diff --git a/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/__init__.py b/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/__init__.py
index 7d913a7d6d..6208be4b0d 100644
--- a/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/__init__.py
+++ b/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/__init__.py
@@ -26,12 +26,14 @@
 
 from .base import Benchmark
 from .shuffle import ShuffleHashBenchmark, ShuffleRoundRobinBenchmark
+from .shuffle_size import ShuffleSizeBenchmark
 
 
 # Registry of all available benchmarks
 _BENCHMARK_REGISTRY: Dict[str, Type[Benchmark]] = {
     ShuffleHashBenchmark.name(): ShuffleHashBenchmark,
     ShuffleRoundRobinBenchmark.name(): ShuffleRoundRobinBenchmark,
+    ShuffleSizeBenchmark.name(): ShuffleSizeBenchmark,
 }
 
 
@@ -76,4 +78,5 @@ def list_benchmarks() -> List[tuple[str, str]]:
     'list_benchmarks',
     'ShuffleHashBenchmark',
     'ShuffleRoundRobinBenchmark',
+    'ShuffleSizeBenchmark',
 ]
diff --git a/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/shuffle_size.py b/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/shuffle_size.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9e5d5fbcbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarks/pyspark/benchmarks/shuffle_size.py
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+"""
+Shuffle size benchmark for measuring shuffle write bytes.
+
+Measures the actual shuffle file sizes on disk to compare
+shuffle file sizes between Spark and Comet shuffle implementations.
+This is useful for investigating shuffle format overhead (see issue #3882).
+
+The benchmark sets spark.local.dir to a dedicated temp directory and
+measures the total size of shuffle data files (.data) written there.
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+import urllib.request
+from typing import Dict, Any
+
+from pyspark.sql import DataFrame
+
+from .base import Benchmark
+
+
+def get_shuffle_write_bytes(spark) -> int:
+    """Get total shuffle write bytes from the Spark REST API."""
+    sc = spark.sparkContext
+    ui_url = sc.uiWebUrl
+    url = f"{ui_url}/api/v1/applications/{sc.applicationId}/stages"
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(url) as resp:
+        stages = json.loads(resp.read())
+    return sum(s.get("shuffleWriteBytes", 0) for s in stages)
+
+
+def get_shuffle_disk_bytes(local_dir: str) -> int:
+    """Walk spark.local.dir and sum the sizes of all shuffle .data files."""
+    total = 0
+    for root, _dirs, files in os.walk(local_dir):
+        for f in files:
+            if f.endswith(".data"):
+                total += os.path.getsize(os.path.join(root, f))
+    return total
+
+
+def format_bytes(b: int) -> str:
+    """Format byte count as human-readable string."""
+    if b >= 1024 ** 3:
+        return f"{b / 1024 ** 3:.2f} GiB"
+    elif b >= 1024 ** 2:
+        return f"{b / 1024 ** 2:.2f} MiB"
+    else:
+        return f"{b / 1024:.2f} KiB"
+
+
+class ShuffleSizeBenchmark(Benchmark):
+    """
+    Benchmark that measures shuffle write bytes on disk.
+
+    Runs a simple scan -> repartition -> count pipeline and reports
+    the actual shuffle data file sizes alongside the Spark REST API
+    metric. Useful for comparing shuffle format overhead between
+    Spark and Comet.
+
+    NOTE: The Spark session must be configured with spark.local.dir
+    pointing to a dedicated empty directory so that we can measure
+    shuffle file sizes accurately. The run_shuffle_size_benchmark.sh
+    script handles this automatically.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, spark, data_path: str, mode: str,
+                 num_partitions: int = 200):
+        super().__init__(spark, data_path, mode)
+        self.num_partitions = num_partitions
+
+    @classmethod
+    def name(cls) -> str:
+        return "shuffle-size"
+
+    @classmethod
+    def description(cls) -> str:
+        return "Measure shuffle write bytes (scan -> repartition -> count)"
+
+    def run(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        df = self.spark.read.parquet(self.data_path)
+        row_count = df.count()
+        print(f"Input rows: {row_count:,}")
+
+        schema_desc = ", ".join(
+            f"{f.name}: {f.dataType.simpleString()}" for f in df.schema.fields
+        )
+        print(f"Schema: {schema_desc}")
+
+        # Read spark.local.dir so we can measure shuffle files on disk
+        local_dir = self.spark.sparkContext.getConf().get(
+            "spark.local.dir", "/tmp"
+        )
+
+        output_path = (
+            f"/tmp/shuffle-size-benchmark-output-{self.mode}"
+        )
+
+        def benchmark_operation():
+            df.repartition(self.num_partitions).write.mode(
+                "overwrite"
+            ).parquet(output_path)
+
+        duration_ms = self._time_operation(benchmark_operation)
+
+        # Measure actual shuffle file sizes on disk.
+        # Shuffle .data files persist until SparkContext shutdown,
+        # so they are still available after the job completes.
+        disk_bytes = get_shuffle_disk_bytes(local_dir)
+
+        # Also grab the REST API metric for comparison
+        api_bytes = 0
+        try:
+            api_bytes = get_shuffle_write_bytes(self.spark)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"Warning: could not read shuffle metrics from REST API: {e}")
+
+        disk_bpr = disk_bytes / row_count if row_count > 0 else 0
+        api_bpr = api_bytes / row_count if row_count > 0 else 0
+
+        print(f"Shuffle disk:       {format_bytes(disk_bytes)} "
+              f"({disk_bpr:.1f} B/record)")
+        print(f"Shuffle API metric: {format_bytes(api_bytes)} "
+              f"({api_bpr:.1f} B/record)")
+
+        return {
+            "duration_ms": duration_ms,
+            "row_count": row_count,
+            "num_partitions": self.num_partitions,
+            "shuffle_disk_bytes": disk_bytes,
+            "shuffle_disk_bytes_per_record": round(disk_bpr, 1),
+            "shuffle_api_bytes": api_bytes,
+            "shuffle_api_bytes_per_record": round(api_bpr, 1),
+        }
diff --git a/benchmarks/pyspark/generate_data.py b/benchmarks/pyspark/generate_data.py
index d8be47d6e0..812f359740 100755
--- a/benchmarks/pyspark/generate_data.py
+++ b/benchmarks/pyspark/generate_data.py
@@ -412,6 +412,53 @@ def generate_data(output_path: str, num_rows: int, num_partitions: int):
     spark.stop()
 
 
+def generate_short_strings_data(output_path: str, num_rows: int,
+                                num_partitions: int):
+    """Generate data matching the schema from issue #3882.
+
+    Reproduces the problematic scenario: 7 short unique string columns + 1
+    timestamp column. The original reporter saw 3x shuffle overhead with
+    204M records of this shape (25.1 B/record in Comet vs 8.3 B/record in
+    Spark).
+    """
+
+    spark = SparkSession.builder \
+        .appName("ShuffleBenchmark-DataGen-ShortStrings") \
+        .getOrCreate()
+
+    print(f"Generating {num_rows:,} rows with {num_partitions} partitions")
+    print(f"Output path: {output_path}")
+    print("Schema: 7 short unique string columns + 1 timestamp (issue #3882)")
+
+    df = spark.range(0, num_rows, numPartitions=num_partitions)
+
+    # 7 short random string columns + 1 timestamp, mimicking the reporter's
+    # schema. Uses uuid() to generate truly random strings that defeat
+    # compression, exposing Arrow IPC per-batch overhead.
+    df = df.selectExpr(
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_1",
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_2",
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_3",
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_4",
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_5",
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_6",
+        "substring(uuid(), 1, 8) as str_col_7",
+        # Timestamp column
+        "timestamp_seconds(1600000000 + id) as ts_col",
+    )
+
+    print(f"Generated schema with {len(df.columns)} columns")
+    df.printSchema()
+
+    df.write.mode("overwrite").parquet(output_path)
+
+    written_df = spark.read.parquet(output_path)
+    actual_count = written_df.count()
+    print(f"Wrote {actual_count:,} rows to {output_path}")
+
+    spark.stop()
+
+
 def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description="Generate test data for shuffle benchmark"
@@ -433,13 +480,24 @@ def main():
         default=None,
         help="Number of output partitions (default: auto based on cluster)"
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--schema", "-s",
+        choices=["wide", "short-strings"],
+        default="wide",
+        help="Schema to generate: 'wide' (100 columns with nested types) "
+             "or 'short-strings' (7 short unique strings + 1 timestamp, "
+             "matches issue #3882)"
+    )
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     # Default partitions to a reasonable number if not specified
     num_partitions = args.partitions if args.partitions else 200
 
-    generate_data(args.output, args.rows, num_partitions)
+    if args.schema == "short-strings":
+        generate_short_strings_data(args.output, args.rows, num_partitions)
+    else:
+        generate_data(args.output, args.rows, num_partitions)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/benchmarks/pyspark/run_shuffle_size_benchmark.sh b/benchmarks/pyspark/run_shuffle_size_benchmark.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..e55d219faa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarks/pyspark/run_shuffle_size_benchmark.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+
+# Compare shuffle write sizes between Spark and Comet shuffle.
+#
+# This benchmark measures actual shuffle write bytes reported by Spark
+# to quantify the overhead of Comet's Arrow IPC shuffle format.
+# See https://github.com/apache/datafusion-comet/issues/3882
+#
+# Prerequisites:
+#   - SPARK_HOME set to a Spark 3.5 installation
+#   - Comet JAR built (make)
+#   - Input parquet data generated (see generate_data.py)
+#
+# Usage:
+#   ./run_shuffle_size_benchmark.sh /path/to/parquet/data
+#
+# Environment variables:
+#   COMET_JAR        Path to Comet JAR (default: auto-detected from repo)
+#   SPARK_MASTER     Spark master URL (default: local[*])
+#   EXECUTOR_MEMORY  Executor memory (default: 16g)
+#   OFFHEAP_SIZE     Off-heap memory for Comet (default: 16g)
+
+set -e
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+DATA_PATH="${1:?Usage: $0 /path/to/parquet/data}"
+COMET_JAR="${COMET_JAR:-$SCRIPT_DIR/../../spark/target/comet-spark-spark3.5_2.12-0.15.0-SNAPSHOT.jar}"
+SPARK_MASTER="${SPARK_MASTER:-local[*]}"
+EXECUTOR_MEMORY="${EXECUTOR_MEMORY:-16g}"
+OFFHEAP_SIZE="${OFFHEAP_SIZE:-16g}"
+
+if [ -z "$SPARK_HOME" ]; then
+  echo "Error: SPARK_HOME is not set"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f "$COMET_JAR" ]; then
+  echo "Error: Comet JAR not found at $COMET_JAR"
+  echo "Build with 'make' or set COMET_JAR to the correct path."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "========================================"
+echo "Shuffle Size Comparison Benchmark"
+echo "========================================"
+echo "Data path:       $DATA_PATH"
+echo "Comet JAR:       $COMET_JAR"
+echo "Spark master:    $SPARK_MASTER"
+echo "Executor memory: $EXECUTOR_MEMORY"
+echo "Off-heap size:   $OFFHEAP_SIZE"
+echo "========================================"
+
+# Use dedicated local dirs so we can measure actual shuffle file sizes on disk
+SPARK_LOCAL_DIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/spark-shuffle-bench-spark-XXXXXX)
+COMET_LOCAL_DIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/spark-shuffle-bench-comet-XXXXXX)
+
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$SPARK_LOCAL_DIR" "$COMET_LOCAL_DIR"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+# Run Spark baseline (no Comet)
+echo ""
+echo ">>> Running SPARK (no Comet) shuffle size benchmark..."
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-submit \
+  --master "$SPARK_MASTER" \
+  --driver-memory "$EXECUTOR_MEMORY" \
+  --executor-memory "$EXECUTOR_MEMORY" \
+  --conf spark.local.dir="$SPARK_LOCAL_DIR" \
+  --conf spark.comet.enabled=false \
+  "$SCRIPT_DIR/run_benchmark.py" \
+  --data "$DATA_PATH" \
+  --mode spark \
+  --benchmark shuffle-size
+
+# Run Comet Native shuffle
+echo ""
+echo ">>> Running COMET NATIVE shuffle size benchmark..."
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-submit \
+  --master "$SPARK_MASTER" \
+  --driver-memory "$EXECUTOR_MEMORY" \
+  --executor-memory "$EXECUTOR_MEMORY" \
+  --jars "$COMET_JAR" \
+  --driver-class-path "$COMET_JAR" \
+  --conf spark.executor.extraClassPath="$COMET_JAR" \
+  --conf spark.local.dir="$COMET_LOCAL_DIR" \
+  --conf spark.plugins=org.apache.spark.CometPlugin \
+  --conf spark.shuffle.manager=org.apache.spark.sql.comet.execution.shuffle.CometShuffleManager \
+  --conf spark.sql.extensions=org.apache.comet.CometSparkSessionExtensions \
+  --conf spark.memory.offHeap.enabled=true \
+  --conf spark.memory.offHeap.size="$OFFHEAP_SIZE" \
+  --conf spark.comet.enabled=true \
+  --conf spark.comet.exec.shuffle.enabled=true \
+  --conf spark.comet.exec.shuffle.mode=native \
+  --conf spark.comet.explainFallback.enabled=true \
+  "$SCRIPT_DIR/run_benchmark.py" \
+  --data "$DATA_PATH" \
+  --mode native \
+  --benchmark shuffle-size
+
+echo ""
+echo "========================================"
+echo "BENCHMARK COMPLETE"
+echo "========================================"
+echo "Compare 'Shuffle disk' bytes/record between the two runs above."