Shipping Weight: Converting Grams to Pounds
Carriers bill in whole pounds and round upward. Knowing where each bracket starts is worth real money on repeated shipments.
To convert parcel weight from grams to pounds, divide the grams by 453.59237. A 460 gram parcel is 1.0141 pounds, and because carriers round up to the next whole pound it is billed as 2 lb. Crossing 453.59237 grams by even one gram moves a parcel into the next price bracket.
The quick answer
Divide grams by 453.59237 to get pounds, then round up to the next whole number to get the billable weight. A 900 gram parcel is 1.9842 pounds and bills as 2 lb. A 1,000 gram parcel is 2.2046 pounds and bills as 3 lb. That extra 100 grams costs a full pricing tier even though the parcels feel almost identical.
Open the grams to lbs converter →
Why carriers round up
Carriers charge by weight bracket rather than by exact weight, and the brackets are set in whole pounds for domestic United States shipping. A parcel weighing 1.01 lb and one weighing 1.99 lb usually cost the same, because both round up to 2 lb. This is standard practice across major carriers, though the exact tiers and any half-pound bands vary by service, so the published rate card for the service being used is the authority.
The consequence is that the value of shaving weight is not linear. Removing 50 grams from a parcel changes nothing unless it takes the parcel below a bracket boundary, at which point it saves an entire tier. The boundaries sit at every multiple of 453.59237 grams.
Where the boundaries fall
Each whole pound boundary is a multiple of 453.59237 grams. The first four sit at 453.59 g for 1 lb, 907.18 g for 2 lb, 1,360.78 g for 3 lb and 1,814.37 g for 4 lb. A parcel at 450 grams bills as 1 lb; the same parcel at 460 grams bills as 2 lb.
460 g ÷ 453.59237 = 1.0141 lb → bills as 2 lb
difference in actual weight: 10 g
difference in billed weight: 1 whole pound
For anyone shipping the same item repeatedly, this is where money is found. Ten grams of packaging removed from a product sitting just above a boundary changes the cost of every parcel sent from then on.
Grams to billable pounds
This table shows actual weight in grams, the exact conversion to pounds, and the whole pound most carriers would bill after rounding up.
| Grams (g) | Exact pounds | Billed as |
|---|---|---|
| 100 g | 0.2205 lb | 1 lb |
| 250 g | 0.5512 lb | 1 lb |
| 450 g | 0.9921 lb | 1 lb |
| 454 g | 1.0009 lb | 2 lb |
| 500 g | 1.1023 lb | 2 lb |
| 900 g | 1.9842 lb | 2 lb |
| 908 g | 2.0018 lb | 3 lb |
| 1000 g | 2.2046 lb | 3 lb |
| 1500 g | 3.3069 lb | 4 lb |
| 2000 g | 4.4092 lb | 5 lb |
| 2500 g | 5.5116 lb | 6 lb |
| 5000 g | 11.0231 lb | 12 lb |
The 450 g and 454 g rows show the boundary clearly: four grams of difference moves the parcel up a whole billing tier. These are US brackets; for how UK, Canadian and Australian postal weight brackets compare, see the international shipping weight brackets by country guide.
Dimensional weight
Large light parcels are often billed on volume rather than on actual weight. Carriers calculate a dimensional weight from the parcel's measurements and charge whichever is greater, actual or dimensional. A box of pillows can weigh 800 grams and still be billed as though it weighed several pounds.
Converting grams to pounds tells you the actual weight only. If a parcel is bulky relative to its mass, check the carrier's dimensional weight formula as well, because the conversion on this page will not predict the price on its own. The divisors used vary by carrier and by service.
Weigh the packaging, not just the product
Billable weight is the weight of the finished parcel, including box, padding and tape. A product at 430 grams sits comfortably under the 453.59 gram boundary, but add a 40 gram box and it becomes 470 grams and bills as 2 lb. Weighing the product alone is the most common reason a shipping estimate comes out lower than the invoice.
Weigh the sealed parcel exactly as it will be handed over, convert that figure, then round up. The conversion factor used here, 453.59237 grams per pound, is exact and set out with its sources on the methodology page.