Reviewed 2026-03-31 · quarterly cycle
Snapshot 2026 Q1: what moved since the previous 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 It is not included in the search index because its figures have been superseded, and a superseded figure that still ranks is worse than no page at all.
Q1 was the quarter in which band pricing became visible across more lines than we had previously recorded. The change matters less for the total than for the marginal cost of the last item in a parcel, and marginal cost is what decides whether adding one more thing is worth it.
We also retired three entries. Each had been recorded in an early pass from a source we could no longer identify, and a fee basis without a traceable source is worse than an empty row because it looks authoritative.
The clearance entries were quiet this quarter. Two destination structures were reviewed with no scope change, which we record because a quiet quarter is evidence that our earlier entries are still current.
What moved, item by item
| Item | Previous | Current | Direction | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Line pricing structure | Linear per kilogram across the weight range | Tiered by weight band | Scope changed | Line-published rate tiers. The consequence is that marginal cost is not average cost: the last item can cost more than the preceding ones. |
| Band boundary effect on parcel assembly | Not applicable under linear pricing | Adding an item across a boundary raises the whole parcel tier | Scope changed | Derived from the published tiers. This is the practical consequence of the change above and is why our budget tool warns at boundaries. |
| Restricted goods scope unit | Recorded per carrier | Recorded per service | Scope changed | Service-level documentation. Two services under one brand were observed to differ, so per-carrier recording was misleading. |
| US threshold figure | As published | Unchanged | Unchanged | Published rule. No scope change in the period under review. |
| UK consignment value line | As published | Unchanged | Unchanged | Published rule. The collection mechanism was reviewed with no change to the line itself. |
| Coupon and voucher tracking | Recorded as a tracked category | Retired | Scope changed | Withdrawn. The codes we sampled resolved to placeholder strings rather than to working offers, so the category is no longer tracked and no code is published anywhere on this site. |
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.