It seems these days there are more shippers guessing the weight of the shipment than actually knowing what the weight is. This is becoming a problem due to shippers overpaying for many shipments. There are ways to avoid weight discrepancies, and the easiest is to do your own research and not take the word of someone else. Remember one thing, most people you will purchase something from will guess the weight also, and this is how you can get in trouble.

When making a purchase online or over the phone, always ask the seller for the name, model number, and any specs on that item. With this information you can do some research online or by phone.

In most cases if a search on any of the major Search Engines is done for the name of the item, there will be plenty of results displayed. Sometimes it helps to add the model number along with the name to narrow down the results. There will be times when you might have to add the word weight with the name and model search to help speed things up. It is not always easy, but it is better than getting burned by stating the incorrect weight.

If you do not have internet access or just do not feel comfortable doing searches online, there is always the phone. It is a bit harder and you will need to break out the Yellow Pages for your research. You can either look up the category for what you are shipping or look up the manufacturer's name. Either way you go, there will be someone who will be able to provide you with the correct weight.

If you are shipping items that are in multiple boxes, there are two ways to obtain the weight. If you have a bathroom scale, you can find out your weight and than hold each box one at a time while on the scale. Keep a running total of all boxes and there is the weight. If this is too much work, weigh three boxes and get the average weight. Than multiply this number by the amount of boxes for a total weight.