Reviewed 2025-12-31 · quarterly cycle
Snapshot 2025 Q4: the baseline quarter
This is an earlier quarter, kept for the record. It is not included in the search index because its figures have been superseded, and a superseded figure that still ranks is worse than no page at all.
This is the baseline. It records how each fee line was first characterised and what method produced it, which is more useful than the figures themselves now that three quarters of revisions sit on top of it.
Two honest notes belong here. First, the baseline used a convenience sample rather than a constructed one, and convenience samples over-represent whatever was easiest to observe. Second, four entries were recorded with a scope we already suspected was wrong, and three of those were subsequently revised. Keeping the baseline unedited makes the later revisions auditable.
Anyone reading the series should start at the most recent quarter and work backwards. The baseline explains where the categories came from; it is not a reference for current figures.
What moved, item by item
| Item | Previous | Current | Direction | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service fee | No comparable figure for last quarter | Percentage of item value, single tier | Scope changed | Baseline entry. Convenience sample from published schedule structures; the tiering structure was not yet established. |
| Domestic leg and handling | No comparable figure for last quarter | Per order, recorded as two separate lines | Scope changed | Baseline entry. The split into two lines was an artefact of how the schedule was read and was merged in Q2 2026. |
| International leg | No comparable figure for last quarter | Charged on billed weight after warehouse measurement | Unchanged | Baseline entry. The basis has not changed across the series. |
| Volumetric divisor | No comparable figure for last quarter | Recorded as one value per carrier | Scope changed | Baseline entry, known at the time to be too coarse. Corrected to per-service recording in Q1 2026. |
| Storage beyond the free window | No comparable figure for last quarter | Charged per day after the free period | Unchanged | Baseline entry. The basis has not changed across the series. |
| Restricted goods lists | No comparable figure for last quarter | Recorded per carrier | Scope changed | Baseline entry, known at the time to be too coarse. Corrected to per-service recording in Q1 2026. |
How to read this table
A scope change means the basis moved rather than the number. A carrier that republished a rate card at a different figure has not changed scope and is not recorded here. A carrier that moved from a fixed handling charge to a percentage-based one has, and that is the kind of event this series exists to catch.
The practical consequence is that a scope change can alter your total without any rate moving, which is why the fee comparator asks for the charging unit rather than only the rate. Open the fee comparator.