Everything you need to know about shipping fees
Shipping polo gear is more complicated than shipping everyday items, and the costs can feel surprisingly high when you order alone. This page explains why it happens.
Why Polo Gear Is Expensive to Ship
Shipping polo equipment is more complex than shipping everyday items, and costs can feel surprisingly high when ordering alone. This is largely due to how couriers price parcels based on size, shape, and handling requirements rather than just weight.
Polo gear varies significantly in dimensions and value. Long items like mallets occupy a large amount of space even though they are relatively light. Helmets and boots are smaller, but their higher value can increase customs duties and taxes. When shipped individually, these factors can cause costs to add up quickly, especially for international deliveries.
How Couriers Calculate Their Prices
Couriers do not price parcels purely by weight. Instead, they use volumetric weight, which reflects how much space a parcel takes up in an aircraft or vehicle.
In practice, this means:
Mallets are expensive to ship because they are long and bulky. Even a single mallet requires an oversized carton, and adding a second mallet often increases the shipping cost only marginally because the box size remains similar.
Helmets are lighter and more compact, but their packaging size and higher item value can still result in relatively high shipping and customs charges.
Boots typically fall in between. They are heavier than gloves but easier to pack than mallets, resulting in moderate shipping costs.
Why shipping increases when items are added
Shipping is not calculated on a simple per-item basis. Costs increase in steps rather than gradually.
Adding an item can push a shipment into a larger carton size or a higher volumetric pricing tier. When this happens, the total shipping cost can jump significantly, even if the added item itself is relatively light or inexpensive. This is why ordering items separately often feels inefficient.
Other factors that affect shipping cost
Shipping prices are also influenced by:
The country of origin and destination
The courier and service level used
Packaging constraints and carton sizes
Oversized handling fees and fuel surcharges
Customs duties and import taxes based on item value
Sharedeq’s solution
When an order includes a mix of oversized items (such as mallets) and standard items (such as helmets, gloves, or boots), shipping costs are not driven by a single factor.
Oversized items take up significantly more space and are priced by couriers based on volumetric size, while standard items are affected more by value, weight, and customs considerations.
To ensure shipping is shared fairly, Sharedequal works closely with each brand to review the actual shipping quote or invoice and separate it conceptually into two parts:
Oversized shipping costs
These are costs attributable to mallet cartons, oversized handling, and volumetric pricing tiers.
This portion is allocated based on the number of oversized items, as each mallet contributes similarly to space and handling, regardless of price.
Standard shipping costs
These are costs attributable to regular cartons, standard handling, and customs or tax considerations.
This portion is allocated proportionally based on the value of standard items in the order.
This approach reflects how couriers actually calculate shipping, and helps ensure that:
Oversized items do not unfairly inflate shipping for smaller items
Standard items are not overcharged for space they do not occupy
Each participant pays a share that reasonably reflects what their items contribute to the total shipment
The goal is not mathematical perfection, but a fair, transparent, and explainable allocation that mirrors real shipping mechanics.
Service Fee
Sharedeq charges a small service fee of SGD 8 per participant, or SGD 12 for orders that include a mallet and oversized items. There are no mark-ups on products or shipping