What shipping weight should I submit for Google Shopping?
Direct answerSubmit the weight your shipping setup uses, with the unit. Google’s shipping weight attribute, reviewed November 2, 2026, is optional. Use it when account shipping is based on weight, including carrier-calculated rates and weight tables. A typed shipping price is a different attribute.
When the weight is what sets the rate
The attribute feeds Merchant Center’s own shipping settings. Google’s text example is 3 kg. XML is <g:shipping_weight>3 kg</g:shipping_weight>. The field does not repeat. The number and the unit are one value.
If the weight is above the supported value, do not force it into this field. Use the shipping label and set the rate from that label. The same path is how Google describes freight and less-than-truckload shipping: carrier-calculated rates do not support that pricing, a shipping table does, and the shipping label assigns a freight class so you can keep more than one table. The cost the shopper is charged, when you submit it directly, is the shipping attribute.
Best practices on this page: turn on the shipping service in Merchant Center or the submitted weight has nothing to calculate, and respect the carrier’s own limit. Carrier rates do not support products over that limit, so those products need a table. Dimensions, when the carrier uses them, are shipping length, width, and height. This page does not restate those dimension rules.
A cost you cannot calculate exactly
Under additional guidelines, Google says that if you cannot submit an accurate shipping cost, for example because checkout calculates it in real time, submit the highest cost a shopper might pay. The section says that when a requirement there applies to you and you do not follow it, the product is disapproved. The weight attribute itself stays optional for products whose shipping is not weight-based. This page does not print a 7-day suspension warning.
Sources
Reviewed November 2, 2026. Policies change. This is not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
I already submit a shipping price. Do I also need the weight?
Only if the Merchant Center shipping service calculates the rate from weight. Google names carrier-calculated rates and shipping weight tables. A flat shipping price you type yourself is the shipping attribute, not this field. If you do not set shipping by weight, the weight attribute is optional.
The package is 1200 kg. Can I submit that?
No. Google’s metric cap is 0–1000 kg, and the imperial cap is 0–2000 lb. Those two caps are not the same weight. If the product is over the supported value, Google says to use the shipping label attribute and configure the rate that way. Carrier-calculated rates also do not cover less-than-truckload freight.
Should the weight include the box?
Google’s best practice is to submit the actual shipping weight, not a bare product weight you hope the carrier will ignore. It also says many carriers price from both weight and dimensions. Dimensions go in shipping length, width, and height. This weight page does not give a formula for dimensional weight.
Check the shipping cost the page actually charges
LaunchGuarding can scan the product page for a delivery cost the feed is about to understate.