Choosing a package forwarder isn't just about finding the lowest shipping price. A company might offer cheap shipping but charge high handling fees, provide limited services or take longer to process your packages.
That's why ForwardersCompare uses a multi-factor scoring systemto give you a more balanced view of each forwarder.
Each forwarder receives an overall score out of 10, calculated from three areas:
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Cost & Fees | 40% |
| Services | 35% |
| Speed | 25% |
We use scores in 0.1-point increments, allowing us to distinguish between forwarders that offer broadly similar services.
Cost has the greatest weighting because fees can make a significant difference to the overall value of a forwarding service.
We look at the fees you are likely to encounter, including:
We don't simply reward the forwarder with the lowest individual fee. We consider the overall fee structure and how much you're likely to pay when using the service.
For example, a forwarder with free receiving but expensive consolidation may not represent better value than one that charges a small receiving fee but includes consolidation.
International shipping costs are not included in this score.Shipping prices vary substantially depending on the destination, package weight, dimensions and carrier. We assess those separately using standardised shipping comparisons. --This is a factor that we hope to include in tye near future.
The second-largest component measures what you actually get for your money.
We consider factors such as:
A forwarder offering a wide range of useful services will generally score higher than one offering only basic forwarding.
However, we also consider whether those services are included or charged separately. A long list of optional services doesn't necessarily mean good value if most of them carry additional fees.
Speed measures how quickly you can get your purchases from the forwarder's warehouse to you.
We consider:
A forwarder doesn't necessarily score highly simply because it offers DHL Express or another fast carrier. We also consider the warehouse processing time, because there's little benefit in having fast international shipping if your package takes several days to leave the warehouse.
The three category scores are combined using their respective weightings.
For example, if a forwarder scores:
Its overall score would be:
(9.0 × 40%) + (8.5 × 35%) + (8.0 × 25%) = 8.6/10
This means a forwarder doesn't have to be the cheapest or fastest to achieve a high overall score. It needs to provide a good balance of value, services and speed.
We deliberately keep actual shipping prices separate from the service score.
That's because shipping costs can change dramatically depending on what you're sending and where you're sending it. A forwarder that is inexpensive for a 1 kg package going from the US to New Zealand might not be the cheapest option for a 10 kg package going from Germany to Australia.
Instead, ForwardersCompare can compare shipping costs usingidentical shipment details across multiple forwarders.
This gives you two different pieces of information:
Service Score — How good is the forwarder overall?
Shipping Score — How competitive is its shipping price for this particular shipment?
This approach means you can see whether a forwarder is genuinely good value rather than simply relying on its advertised headline rates.
The cheapest option isn't always the best option.
For example, saving $5 on shipping may not be worthwhile if you have to pay another $10 for consolidation, wait several days for your package to be processed or pay extra for services that another forwarder includes.
Likewise, a premium forwarder may charge more but provide substantially better customer service, faster processing, better package protection and more flexible delivery options.
Our scoring system is designed to recognise those differences.
Forwarders regularly change their pricing, membership plans, carriers and services.
We therefore treat the scores as a current assessment rather than a permanent rating.
When a forwarder changes its fees or services significantly, its score can be reviewed and updated.
Shipping prices can change even more frequently, which is why we recommend using the shipping comparison for the most relevant indication of what you'll actually pay.
Our aim isn't to tell you that one forwarder is automatically the best.
Instead, ForwardersCompare gives you a consistent way to compare different forwarding services, while allowing you to see where each company performs well and where it has weaknesses.
A high overall score means the forwarder offers a strong combination ofreasonable fees, useful services and efficient processing. It doesn't necessarily mean it will be the cheapest option for your particular shipment.
Use the score to find the forwarders worth considering. Then use the shipping comparison to find the option that makes the most sense for your specific package.