Frequently asked questions

Dimensional weight (dim weight) is a pricing method carriers use to calculate shipping costs based on a package's size, not just its actual weight. A formula converts the package's cubic size into weight units for pricing, so large, lightweight packages are priced to account for the space they occupy during transportation.

The dimensional weight formula is: Dimensional Weight = (Length x Width x Height) / DIM Factor. The DIM factor is a constant value carriers use to convert a package's cubic size into weight units, and it varies among carriers. Your shipping cost is based on the higher of the dimensional weight and the actual weight.

For the full story, read our guide to understanding dim weight, or reach out to an Argo team member and we'll send you a handy dim weight calculator tool.

Typically, peak season begins on Thanksgiving Day and ends on New Year's Day. Planning ahead matters. Inventory, carrier capacity, and customer expectations all need to be set before the rush, and our strategic planning team works through exactly that with partners every fall.

Contact your Argo representative to start a claim review, or email partners@argoshipping.com if you're not sure who that is, within 60 days of the loss. Identify the affected shipment and SKUs and we'll take it from there. What happens next depends on where the loss happened. If your product was lost, stolen, or damaged in our warehouse, we reimburse you at 100% of replacement cost. If a carrier lost or damaged the package after we tendered it, we file the claim with the carrier on your behalf where the service that shipment moved on offers a claims process, and we pass through whatever the carrier pays. Not every service has a claims process. Many economy and postal-handoff services carry no claims obligation at all, and where there's no claim to file we tell you up front. Full coverage terms are in our terms and conditions.

It depends entirely on who had your product when it went wrong.

In our building: product lost, stolen, or damaged while in our possession is reimbursed at 100% of your replacement cost, which is what your manufacturer charges you to make the unit again, not retail and not wholesale. There's no per-package cap on that unless your agreement sets one.

In a carrier's hands: we're not an insurer, and we don't cover carrier losses from our own funds. We file the claim for you where the service supports it and pass through what the carrier pays. If the carrier pays nothing, we owe nothing, and carriers decline the substantial majority of claims. Carrier payouts are typically capped around $50 to $100 when they do pay.

Coverage is domestic U.S. only and starts with a claim you file. If your partnership agreement says something different from this, your agreement governs. See our terms and conditions for the full terms.

Because a claim has to settle against a real number. Our inventory management system has a replacement cost field on every SKU, and you own it. That field is how you declare what your product is worth, and it's the reason we can pay full replacement cost on warehouse losses instead of the weight-based formula most warehouses use. If the field is empty when something goes wrong, there's no objective way to value the product and we can't pay a claim on an estimate. Filling it in during onboarding, and keeping it current as your supplier pricing changes, is the single best thing you can do to make a future claim quick.

Only to the extent the carrier pays us. We're a fulfillment and logistics company, not an insurance company, and we don't fund carrier losses from our own pocket.

The honest version: when you ask, we file the claim with the carrier and push it. If the carrier pays, that money goes to you. If the carrier pays nothing, we owe nothing. Expect that outcome more often than not, because carriers decline the substantial majority of loss and damage claims, and when they do pay it's typically capped around $50 to $100 no matter what was in the box. Some economy and postal-handoff services carry no liability and no claims process at all, so there's nothing to file. That's part of why those rates are low.

If your product values make that trade a bad one, tell us. We'll route your orders onto services that carry a claims path, or point you toward third-party cargo insurance. Product lost or damaged in our own warehouse is a different matter entirely: we cover that at 100% of replacement cost.

We have to go off the carrier's data: tracking scans, geolocation, and photo evidence of delivery. When that evidence shows the package reached the correct address, there's no claim we can pay. What we will do is submit an inquiry to the carrier on your behalf. Sometimes that resolves the discrepancy; we can't promise it will, and the outcome doesn't create a payment obligation on our side. It's the one scenario where we'd rather tell you the limitation up front than surprise you mid-claim.

No. Our coverage applies to domestic U.S. shipments and to product held at our U.S. facilities. Once a package leaves the country or is tendered for export, coverage ends, and we don't guarantee anything for international carriers or freight forwarders. If you ship internationally, insure those orders separately. Ask us and we'll point you toward options.

Our pick workflow verifies each SKU by barcode scan against the order before it leaves the aisle, which is what keeps mis-picks rare. Rare isn't never, though. If we verify the error was ours, we either re-ship the correct item to your customer at our cost, or issue you a service credit against your Argo fees worth 100% of the product's replacement cost. We pick whichever fits the situation, and usually a re-ship is what you actually want. It's the same measure we use when something is lost or damaged in our care. That covers a wrong item, a wrong quantity, a missing line, product damaged by how we packed it, or a kit we built wrong. Report it within 60 days with the order number and a photo of what your customer received if you have one. That photo is usually what verifies the miss fastest. Three honest limits: replacement cost has to be recorded on the SKU in our system before the error, or there's no agreed value to calculate from; if the SKU data on record didn't match the physical product, the scan verified against bad data, so that's a data correction rather than a pick error; and where nothing in the scan or packing record substantiates the report, there's no credit. The governing terms are in our terms and conditions.

If we miss the onboarding commitments written into your Service Order within your first 60 days, we refund 200% of your onboarding fees, double what you paid to get set up. It covers onboarding fees only, not storage, pick & pack, freight, or any other service. To use it, hold up your side of the onboarding plan (product data, inventory, integration access, on the dates we agreed) and tell us in writing within 30 days of that 60-day window closing. We then get 15 business days to fix what we missed. One thing worth knowing up front: the guarantee pays double what you actually paid in onboarding fees, so if your onboarding fee was waived or discounted, that's what it's calculated on. A waived fee means there's nothing to double. The full terms, including exclusions, are in our Terms & Conditions.

Everything we print, package, or duplicate runs against a proof you approve in writing first, and that approved proof is the standard we're held to. If the finished job doesn't match it because of an error on our end, we make it right: we either reprint the affected part of the job at no charge or refund what you paid for it, whichever we're able to do fastest. Tell us within 30 days of delivery, describe how the job differs from the proof, and send a photo or a sample if you have one. That's usually what settles it quickest.

The honest flip side: if the finished job does match the proof you approved, we did the job. A typo, a wrong date, or a color choice that was on the proof when you signed off isn't something a reprint is owed for, though we'll always help you get the next run right, and we'd rather catch it at the proof stage, which is exactly why we don't print until you've approved one. A few other things this doesn't cover: normal color and trim variation within industry tolerance, problems that come from the artwork files you supplied, and damage that happens in transit after we hand the job to a carrier. That last one is a carrier claims question instead. The governing terms are Section 16A.

Close, but not exactly, and that's physics rather than a defect. Monitors emit light and ink reflects it, and the same file will shift slightly across different stocks, presses, and coatings. A digital proof is the right tool for checking content, layout, and position, but it can't set a color standard.

If color has to land exactly, say a brand color or a match to packaging you already have, ask for a hard-copy proof before the run. Then we're matching the job to a physical sheet you're holding, and that becomes the standard we're accountable to under Section 16A. Bring us a physical sample of what you need matched and we'll tell you honestly what the process can hold.

You'll receive access to your Partner Portal during the onboarding process. If you need further support, reach out to partners@argoshipping.com and we'll get you sorted.

Visit your Partner Portal and click the tracking number for your order, and a tracking link will open. For more support, reach out to partners@argoshipping.com.