Hey there,

Quick announcement first: I'm giving away 1,000 free copies of my new book, "Sold Out, Still Broke: The DTC Supply Chain Secret to Actually Keeping Your Profit". No shipping costs. No catch. Just claim yours before March 27 → soldoutstillbroke.com

DTC saved my job during the pandemic. This book is my way of giving back. If it helps you find a profit leak, all I ask is an honest Amazon review and that you share it with one founder friend who needs it.

(More on the book at the bottom. First, let's talk about the money you're literally paying to ship air.)

You are paying for air.

Literally.

Every time you ship a package, carriers make a decision: charge you based on actual weight, or charge you based on how much space it takes up in their truck. They pick whichever is higher.

This is called dimensional weight pricing. And if your box is bigger than it needs to be — even by an inch or two — you're paying to ship empty space on every single order.

I worked with a brand last year shipping a 2 lb product. Their box dimensions calculated to 6 lbs DIM weight. Triple the shipping cost. On 50,000 annual shipments.

$47K in unnecessary freight. Gone. Every year. Because the box was 3 inches too big.

This is one of the most fixable problems in DTC supply chain. And one of the most ignored.

I recorded a YouTube video breaking down what's actually happening in freight right now because the container rate dropping does not mean your shipping bill dropped.

In it, I walk through why the base rate is only part of what you're paying, what blank sailings are and how carriers use them to push rates back up, and the surcharges quietly showing up on every invoice right now (fuel, peak season, equipment imbalance, emergency disruption fees - yes, all of them, all at once).

There's also a simple 10-minute exercise to find your real shipping cost this week - not the quote you celebrated, the number that's actually hitting your landed cost and margins.

If you've ever gotten a freight quote, felt good about the rate, and then been confused by the final invoice, start there.

Here's how dimensional weight works:

DIM Weight = (Length × Width × Height) ÷ DIM Factor

The DIM factor varies by carrier. For most ground shipping (UPS, FedEx), it's 139. For some carriers and zones, it's lower — which means even more aggressive DIM pricing.

The carrier charges whichever is higher: actual weight or DIM weight.

Let me run an example.

Say you have a 2 lb product in a 12" × 10" × 8" box.

DIM Weight = (12 × 10 × 8) ÷ 139 = 960 ÷ 139 = 6.9 lbs

The carrier rounds up. You pay for 7 lbs.

Your 2 lb product ships as a 7 lb package. You're paying 3.5x what the actual weight would cost.

Now multiply that by every order you ship in a year.

This is why I say DIM weight is the silent killer. It doesn't show up as a line item that says "you're overpaying." It just shows up as "shipping costs" — and most founders assume that's fixed.

It's not fixed. It's a function of your box size. And you control your box size.

Here's the thing: nobody intentionally designs an oversized box. But it happens constantly. And there are patterns.

Pattern 1: Standard sizes that don't match your products.

You launch with whatever boxes your 3PL has in stock. "We have 10×8×6 and 14×12×10" — and you pick the one that fits. But "fits" and "fits efficiently" are different things.

I've seen products rattling around in boxes with 4 inches of empty space on every side. Because that was the "closest" standard size. Meanwhile, the brand is paying DIM charges on all that air.

Pattern 2: Over-engineered protection.

Someone on the team had a damage issue once. Now every product ships in a box designed to survive a nuclear blast. Extra dunnage. Extra padding. Extra inches on every dimension "just in case."

The cost of occasional damage claims is almost always lower than the cost of shipping oversized boxes on every order. But nobody ever runs that math.

Pattern 3: Supplier cartons dictating your packaging.

Your supplier ships products in their carton. You receive them. You ship them to customers in... the same carton. Or a carton that fits the supplier's carton.

The supplier's carton was designed for ocean freight efficiency, not last-mile DIM optimization. You're optimizing for the wrong stage of the journey.

Pattern 4: "Unboxing experience" gone too far.

Someone decided that a premium product needs a premium unboxing. Which became tissue paper. Then branded tape. Then inserts. Then a bigger box to fit all the extras. Then a rigid mailer because "it photographs better."

I've seen brands spending $2-3 per order on "unboxing experience" materials — plus the DIM surcharges from the larger box — with no evidence it affects customer retention or reviews.

Unboxing experience matters. But it needs to pay for itself. If you can't tie it to a metric, it's a cost, not an investment.

DIM weight is just one of the hidden costs eating your profit.

But there's a bigger problem most DTC founders face right now: You're fully stocked, but you can't afford to run ads.

Post-CNY inventory has landed. The wire transfers cleared. Your manufacturer got paid. Your 3PL is charging receiving and storage fees. You look at your warehouse and think: "We're ready. Let's go."

Then you look at your bank account.

This isn't a cash problem. It's an inventory timing problem.

Every PO you place is a loan you gave yourself. That $50,000 in inventory? That's $50,000 you can't spend on ads, product development, or hiring.

I'm co-hosting a live workshop with Richie Mashiko (Head of Growth and FP&A, She’s Birdie) called "You're Not Cash Poor. You're Inventory Rich."

This workshop reframes how you think about inventory: not as an asset to celebrate, but as cash that hasn't come back yet.

What you'll walk away with:

✅ A new mental model for inventory: See every unit as trapped cash, not "stock on hand"

✅ Your Cash Conversion Cycle by SKU: Know exactly how long your money is tied up in each product

✅ The velocity context that makes "months of supply" meaningful: Stop celebrating 4 months of inventory on a product that sells 1 unit/day

✅ A data-driven reorder timing system: Make inventory decisions based on math, not fear of stockouts

✅ Real case study: How one brand freed up $120K in working capital without selling anything

Who this is for:

DTC founders doing $200K–$3M in revenue who: — Have inventory landing post-CNY and feel the cash squeeze — Are "fully stocked" but can't afford to scale ads — Make reorder decisions based on gut feel or fear of stockouts — Have never calculated their Cash Conversion Cycle — Want to understand where their cash is stuck and when it comes back

If you've ever looked at a full warehouse and an empty bank account and wondered what went wrong, this is for you.

Here's how to find your number.

Step 1: Measure your top 10 products.

Get the actual dimensions and weight of each product — not what's in your system, what's actually on the shelf. Systems lie. Tape measures don't.

Include the product in its inner packaging (poly bag, sleeve, whatever it ships in). This is your "shippable unit."

Step 2: Measure your current packaging.

For each product, what box does it currently ship in? Get the inner dimensions of that box — Length × Width × Height.

If you're using multiple box sizes and picking based on order contents, map which products go in which boxes.

Step 3: Calculate DIM weight for each.

(L × W × H) ÷ 139 = DIM weight

Round up to the nearest pound. That's what carriers charge.

Step 4: Find the gap.

Compare actual weight to DIM weight. If DIM weight is higher, that's your gap. That's how much "air" you're paying for.

I've seen gaps as small as 1-2 lbs (not worth fixing) and as large as 8-10 lbs (absolutely worth fixing).

Step 5: Calculate annual cost.

Take the weight gap × your average cost per pound × annual shipment volume.

If you're paying $0.50/lb and you have a 4 lb gap on 20,000 annual shipments, that's $40K in DIM surcharges.

The average brand I audit is overpaying 25-40% on shipping due to DIM inefficiency. Most have never run this calculation.

Let me walk you through the brand I mentioned at the top.

Before:

→ Product actual weight: 1.8 lbs

→ Box dimensions: 14" × 12" × 10"

→ DIM weight: (14 × 12 × 10) ÷ 139 = 12.1 lbs

→ Billable weight: 13 lbs (rounded up)

→ Annual shipments: 50,000

They were paying for 13 lbs on a 1.8 lb product. A 7x multiplier.

Why was the box so big? Two reasons. First, they'd inherited it from a previous 3PL who only stocked that size. Second, the product had a fragile component and someone years ago decided it needed "extra protection."

Nobody had questioned it since.

The fix:

We worked with their packaging supplier to design a custom box that fit the product with appropriate (not excessive) protection.

After:

→ New box dimensions: 10" × 8" × 6"

→ New DIM weight: (10 × 8 × 6) ÷ 139 = 3.5 lbs

→ New billable weight: 4 lbs

They went from paying for 13 lbs to paying for 4 lbs. A 9 lb reduction per shipment.

The math:

→ Cost to redesign packaging: $3,200 (design + new box order)

→ Savings per shipment: ~$0.94

→ Annual shipments: 50,000

→ Annual savings: $47,000

→ ROI: 15x in year one

That $3,200 investment paid for itself in about 3 weeks. Everything after that was pure margin.

And the damage rate? Unchanged. Turns out you don't need 4 inches of air on every side to protect a product. Who knew.

Once you've done the audit, you need to talk to your packaging supplier. Here are the questions that matter:

"What are the minimum dimensions that still protect the product?"

Don't ask for "a smaller box." Ask for the engineering constraints. What's the smallest you can go while still meeting protection requirements?

"Can we test a smaller carton before committing?"

Most packaging suppliers will produce a small test run. Ship 100-200 units in the new box. Track damage claims. If they hold up, you've validated the change.

"What would custom cost vs. standard?"

Sometimes the answer is "use a different standard size" (cheaper). Sometimes it's "go custom" (more expensive per unit, but pays for itself in DIM savings). Run both scenarios.

"What's the lead time for changes?"

Factor this into your timeline. A custom box might take 4-6 weeks. You don't want to run out of your old boxes before the new ones arrive.

And the most important thing: show them the math.

"I'm paying $47K/year in DIM surcharges because this box is oversized. I need a solution that gets me under [X] DIM weight. What are my options?"

They're not paying your DIM charges. They don't feel the pain. You have to make the problem concrete.

Run the DIM audit on your top 5 SKUs.

Find your number. Calculate the gap. Add up the annual cost.

Then have the conversation with your packaging supplier. Or your 3PL. Or whoever owns box selection.

I've never done this audit with a brand and found nothing. There's always a box that's bigger than it needs to be. Always money being spent on air.

Reply with what you find. I read every response — and I'll tell you if your numbers look off or if there's a fix you're missing.

This week in the Supply Chain Founders community, we're doing a DIM weight challenge.

Post your top SKU's actual weight vs. DIM weight gap. I'll give you feedback on whether it's worth fixing and what approach to take.

One founder posted last week and discovered her "lightweight" product was shipping at 8 lbs DIM because the box was designed for gift presentation, not shipping efficiency. The community helped her find a solution that kept the premium feel without the premium freight cost.

The community is free. It's where DTC founders talk supply chain with people who actually get it.

Week 1: The costs that don't show up on your PO (done)

Week 2 (this week): The DIM weight problem

Week 3: The Fulfillment Cost Audit — what your 3PL isn't telling you

Week 4: The $18K/year Packaging Redesign — step-by-step case study

"Sold Out, Still Broke" covers all of this: DIM weight, hidden costs, profit leaks you can't see, plus the frameworks I use to actually fix them.

What's inside:

1,000 free physical copies. No shipping costs.

Claim yours before March 27.

The ask: If this book helps you find a profit leak, leave an honest Amazon review and share it with one founder friend. That's how I keep creating free content. That's how this reaches more people.

Until next time,

Lara

P.S. A 20% reduction in box size can mean 20%+ reduction in shipping costs. Not a typo. Every cubic inch matters. The math is brutal — but it works in your favor once you fix it.

P.P.S. If you've been meaning to tackle this but keep pushing it off — the DIM weight challenge in Circle is the accountability you need. Post your numbers. Get feedback. Fix the box. Stop paying for air.

P.P.P.S. DIM weight is just one chapter of the book. There are 7 more profit leaks waiting for you. Grab your free copy → soldoutstillbroke.com