Check box weights and declared values
How Parcello weighs each box and spreads the order's value across boxes, how to set either by hand, and what the carriers do with the declared value.
Updated October 13, 2026
Every box on an order carries a weight and a declared value. Parcello works both out from what is in the box, and you can change either one before you create labels. Both go on the rate request and the label, so they decide what the carrier charges.
Where to find them
Open the order, open a shipment under Shipments, and look at its Assigned Packages table:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Box | The box name, or Custom |
| Dimensions | Length × width × height in inches |
| Box Weight | The empty box weight from the Boxes page, or the Weight (lb) you entered for a box with custom dimensions |
| Content Weight | What the items in the box weigh. Editable until the shipment has a label |
| Total Weight | Box Weight plus Content Weight. This is the weight sent to the carrier |
| Declared Value | The value of what is in the box. Editable until the shipment has a label |
How the content weight is worked out
For each item in a box, Parcello takes the first weight it can find:
- The content weight on the product’s box row for this box type, times the units in the box. This is the exact case: the item is in the box it is set up for.
- If the product is set up with other boxes but not this one, the sum of the content weights on all its box rows (the weight of one whole unit), times the units.
- The product’s weight in Shopify, times the units.
- Nothing, when none of these exist. The box shows “some item weights unknown”.
Parcello works the weight out again every time you change what is in the box. In the Package Assignments table, each item also shows the per-unit weight it uses, for example 2.50 lb each. Set content weights per box on the Products page. See Set up products.
Example
A wheel ships in three boxes: the wheel (12 lb), a stand (8 lb) and poles (3 lb). With Parcello’s default packing, each box gets the weight from its own box row. If you add a custom box and put the wheel in it as well, that box isn’t one of the wheel’s box rows, so Parcello counts a whole unit (23 lb) for it, and the box shows a caution that the weight may be too high. Type the real weight in that case.
Set a weight by hand
Type a number in Content Weight. Parcello saves it after a short pause and then keeps your number: it no longer changes when the box’s contents change. A line under the field shows what the contents compute to, with a Reset link. Click Reset to go back to the computed weight.
A box with no content weight is highlighted, the field reads Enter weight, and a banner says “Some packages have no content weight. Enter the content weight before creating labels.”
Weight hints
The line under Content Weight only shows when there is something to check:
| Hint | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Contents: N lb | Shown when you set the weight by hand: this is what the contents compute to |
| Contents compute to N lb (red) | The weight entered is lower than the contents. The carrier may charge more after weighing the box |
| Contents compute to N lb · Check the weight set by hand | Your weight is higher than the contents, for example because items left the box after you typed it |
| Contents ≈ N lb — may overcount, item spans multiple boxes | An item set up as several boxes is split across boxes it isn’t set up for, so each box counted a whole unit |
| · some item weights unknown | At least one item has no weight in Parcello or Shopify |
When the weight is below the contents, set by hand above them, or may overcount, a warning icon also appears next to the box number in the Package Assignments table. Hover it to read the details.
Over the box’s weight limit
When the box type has a Max weight on the Boxes page and the box’s Total Weight is above it, “Over this box’s N lbs limit” shows under the total. Parcello packs boxes within the limit, so this happens when one unit is heavier than the limit on its own, when the order was packed before the limit was set, or after you add items or type a weight by hand. It doesn’t stop you from creating labels. See Box limits.
How the declared value is worked out
Parcello spreads the value of the order’s items across the boxes they are in:
- An item’s value is its price times the units still ordered (cancelled units don’t count).
- Each box gets the value of the units in it.
- A unit that ships in three boxes gives each box a third of its price.
- An item split across shipments is counted once, never once per shipment.
- Units not yet in a box carry no value until you put them in one.
Once every unit is in a box, the boxes add up to the value of the order’s items.
The Declared Value field next to the carrier and service is the total for the shipment: the sum of its boxes.
Set a declared value by hand
For one box: type an amount in the box’s Declared Value cell. The box keeps your amount and shows Set by hand with a Reset link. The shipment total updates.
For the whole shipment: type a total in the shipment’s Declared Value field and leave the field. Parcello spreads your total over the shipment’s boxes in proportion to their current values (evenly if they are all zero) and keeps those amounts. A Reset link appears next to the field label. It puts every box back on the computed value.
To declare no value: set the shipment’s Declared Value to 0. No box on that shipment declares a value.
Changing a weight or a declared value clears the shipment’s saved rates, because the price may change. Get rates again before you create labels.
What the carriers do with it
| Carrier | Declared value |
|---|---|
| UPS and FedEx | Each box’s value goes on the rate request and the label as that package’s declared value. The carrier prices the coverage into the rate you see and bills it with the label |
| Shippo | On your own carrier account connected in Shippo, the box values ask that carrier for its coverage. On Shippo’s carrier accounts, the value is only used if you add Shippo shipping insurance to the shipment |
| Estes | The shipment total is used only when you tick Add full-value coverage in the shipment’s freight details. See Freight with Estes |
| FedEx Freight | Not sent. FedEx Freight’s standard liability applies. See Freight with FedEx Freight |
UPS shipments with a declared value of $999 or more also get a High-value report button after labels are created. See Shipping insurance and high-value shipments.
Notes and limits
- Weights and declared values lock when the shipment’s labels are created. Void the labels to change them.
- A box you add with custom dimensions keeps the Weight (lb) you entered as its box weight, whether or not you save it to your library.
- The carrier may weigh and measure a box again. If the real weight or size is higher than declared, the carrier can bill the difference later.
Troubleshooting
“Cannot change the declared value after labels are created” Void the labels first.
The rate went up after I changed the declared value. UPS and FedEx charge for declared value. Lower it, or set the shipment to 0 to declare none.
A box weighs far more than it should. Look for the “may overcount” hint. Type the real weight, or put the item back in the box it is set up for.