The shipping weight [shipping_weight] attribute lets you include the weight to use when calculating shipping costs through your Merchant Center settings. For example, you would submit the shipping weight attribute when using carrier-calculated rates.
On this page
When to use
Optional for each product
If you set your account shipping settings in Merchant Center based on weight, then use the shipping weight [shipping_weight] attribute to submit the weight for each product. Methods that calculate shipping using weight include carrier-calculated rates and shipping weight tables. If the weight for your product exceeds the supported value, use the shipping label [shipping_label] attribute instead to configure shipping rates. Learn more about shipping settings.
Format
Follow these formatting guidelines to make sure Google understands the data you're submitting. Learn when and how to submit your product data.
| Formatting specifications | |
| Technical name | shipping_weight |
|---|---|
| Type | Number plus unit |
| Supported units | Supported values: lb, oz, g, and kg |
| Limits |
For imperial: Note: Decimal points to the values are supported. For example, |
| Repeated field | No |
File format examples
To ensure your attribute is recognized correctly, use the formatting specific to your data source type.
| Data source format | Examples |
|---|---|
| Text data sources | 3 kg |
| XML data sources | <g:shipping_weight>3 kg</g:shipping_weight> |
| Merchant API | To format your data for Merchant API, check the Merchant API resource. |
Best practices
These best practices can help you go beyond the basic requirements to optimize your product data for performance.
- Set up shipping services through Merchant Center. To take advantage of the weight that you submit, make sure to set up shipping services through Merchant Center.
- Use the actual shipping weight. Some carriers take into account both weight and package dimensions when calculating shipping cost. When you use a carrier-calculated setting, we’ll calculate the applicable shipping cost based on both weight and dimension. Submit dimensions through shipping length
[shipping_length], shipping width[shipping_width], and shipping height[shipping_height]. - Respect carrier weight limits. All carriers have limits to what can be shipped using their services and most carriers don't accept packages over a certain weight. Carrier rates don't support products exceeding these limits and you should define shipping cost for them using shipping tables.
Additional guidelines
Review each section closely to determine if the requirements apply to your country or product. If you don't follow requirements that apply to you, we'll disapprove your product and let you know in your Merchant Center account.
- Use a shipping table to set up LTL shipping costs in your account shipping settings. Carrier-calculated rates don’t support LTL pricing for heavy or large products.
- Submit the shipping label
[shipping_label]attribute to assign a freight class to each product and define multiple shipping groups in Merchant Center. You can then create tables specific to each freight class. - Use the highest possible shipping cost a user might pay. If you have difficulties submitting accurate shipping costs (for example, due to real-time cost calculations at checkout), you should submit the highest possible shipping cost a user might pay.