Reviewed 30 September 2026 · quarterly cycle
Should I choose an agent by the service fee percentage?
No, because the fee is one of five line items and it is the one that scales least with the parcel. Choosing on it optimises the smallest variable.
The evidence
The service fee scales with item value. The international leg scales with chargeable weight. On a haul that is heavy relative to its value, which describes most clothing and footwear hauls, the shipping line dominates the total and the fee is a minority share. Optimising the fee on such a haul is optimising the smaller number.
The second reason is that a low fee frequently pairs with a thin service layer. Where a fee is materially below the common range, the compensating difference tends to appear in the value-added services list, in the storage policy, or in the handling of a query. Comparing fee percentages without comparing those three produces a comparison that is not about the same product.
The third reason is the basis change recorded in our snapshot series. The fee moved from a single tier to a tiered structure, which means the effective percentage depends on order size. A percentage quoted in a comparison table is therefore only valid for one order size, and the comparison silently breaks for every other.
When this does not apply
On a low-value parcel with a high shipping share, the fee is small enough that it rarely changes the ranking of agents. Where the fee does matter is on a high-value, low-weight order, which is the configuration where the percentage applies to a large base and the shipping line is cheap.