Price the parcel before you buy the label
Postage is easy to guess wrong: in my sample shop the linen tea towel was cheapest as a Royal Mail 2nd Class large letter and the ceramic mug went cheapest with Evri. I built one workbook where you type each product's packed size and weight once, and it picks the cheapest band and service it fits, adds your packaging and shows what to charge for delivery.
The question
this build answers
How do I work out what to charge for shipping on Etsy, or how much to add to the price if I offer free delivery?
From the first trigger
to the finished job.
The working version, step by step.
Start from the carriers' own prices
The Rate table holds 47 rates I read at source on 18 September 2026: 28 Royal Mail online prices valid from 5 October 2026, 8 Evri prices and 11 USPS Ground Advantage prices. Each row carries its size limits, tracking, read date and source, and every price sits in a blue cell you can change.
Set up your packaging
On Packaging you type what a pack of boxes, mailers, tissue, tape, labels or inserts costs and how many of each one parcel uses. I let you group them into up to eight packaging sets, such as a mailer and a box, and give each product the set it ships in.
Measure each product packed
Products takes up to 20 products or parcel types, measured packed, in cm or inches and in g, kg, oz or lb. My sample planter set went in as 12 by 16 by 12 inches and 7 lb, and the sheet converted it before checking any band.
Let it pick the cheapest
I made the sheet sort the three packed sides longest first and check them against each band's length, width and depth, then length plus girth and volume where a carrier sets one, then the weight. The Calculator shows the cheapest band and service it fits, with the postage, the packaging and the total cost to send.
Set your delivery rule
At the top of the Calculator you choose your market, whether to use tracked services only, whether packaging goes in the delivery charge, a handling amount per parcel and the rounding steps. Each product then gets a delivery charge at your rule, and I added a second answer for what to put on the item price if you offer delivery free.
Compare every service
Compare lists every service each product fits, cheapest first, with what each one costs above the cheapest. In my sample shop Tracked 48 came second for the enamel pin, behind 2nd Class, and the row showed what the tracking would add.
The shipping calculator, instant download
Etsy shipping cost calculator: 47 Royal Mail, Evri and USPS rates, packaging, a delivery charge and a free-delivery price
You get one Excel workbook that also imports into Google Sheets, plus a README and a sources file. It is an instant download with nothing to install. If a rate or a formula looks wrong, message me from your order and I will check it against the carrier's page.
Open the shipping calculator on EtsyChecked in four settings
Before listing it, I recalculated all 5,839 formulas with a formula engine outside Excel in four settings: UK, UK tracked only, US, and a local courier of my own added to the rate table. None of them returned an error.
My sample shop runs from an enamel pin to a planter set typed in inches and pounds, and all 792 checks matched the bands, totals, charges and rankings I worked out by hand. In the US setting no pre-filled rate fitted the planter set, and its row told me to check the size or add a rate.
Where the rates come from
I read every price on the carrier's own page, and none came from memory. Royal Mail has published new online prices for 5 October 2026, so I pre-filled those and kept the older price in each row's notes.
The Evri page showed a Summer Sale note ending 30 September 2026 beside its prices, which is worth a recheck after that date. My USPS rows are the Commercial zone 8 column of Notice 123, the highest of zones 1 to 8 at every weight.
What it leaves out
I kept Etsy fees and profit per order out of this file, because my Etsy pricing and profit calculator covers them, and dispatch dates live in my order and inventory tracker.
It works one parcel at a time, so for two items posted together I add a row for the packed pair. It buys no labels and fetches no live prices, so when a carrier changes a price you type the new one in.
Before you spend anything
The fit matters.
Who should not buy this
If you post from outside the UK and the US, I would not buy this, because the only rates I pre-filled are for Royal Mail, Evri and USPS.
If you want live carrier prices or a tool that buys your labels, look elsewhere, because I built a sheet you keep up to date by hand when a carrier changes a price.
Yours to keep
What lands
on your desk.
- An eight-tab Excel workbook that opens in Numbers and LibreOffice and imports into Google Sheets
- 47 Royal Mail, Evri and USPS rates read at source, each with its size limits and read date
- The cheapest band and service for up to 20 products, with packaging, a delivery charge and a free-delivery uplift
- A compare tab ranking every service each product fits, a README and a sources file
See the work
Open the proof.
Published case studies of running systems. Each links to the thing itself.
A few useful
answers.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
I tested this workbook in Google Sheets: imported through File, Import, Upload, all four sample products came out with the same carrier, cost and delivery charge as in Excel.
Can I add a courier that isn't listed?
Add its rows on the spare lines at the bottom of the Rate table with its size limits and prices, and set Use to no for any service you never send with. I tested this with a local courier of my own in one of the four sample settings.
What happens when Royal Mail changes its prices?
Carriers change prices once or twice a year, and when one does you type the new price in its blue cell with the date you read it. I already pre-filled the Royal Mail online prices that start on 5 October 2026.
What is the free-delivery uplift?
It is what to add to the item price so that the price covers postage, packaging and any handling when you offer delivery free. I gave it its own round-up step on the Calculator, so you can keep item prices tidy.
A little further down
the same path.
Related builds for the rest of your business.
Pricing an Etsy listing from what you actually keep
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Tracking Etsy orders, dispatch dates and stock in one sheet
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Working out the true cost of a handmade piece, time and overheads included
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Answering Etsy buyer messages without breaking Etsy's rules
Read the build ↗Make this work for you
Your tools.
Your working version.
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