> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Avg Shipping Cost, Amazon Prime Shipping (SFP) > Avg Shipping Cost for Amazon Prime Shipping (SFP) stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Shipping & Courier](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Average all-in cost paid per Prime-eligible consignment in the period: base carrier rate plus zone surcharge plus fuel surcharge plus residential surcharge plus signature-required fee, divided by consignment count. The card is the per-shipment SFP economics dial; pair with `ama_otd_rate` and Amazon's Concession metric to see whether the spend is buying you the Prime-badge-protecting service it should. | | | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `SUM(consignment_total_charge_usd) / COUNT(consignments)` over rolling 30 days. Includes all surcharges. | | **Service level scope** | Prime-eligible consignments (1-Day, 2-Day, Same-Day) across all carriers. | | **Surcharges included** | Fuel surcharge (each carrier publishes monthly), residential delivery surcharge, peak-period surcharge (Q4), signature-required fee, additional-handling fee. | | **Carrier mix breakdown** | UPS Ground 2-Day typically $5 to $8 per shipment; OnTrac $6 to $9; USPS Priority $5 to $7; Amazon Logistics $4 to $6 (lowest where coverage exists). The headline avg blends; per-carrier split on `ama_route_otd`. | | **B2B vs B2C** | Almost entirely B2C. Amazon Business Prime is a small share of typical SFP volume. | | **Currency** | USD. | | **Tariff change cadence** | UPS publishes annual rate increases in January (typically +5 to +6% YoY). USPS Priority publishes annual increases mid-year. Fuel surcharges update weekly to monthly across carriers. Q4 peak surcharges typically active mid-November to mid-January. | | **Time window** | `30D vsP` | | **Alert trigger** | `+10% vsP`. | | **Roles** | owner, finance, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Amazon Prime Shipping (SFP) data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A US apparel merchant on SFP shipping from Atlanta with carrier mix UPS Ground 2-Day (East/Midwest), OnTrac (West Coast), USPS Priority (rural), Amazon Logistics (limited zones). Reading taken at 09:00 ET on 02 Apr 26 for the trailing 30 days (02 Mar 26 to 01 Apr 26). | Carrier | Consignments | Total spend | Avg cost per shipment | | ------------------------ | ------------ | ------------ | --------------------- | | UPS Ground 2-Day | 4,820 | \$33,740 | \$7.00 | | OnTrac (West Coast) | 1,210 | \$8,952 | \$7.40 | | USPS Priority (rural) | 580 | \$3,712 | \$6.40 | | Amazon Logistics | 320 | \$1,664 | \$5.20 | | **Total / weighted avg** | **6,930** | **\$48,068** | **\$6.94** | Prior 30D avg was $6.62; current $6.94 is a **4.8% rise**, well below the 10% alert. Five things to notice: 1. **Most of the rise is January UPS tariff carry-forward.** UPS's January rate increase typically lifts blended SFP cost 4 to 6% YoY; expect this baseline. 2. \*\*Amazon Logistics at $5.20 is the cheapest cohort.** Amazon's own last-mile pricing on SFP-eligible ZIPs undercuts UPS by $1.50 to \$2 per shipment. Where coverage is available, push more volume to Amazon Logistics; cost-and-OTD both improve. 3. **UPS Ground at \$7.00 is the volume cohort.** UPS dominates the weighted avg; rate-card moves on UPS reverberate through this card more than on any other carrier. 4. **USPS Priority cheapest on the 4-carrier mix but worst on OTD (recall earlier 91.7%).** The economics question is "is the $0.60 to $1.50 saving per rural-ZIP shipment worth the SFP eligibility risk?" For a Prime-badge-dependent merchant, almost always no. 5. **Compare against `ama_otd_rate`.** Cost up 4.8% + OTD flat-or-down = renegotiate carriers (especially USPS Priority). Cost up + OTD up = paying for better service. Plus, factor Amazon Concession costs (Amazon-side credits to customers when Prime is broken) which run $5 to $10 per missed Prime promise. A 1-point OTD gain can offset \$200 of Concession cost on a 200-miss month. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together Average shipping cost is the per-shipment SFP economics dial. Pair with these: | Card | Why pair it with Avg Shipping Cost | What the combination tells you | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Cost per Shipment Trend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-prime-shipping/cost-per-shipment-trend) | 90-day shape vs 30-day point. | Step (tariff change) vs creep (mix shift). | | [Cost by Zone](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-prime-shipping/cost-by-zone) | Zone-distance split. | Mix-shift toward farther zones lifts the avg. | | [Shipments by Service](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-prime-shipping/shipments-by-service) | 1-Day vs 2-Day vs Same-Day mix. | 1-Day is roughly 1.4x 2-Day cost. | | [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-prime-shipping/on-time-delivery-rate) | Service half of spend-to-service ratio. | Cost up + OTD flat = renegotiate carrier mix. | | [Open Claims](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-prime-shipping/open-claims) | Carrier refund recovery offsets gross cost. | Net cost = gross minus recovered. | | [SFP On-Time Delivery vs 99% Threshold](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-prime-shipping/sfp-on-time-delivery-vs-99-threshold) | Cost-vs-eligibility view. | Cheap-USPS-rural is false economy if it costs the badge. | | Cross-connector: [`amazon.az_concessions`](/nerve-centre/amazon/az_concessions) | Amazon-side concession costs (customer credits). | Concession cost is offset by reduced cost-of-Prime-miss; right balance matters. | | Cross-connector: [`shipbob.sb_avg_shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/shipbob/sb_avg_shipping_cost) | Peer 3PL alternative. | Different orders. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look:** Per-carrier invoices: UPS Quantum View, USPS Click-N-Ship monthly statement, OnTrac account portal, Amazon Logistics in Seller Central → Logistics → Invoicing. Card pools all carriers connected. **Why our number may legitimately differ:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | -------------------- | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Period boundary** | Either | Carriers invoice on weekly or monthly cycles; card uses 30-day rolling. | | **Credit notes** | Ours higher (gross) | Carrier refunds appear as credit notes on next invoice. | | **Surcharge timing** | Either | Fuel surcharge changes mid-month. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | --------------------------------- | | [`shipbob.sb_avg_shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/shipbob/sb_avg_shipping_cost) | Peer 3PL. | Different orders. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why does our average rise every January?** UPS publishes annual rate increase in early January; OnTrac follows mid-January. Combined with annual fuel-surcharge baseline reset, expect 4 to 7% YoY rise as structural baseline. Adjust YoY comparisons. **Amazon Logistics is cheapest on coverage; how do we maximise it?** Check Amazon's coverage list quarterly (varies by ZIP). Set up your shipping rate logic to prefer Amazon Logistics where eligible, falling back to UPS for non-Amazon-Logistics ZIPs. Most rate-shopping rules engines (Shipstation, Shippo, Veeqo) support carrier preference rules. **SFP rate negotiation: who do we negotiate with?** Each carrier separately. UPS account managers will negotiate rate-card discounts above \~\$5K monthly UPS spend. OnTrac similar. Amazon Logistics rates are largely fixed. Bring this card, `ama_otd_rate`, and Amazon Concession data to UPS / OnTrac negotiations as proof of operating discipline. **Why did avg cost spike but rate cards have not changed?** Service-mix shift (more 1-Day vs 2-Day), zone-mix shift (more rural / longer distance), or seasonal peak surcharge (Q4 mid-November to mid-January). Rare to be a true rate-card surprise on Amazon SFP cohort. **Carrier-claim recovery: how does that show up?** Not in this card. Card is gross spend; claim recovery is on `ama_open_claims`. To compute net, subtract recovered claims from gross. Net cost is what flows into your contribution-margin calculation. **SFP suspension during Q4: cost implications?** Suspending SFP for 6 weeks shifts all volume to standard non-Prime fulfilment. Customer-facing shipping cost can be lower (slower delivery, USPS Ground Advantage, Mercury Mail), but Buy Box win rate drops without Prime badge and revenue typically falls 20 to 40% during suspension. Cost-per-order falls, gross revenue falls more. Whether worth it depends on margin structure. **1-Day vs 2-Day Prime cost difference?** 1-Day Prime carriage is roughly 1.4x 2-Day on UPS, 1.5x on OnTrac. Most merchants offer 2-Day as default Prime; 1-Day available for buy-time orders. The card pools both; if mix shifts toward 1-Day (e.g. promotional period), avg lifts proportionally. **During Q4 peak, what do carrier surcharges add?** UPS adds Peak Season Surcharge (typically $0.30 to $1.00 per Ground 2-Day shipment) from late November to mid-January. OnTrac adds similar. USPS Priority typically does not add peak surcharge; cost stays flat through Q4. Net peak-period uplift on this card: 5 to 12% depending on carrier mix. **Compared to FBA, what is the cost trade-off?** FBA absorbs storage cost ($0.75 to $2.40 per cubic foot per month) plus per-unit fulfilment fee ($3 to $7 typical). SFP avoids those but adds the merchant-warehouse overhead and per-shipment carriage cost. Hybrid models are common: FBA for high-velocity / Prime-Day-critical SKUs, SFP for slow-velocity / brand-experience SKUs. **Buy with Prime: same carrier costs?** Yes. Buy with Prime ships on the same carrier mix as SFP. Costs are comparable; the Buy with Prime program adds no carrier-side surcharge. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Avg Shipping Cost* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Amazon Prime Shipping (SFP) and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.