Reviewed 2026-06-30 · quarterly cycle
Snapshot 2026 Q2: what moved since the previous quarter
The Q2 review was mostly about consolidation. Several line items that had been recorded separately turned out to be charged on the same basis, and merging them made the fee comparator shorter and more accurate. A shorter tool is not a worse tool when the lines it removed were duplicates.
The clearance side saw two structural rewrites. One destination moved the point at which a tax identifier is required, which changed the order in which a buyer should prepare documents. Another reclassified a category boundary, which changed which parcels fall on which side of a threshold without changing the threshold itself.
We declined to carry forward two figures. Both were ranges we had recorded in an earlier quarter from a sample that we could not reconstruct when we tried to re-derive it. Carrying them forward would have looked tidy and would have been wrong.
What moved, item by item
| Item | Previous | Current | Direction | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic leg and handling charge | Recorded as two separate line items | Recorded as one line item, charged on the same basis | Scope changed | Published policy comparison. The two lines were charged on identical bases, so presenting them separately implied a distinction that did not exist. |
| Tax identifier requirement timing | Requested after arrival at the destination facility | Requested before departure on some lines | Scope changed | Line-level documentation. This changes the preparation order: an identifier now needs to exist before the parcel moves, not after. |
| Category boundary for coated outerwear | Treated with uncoated knitwear | Classified separately from uncoated knitwear | Scope changed | Published classification guidance. The threshold figures did not change; which parcels sit on which side of them did. |
| Consolidated air transit range (US) | Range recorded from an earlier sample | Re-derived from the current sample | Unchanged | Community-reported ranges. The upper bound moved by two days; the lower bound did not. |
| Express courier transit range (EU) | Range recorded from an earlier sample | Unchanged | Unchanged | Community-reported ranges. No material movement in the reported window. |
| Rehearsal shipping availability | Recorded as a service line item | Not verified | Scope changed | Not verified. Service availability varies by warehouse and we could not confirm it as a standing line item, so it is no longer presented as one. |
| Insurance charge basis | Recorded as a percentage of declared value | Not verified | Scope changed | Not verified. The basis appeared to vary by category and we could not establish a single rule, so we removed the figure rather than approximate it. |
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.