"Standard export carton" appears on almost every quotation we see forwarded from buyers, and it tells you nothing about what you will actually pay to move the goods. It does not tell you how many units fit in a container, what the freight per piece is, or whether your customer's price still works once shipping is added. This post shows the four numbers that do, and how to convert them into landed cost before you quote.
The four numbers that actually matter
For every SKU, ask for these four figures in writing:
- Units per carton. How many pieces are packed in one master carton. This is the number that converts cartons into sellable units.
- Carton dimensions, L × W × H in centimetres. Measure the carton as packed, not the product. Irregular shapes are often packed one per carton, which changes everything downstream.
- Gross weight per carton. The weight the freight forwarder bills on, including the carton itself and any inner packing.
- CBM per carton. The derived volume. You can calculate it yourself from the dimensions, but ask the supplier to state it so you can check their arithmetic against yours.
If a supplier cannot give you these four numbers per SKU, you are quoting blind. Ask again, or ask for a packing list from a previous shipment.
Real numbers from our own catalogue
These are packing figures from our own product listings. They show how much the numbers vary between products that look similar on a screen.
| Product | Units per carton | Carton L×W×H (cm) | CBM per carton | Gross weight | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 3-Tier Sink Storage Rack with Wheels | 6 sets | 49×42×47 | 0.097 | 1.95 kg | | 2-Tier Square Utility Cart | 39 sets | 39×28×60 | 0.066 | 3.6 kg | | Snowflake Bathroom Shelf (7 cm) | 46 sets | 46×41×43.5 | 0.082 | 1.95 kg | | 3-Tier Cart with Solid Shelf Board | 34 sets | 55.5×34×47 | 0.089 | 3.7 kg | | Folding Utility Cart (ABS) | 1 set | 45×11.8×97 | 0.051 | 4.5 kg | | 20 cm Narrow Gap Rolling Cart (4-Tier) | 1 set | 39×14×82 | 0.045 | 4.2 kg |
The weights above are as listed on the supplier spec sheet. Confirm them per SKU before you quote your customer, because a carton change or a different accessory set can move the gross weight.
Turning CBM into landed cost
The arithmetic is simple and you can do it in a spreadsheet. The formulas:
`` CBM per carton = (L × W × H in cm) ÷ 1,000,000 Cartons per container ≈ container CBM ÷ CBM per carton Units per container = cartons per container × units per carton Freight per unit = freight cost per container ÷ units per container ``
Worked example, using the 3-Tier Sink Storage Rack with Wheels:
- CBM per carton: 0.097
- Units per carton: 6 sets
- Planning volume: roughly 28 CBM usable in a 20GP, roughly 68 CBM in a 40HQ
20GP: 28 ÷ 0.097 ≈ 288 cartons. 288 × 6 = 1,728 sets. If your freight cost for the container is X, freight per unit is X ÷ 1,728.
40HQ: 68 ÷ 0.097 ≈ 701 cartons. 701 × 6 = 4,206 sets. Freight per unit is X ÷ 4,206.
We are not quoting a freight rate here, because rates move and depend on your lane, your forwarder and the season. Put your own rate into the formula. The point is the method: once you know units per container, freight per unit is one division away.
Treat the container figures as planning estimates. Usable volume varies with carton shape and stacking. A carton that is long and thin may not nest as tightly as its CBM suggests, and palletised cargo loses floor space. Use 28 CBM and 68 CBM to compare SKUs against each other, then confirm the actual load plan with your forwarder.
Why the difference between products is so large
Look at two rows in the table. The 2-Tier Square Utility Cart packs 39 sets in a carton of 0.066 CBM. The Folding Utility Cart (ABS) packs 1 set in a carton of 0.051 CBM.
The folding cart and the narrow gap rolling cart are packed one per carton because of their shape. A folded cart is long and flat; a narrow cart is tall and thin. Neither stacks into a compact block with others of its kind, so the packer gives each one its own carton. The result is that a single carton holds one sellable unit, while a carton of similar volume from another SKU holds 39.
That difference flows straight into freight per unit. Take the 20GP planning figure of 28 CBM:
- 2-Tier Square Utility Cart: 28 ÷ 0.066 ≈ 424 cartons × 39 sets = 16,536 sets in the container.
- Folding Utility Cart (ABS): 28 ÷ 0.051 ≈ 549 cartons × 1 set = 549 sets in the container.
Same container, same freight cost, and one SKU delivers roughly thirty times the units of the other. If you quote both products at the same freight-per-unit assumption, one of your quotes is wrong. This is why "standard export carton" is not a specification — it hides a thirty-fold difference in what you are actually shipping.
Five questions to ask any supplier before you quote your customer
- How many units are in one master carton for this exact SKU, and does that change if I order a different colour or accessory set?
- What are the carton dimensions in centimetres, measured as packed, and what is the gross weight per carton?
- Is this SKU packed one per carton? If so, why — and is there a nested or multi-pack option?
- Can you send the packing list from a recent shipment of this SKU, so I can check cartons per container against my own calculation?
- If I change the order quantity, does the carton configuration stay the same, or does the packer switch to a different carton size?
Ask these before you quote, not after. A packing answer that arrives after your customer has accepted a price is a cost you absorb.
What we publish
Every SKU in our catalogue carries packing data: units per carton, carton dimensions, CBM per carton and gross weight. You can pull the numbers directly from the product pages and drop them into the formulas above.
If a figure you need is not on the page, ask us and we will confirm it per SKU rather than estimate. Where we do not have a number — a freight rate for your lane, for example — we will say so plainly and leave the calculation to you.