Author: Wellfitsource Product & Sourcing Team · Published: August 2025 · Updated: October 2026
A yoga mat is mostly air. A rolled 6mm mat weighs under a kilo and takes up about a hundredth of a cubic metre, so ocean freight charges you for the space, not the weight. That changes how the arithmetic works. Two mats at the same FOB price can land at noticeably different costs if one is thicker, wider or boxed.
This page shows how to work out freight per mat from the carton data a supplier gives you, where the switch from shared-container shipping to a full container pays off, and what thickness and packaging do to the number. The freight rates in the examples are illustrative; rates move every month, so plug in your forwarder’s current quote.
Quick Summary
- Mats are charged by volume. A rolled 183×61cm 6mm mat takes about 0.010 cbm; a 40HQ holds roughly 6,600 of them.
- Freight per mat = container rate ÷ mats per container. At an example $3,000 per 40HQ, that’s about $0.45 per 6mm mat.
- Thickness moves it most. The same mat at 8mm costs about 30% more per unit to ship; at 4mm about 30% less.
- Ask for full carton data with every quote: units per carton, carton dimensions, gross and net weight, CBM per carton.
- For air and express, volumetric weight rules. A boxed 6mm mat bills at about twice its actual weight.
Volume per Mat
Planning figures for 183×61cm mats, rolled and polybagged in export cartons:
| Thickness | Volume per mat | Per 20GP | Per 40HQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4mm | ~0.007 cbm | ~3,800 | ~9,500 |
| 6mm | ~0.010 cbm | ~2,600 | ~6,600 |
| 8mm | ~0.014 cbm | ~2,000 | ~5,000 |
| 10mm | ~0.016 cbm | ~1,700 | ~4,200 |
Width, packaging and the material’s stiffness all shift these. A 68cm-wide mat loses about 8–10% of the count; a mat in a printed box or bundled with a bag loses far more. The full size, weight and carton chart is in our yoga mat size chart.
Working Out Freight per Mat
The formula is simple:
Freight per mat = container (or CBM) rate ÷ mats in that space
| Example rate (port to port) | 4mm | 6mm | 8mm | 10mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 per 40HQ | $0.32 | $0.45 | $0.60 | $0.71 |
| $5,000 per 40HQ | $0.53 | $0.76 | $1.00 | $1.19 |
That’s ocean freight only. Destination charges, customs clearance, duty, and trucking to your warehouse come on top, and for small shipments they can be larger than the ocean leg. Who arranges and pays for each of those depends on the shipping terms, compared in DDP vs FOB for yoga mat shipments.
Two things to take from the table. First, per-mat freight on a full container is small next to the mat’s FOB price, which is why full-container buyers worry more about packaging than about rates. Second, thickness changes it more than most buyers expect: 8mm costs about a third more than 6mm to ship, for the same mat.
Shared Container or Full Container?
Small orders ship LCL (less than container load): your cartons share a container with other shippers’ goods and you pay per cubic metre, plus fixed handling charges at both ends. Larger orders ship FCL (full container load).
| Order size (6mm, 183×61cm) | Approx. volume | Usual mode |
|---|---|---|
| 300 mats | ~3 cbm | LCL |
| 1,000 mats | ~10 cbm | LCL |
| 2,000 mats | ~20 cbm | LCL or 20GP; compare both |
| 2,600 mats | ~26 cbm | 20GP |
| 4,000+ mats | ~40 cbm+ | 40HQ |
The crossover usually comes somewhere around 15–20 cbm, where a 20GP costs about the same as the LCL rate plus fixed fees, but it depends on the route. Ask your forwarder for both quotes once you’re above 1,500 mats or so.
LCL per-mat freight is higher, and the fixed fees weigh heavily on small orders. A 300-mat first order can easily cost more per mat to land than a 3,000-mat repeat order, even though the mats are identical. How order size affects unit price as well as freight is covered in our bulk order MOQ and pricing guide.
Mixing products. Mats share containers well with straps, blocks and bags, which pack into the gaps. A mixed container from one supplier usually ships cheaper per item than the same products from several factories consolidated at the port.
The Carton Data to Ask For
A unit price without carton data can’t be turned into a landed cost. Every quote should come with:
| Field | Example (6mm TPE, 183×61cm) |
|---|---|
| Units per carton | 10 |
| Carton dimensions | 63 × 64 × 26 cm (two rows of five rolls) |
| Gross weight per carton | ~10.5 kg |
| Net weight per carton | ~9.5 kg |
| CBM per carton | ~0.105 |
| Cartons per 40HQ | ~640–660 |
| HS code | Usually 9506.91 (confirm with your customs broker) |
The example figures are typical for our standard polybag packing; your supplier’s will differ with packaging and compound weight. If two suppliers quote the same mat with very different CBM per carton, one of them is rolling looser, packing in a box or using a bigger carton, and that difference goes straight into your freight bill.
How Packaging Changes the Number
| Packing | Effect on volume | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Strap or polybag, rolled | Baseline | Most wholesale and studio orders |
| Belly band or wrap label | Almost none | Retail with minimal packaging |
| Mat in a carry bag | +10–20% | Bundles and gift sets |
| Printed box | +20–30% | Premium retail, gifting |
| Folded mat, flat-packed | Often less than rolled | Foldable travel mats |
A boxed 6mm mat ships closer to 5,000 per 40HQ than 6,600. That’s the hidden cost of retail packaging, and it’s why brands that sell mostly online often skip the box and invest in a better strap and label instead. What each bag format adds to cost and carton count is in the mat and bag bundle guide, and packaging rules by market are in our yoga mat packaging guide. Folded constructions are covered in foldable yoga mats.
Air, Express, and Amazon FBA
Volumetric weight. Air freight and couriers charge the higher of actual and volumetric weight. Couriers usually divide the box volume in cubic centimetres by 5,000. A single 6mm mat in a 62×13×13cm box has a volumetric weight of about 2.1kg against an actual weight under 1kg. That’s why samples and urgent top-ups by express look expensive per mat.
Amazon FBA. A rolled 61cm-wide mat is longer than Amazon’s 18-inch limit for standard-size items, so it falls into the large bulky tier, with higher fulfillment and storage fees than a standard-size product. Fees are set by Amazon and change; check the current fee table for your marketplace. Folded mats that pack under the standard-size limits are the exception, and for some FBA sellers that’s the main reason to carry a folding SKU.
Thickness and Width: the Product Decision Behind the Freight
Freight is often the deciding factor between 6mm and 8mm. At the same FOB price, the 8mm mat costs about a third more to ship and takes about a third more warehouse space. If the retail price doesn’t move with it, the margin does. The product side of that decision, which thickness sells in which channel, is in our thickness guide for buyers. Width works the same way on a smaller scale: going from 61cm to 68cm costs roughly 8–10% of container capacity.
This is the planning layer of the shipping step in our yoga mat sourcing guide.
Carton Data from Wellfitsource
Every quote we send includes units per carton, carton dimensions, gross and net weight, and CBM, so you can work out freight per mat before you order. For mixed orders, we plan the container load with you and pack mats with straps, blocks and bags from our yoga mat range in one shipment.
Request a quote with carton data →
FAQ
How many yoga mats fit in a 40ft container?
About 6,600 rolled 183×61cm mats at 6mm in a 40HQ, around 9,500 at 4mm, 5,000 at 8mm and 4,200 at 10mm. Wider mats, boxed mats and mats with carry bags reduce those numbers.
How much does it cost to ship a yoga mat from China?
On a full container, ocean freight usually works out well under a dollar per 6mm mat: at an example rate of $3,000 per 40HQ it’s about $0.45. Small LCL shipments cost more per mat because of per-CBM pricing and fixed fees. Destination charges, duty and inland delivery are additional.
When should I switch from LCL to a full container?
Usually somewhere around 15–20 cbm, roughly 1,500–2,000 rolled 6mm mats, where a 20GP costs about the same as LCL. Ask your forwarder for both quotes once you’re in that range.
Why is express shipping so expensive for yoga mats?
Couriers charge by volumetric weight, typically box volume in cubic centimetres divided by 5,000. A boxed 6mm mat bills at around 2kg even though it weighs under 1kg.
What carton information should a yoga mat supplier provide?
Units per carton, carton dimensions, gross and net weight per carton, CBM per carton, cartons per container and an HS code suggestion. Without these, a unit price can’t be converted into a landed cost.
