2 Temando weight hacks: How to weigh your item prior to sending

Ok, so you love Temando! We are so glad. Our mission has been to make organising couriering and shipping easier, no matter whether you are an individual, an online retailer, a big corporation or a government department. The Temando platform is the most advanced available and really does make the process of finding and booking a courier faster and easier.  We are determined to improve our service across the board, making it simpler to use and providing better results for everyone. This involves many different facets, from ensuring that the underlying algorithm that powers our platform is constantly tweaked to deliver the best result through to ensuring that all of our customers are well informed about all the various aspects of our service. With that in mind, we want to help you with two weight hacks that can help you to get the right weight before you send your goods. 

What is a weight hack and why would you need it? Well, while the term hack is usually used in reference to computers the word is more general than that, it simply means making improvements to a system, process or item to improve the results for your personally. A weight hack then is a way for you to make your weighing of goods more accurate. Why is this so important when it comes to Temando? Well, we have noticed that some of our customers struggle to get the right weight when booking their courier. This means that they will be charged for an overweight package. We don’t want this happening, so we are here to help!

One of the main problems is that most people only have household scales that are used for weighing people at their home and the packages they are weighing are only up to a few kilograms. The majority of household scales is that they have a margin of error that is about one or two kilograms when they are sitting on zero. In other words, the problem is that if you put the package on the scales on its own the scales will not give you an accurate reading. They will fluctuate and you will have no idea of the packages real weight. 

The solution is quite simple. You weigh yourself first without the package and then you weigh yourself holding the package. Then you subtract the first weight from the second weight to come up with the weight of your package. It really is a simple way to get a good idea of a package’s weight using scales made for people and not packages. 

The other hack is one you can use if you do not have any scales at all. You will need a coat hanger, some tape or string and a variety of kitchen products. You use the hanger like an old style scales, where you have a weight you know on one side and your package on the other. Using the tape or string to attach the package you then attach kitchen items whose weight you know (it will be written on the packaging) to find one that matches your package.

It’s important to make a booking with the correct weight to ensure your packages payment and delivery goes smoothly!