How much of a $20 shirt is ocean shipping? Let's do the math

A container can cost thousands of dollars to move. A T-shirt in a shop might cost $20. The connection between those numbers is the number of shirts sharing the freight bill.

We built a simple packing example to make that connection visible. Depending on the assumed container freight, the modeled ocean charge is 5, 10 or 20 cents per shirt.

Those are scenario results. They are not actual freight rates paid by a clothing brand.

First, fill the container

Take a hypothetical carton measuring 60 × 40 × 40 cm and put 100 shirts in it. Assume the packed carton weighs 25 kg. These are invented planning inputs, not H&M packaging specifications.

Using Hapag-Lloyd's example 40-foot standard container, an uncomplicated grid puts 20 cartons along the length, five across and five high. That is 500 cartons, or 50,000 shirts.

The cartons weigh 12,500 kg in total. Their geometric envelope and modeled weight are within the example container's published dimensions and payload. We have not established carton compression strength, safe stacking or a real load-securing plan. This is arithmetic, not a packing instruction.

Then divide the freight bill

Keep the 50,000 shirts fixed and change only the ocean charge:

At a $5,000 charge, the calculation is $5,000 ÷ 50,000 = $0.10 per shirt. Relative to a $20 selling price, that particular freight component is 0.5%.

A $5,000 increase in the container charge would add another 10 cents per shirt in this full-container example. That can matter to an importer with tight margins while still being a small fraction of the shelf price.

The catch is in what we left out

The ocean charge is only one line. This model does not include factory costs, inland transport, consolidation, port and terminal charges, duties, import taxes, warehousing, fulfillment, returns or retailer expenses. It also does not establish the seller's profit.

If the importer ships half as many shirts for the same fixed freight charge, the modeled cost per shirt doubles. That is a much more useful statement than saying that shipping is always cheap: the number of units sharing the charge changes the result.

Real pricing can also depend on equipment, route, dates and contract terms. The three freight figures here are selected inputs, not a market-rate survey or a quote for a live booking.

Try your own numbers

Download the scenario CSV or the packing inputs and results. Use the CBM calculator to check a different carton and the landed cost worksheet to organize the costs excluded above.

The model was calculated on 28 October 2026. It says how the assumptions work together, not how any named retailer priced a shirt.