per box: a box closes at whichever comes first. It covers every way a box gets filled: units of one product, shared boxes, alternative boxes, carton packs and ride-along items. A smaller alternative box is used only when the contents fit within that box’s own limit, and a rider never pushes its host box over the limit.
A box weighing 2 lbs empty, with a Max weight of 60 lbs, holding a product that weighs 2.5 lbs per unit and has a Max qty per box of 30:
| Ordered | Boxes |
|---|---|
| 20 | 1 box with 20 (52 lbs) |
| 30 | 2 boxes: 23 (59.5 lbs) and 7 (19.5 lbs) |
Without the weight limit, 30 units would ship in one box of 77 lbs.
A single unit heavier than the limit can’t be split, so it ships alone in that box and Parcello flags it:
- on the Products page, under the box: “One unit and the box weigh more than this box’s N lbs limit.” (for a carton pack that may ship in separate boxes, “One carton and the box…”);
- on the order, under the box’s total weight in Assigned Packages or Unassigned Packages: “Over this box’s N lbs limit”;
- in Test a cart (Operations plan): “Over this box’s N lbs limit. It can’t be split further, so it ships alone.”
The limit must be more than the box’s empty weight. A box set by hand on an order can still go over the limit: the order page shows the same note.
Max pieces when products share this box
Use it when the box’s space is set by the number of pieces, whatever the mix, for example long trim pieces that lie side by side. See Shared boxes and ride-along items.
Import and export boxes
To add or change many boxes at once, use the three buttons at the top of the Box Library:
| Button | What you get |
|---|---|
| Export | An Excel file (.xlsx) with every box in your library and its current settings. Use it to change existing boxes. |
| Download template | An Excel file with the column names and a How to fill sheet explaining each column. Use it to add boxes from scratch. |
| Import | Uploads an edited Excel (.xlsx) or CSV file. Parcello shows what will change before anything is saved. |
How an import reads your file
Parcello reads the first sheet. Row 1 holds the column names; every other row is one box.
- Boxes are matched by
box_name, ignoring case. A name already in your library updates that box; a new name adds a box. Boxes not in the file stay as they are. To rename a box, use Edit on the Boxes page. - Columns you leave out aren’t touched. A file with only
box_nameandmax_weight_lbchanges only max weights. - A blank cell clears an optional field, such as
max_weight_lb. A blank size or empty weight keeps the box’s current value, since those can’t be cleared. A new box needslength_in,width_in,height_inandempty_box_weight_lb. - Notes in a column name such as “(optional)” are ignored, and numbers may include units or separators (“12 in”, “1,250”).
Import a file
- Click Import and add the file.
- Click Preview changes. Parcello lists the new boxes, the updated boxes with the fields that change, how many are unchanged, and any problems by spreadsheet row.
- If the preview shows problems, fix them in the file and preview it again. Nothing is imported while any row has a problem.
- Click Import N boxes.
Then assign the boxes to products on the Products page, or with an Excel import of product settings, which finds boxes by the same name.
Columns
| Column | What to enter |
|---|---|
box_name | Required. A unique name. |
length_in, width_in, height_in | Outside dimensions in inches, above 0 and up to 999. Required for a new box. |
empty_box_weight_lb | Weight of the empty box in pounds, 0 or more. Required for a new box. |
max_weight_lb | Optional. Max weight: more than the empty weight, up to 9999. |
max_pieces_when_mixed | Optional. Max pieces when products share this box: a whole number from 1 to 9999. |
status | Optional. active or inactive. New boxes are active. |
checkout_surcharge | (Advanced plan.) Optional. Flat amount per box at checkout; 0 or blank means none. |
inside_length_in, inside_width_in, inside_height_in | (Operations plan.) Optional. Each no larger than the outside size. |
box_cost | (Operations plan.) Optional. What one box costs you. |
use_for_automatic_packing | (Operations plan.) Optional. yes or no. |
Columns for a feature your plan doesn’t include, and columns Parcello doesn’t know, are listed as ignored in the preview.
Import messages
| Message | Fix |
|---|---|
| The file needs a “box_name” column. | Add a box_name column, or download the template. |
| Row N: box_name is blank. | Enter a name, or delete the row. |
| Row N (Name): the same box_name is also on row M. | Keep one row per box. |
| Row N (Name): Length is required for a new box (length_in). (also Width, Height, Empty box weight) | Fill in the size or weight for the new box. |
| Row N (Name): Length “x” must be more than 0, up to 999. | Enter a number of inches. |
| Row N (Name): max weight (N lbs) must be more than the empty box weight (N lbs). | Raise the max weight, or leave it blank. |
| Row N (Name): inside length (N in) is more than the outside length (N in). | Enter a smaller inside size, or leave it blank. |
| Row N (Name): status “x” must be active or inactive. | Use active or inactive. |
Edit a box
Click Edit on the row, change the fields and click Save.
Boxes already on orders keep the size and weight they had when Parcello created them. Your changes apply to boxes Parcello creates from then on: new orders, checkout rates, and orders where you click Recalculate Packages (available until the order has labels). Labels you’ve already created don’t change.
Deactivate a box
Boxes can’t be deleted. Click Deactivate instead (and Activate to bring it back). You can also change Status in the edit form.
An inactive box:
- disappears from the box lists on the Products page, so you can’t assign it to more products;
- isn’t found by Excel imports (a row naming it gets the error Box “Name” not found in box library.);
- stays on the products that already use it, and those products keep packing in it;
- stays on past orders and shipments.
The In Use column shows how many product variants use each box. Before you deactivate a box that’s in use, move those products to another box on the Products page or with an Excel import.
Automatic packing fields
(Operations plan.) These fields only matter for products set to Automatic packing, where Parcello picks the box from the product’s packed size. See Automatic packing by size.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Use for automatic packing | Untick it to keep this box out of automatic packing. The Automatic packing column in the table shows Used or Not used. |
| Inside length, Inside width, Inside height | The space inside the box, in inches. Each must be no larger than the outside size. Blank inside sizes use the outside size minus 0.5 in. |
| Box cost | What one box costs you. Automatic packing counts it when it compares ways to pack an order. |
Automatic packing also uses the box’s Max weight from the Limits group, 150 lbs when blank.
The Box Library table
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Name | The box name. |
| Dimensions (L×W×H) | Outside dimensions in inches. |
| Empty Weight | The empty weight in pounds. |
| Checkout surcharge | (Advanced plan.) The flat amount per box, or a dash for none. |
| Limits | The box’s limits, for example “60 lbs · 30 pieces when mixed”, or None. |
| Automatic packing | (Operations plan.) Used or Not used. |
| Status | Active or Inactive. |
| In Use | How many variants use the box. |
| Actions | Edit and Deactivate or Activate. |
Where the packing rules are
Rules that involve more than one product, such as letting different products share a box or having a small item ride inside another product’s box, are on Products > Box sharing. Rules for a single product, such as how many units fit in a box, are on the Products page next to each box. Limits on the box itself, its weight and the pieces in a shared box, are on this page. See Shared boxes and ride-along items and Limit items per box, alternative boxes and carton packs.
Notes and limits
- Dimensions are in inches and weights in pounds.
- A product can use several boxes, for example a wheel and its stand. See Ship one product in several boxes.
- On an order you can still change a box’s weight or move contents between boxes. See Boxes and shipments on the order.
Troubleshooting
| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A box with this name already exists | Another box has the same name, ignoring case. | Pick a different name. |
| Length must be a positive number (also Width, Height) | The field is empty or zero. | Enter the outside size in inches. |
| Weight must be zero or a positive number | Empty Box Weight is empty or negative. | Enter the empty weight, or 0. |
| Up to the outside length (also width, height) | An inside size is larger than the outside size. | Enter a smaller inside size, or leave it blank. |
| Must be more than the empty box weight (N lbs) | Max weight is at or below Empty Box Weight. | Enter the most the box may weigh with its contents, or leave it blank. |
| Enter a number above 0, up to 9999 | Max weight is out of range. | Enter a weight in lbs. |
| Enter a whole number from 1 to 9999 | Max pieces when products share this box isn’t a whole number. | Enter a whole number, or leave it blank. |
A box doesn’t appear in the Products page lists. It’s inactive. Click Activate on the Boxes page.
A box holds fewer units than its Max qty per box. The units reached the box’s Max weight first. Raise the limit or clear it on the Boxes page.
Carrier charges are higher than the quote for a box. The carrier re-measured the package. Check the box’s outside dimensions, especially if it’s near a size limit.