How much does it cost to send a parcel?

How much is it to send a parcel? It’s a common question, but there isn’t one answer.

Parcel postage costs depend on parcel type, delivery type, and transit cover. For transparent pricing, our online quote tool makes it simple to filter your results by price, speed or service.

Here’s our guide to sending a parcel and the factors affecting shipping costs.

Parcel Size

Dimensions

The size of the parcel is a significant factor in determining the delivery price and convenient courier services. It’s essential to accurately measure your parcel’s height, length and width once you’ve sufficiently packaged your item.

Getting the details right could help reduce the shipping cost and the risk of delays. If you under-declare the parcel dimensions, it could result in a failed collection or an additional surcharge. Therefore, it’s best practice to round up to the nearest centimetre to allow flexibility.

Weight

After recording the parcel dimensions, place the whole box on digital scales. Record the weight in kilograms and round it up. Heavier parcels are typically more expensive to ship because they require bigger vehicles. Again, incorrectly declaring the parcel’s weight could result in fines or courier refusal.

Delivery service

Destination

UK-bound and international-bound parcels differ in price for many reasons. UK courier services are typically cheaper because packages travel a shorter distance and through fewer sorting hubs.

Despite international shipments travelling overseas, the price differs from country to country. Some couriers have strong delivery channels in certain countries, meaning they can offer better rates. However, you may also have to pay duties or taxes when sending a parcel abroad.

Courier type

We offer two types of parcel delivery; Collection and Drop Off.

With collection services, the courier will pick up your parcel from your chosen home or business address. Collection services are convenient if you’re sending a larger package as it saves you from carrying the parcel.

Whereas, Drop Off services are typically a bit cheaper than Collection services because the sender is required to drop off the parcel at a local drop-off point.

Service speed

Typically, the sooner you want a parcel delivered, the more expensive the shipping cost. We offer a range of courier service speeds, including Economy, Express, Next Day, Timed and Same Day delivery.

When you generate a quote, you can easily compare services by delivery speed and compare the details of each service. For example, Timed services encompass both weekend and weekday timed delivery.

Additional transit cover

Most of our courier services come with free inclusive transit cover, ranging from £15 to £50. However, if the item’s value exceeds the included transit cover, you’ll want to purchase enhanced cover.

Additional transit cover (Enhanced Transit cover) protects the item up to its declared value, so you wouldn’t be out of pocket if your parcel was damaged in transit - another consideration when totalling parcel delivery costs.

The amount of additional Transit Cover you can purchase varies per courier service. Pallet & Large parcel delivery services are charged at 8% of the declared value, all others at 5%.

Other factors that affect cost

Of course, there are a lot of factors that make up the cost of sending a parcel that you don't see. For instance, regional surcharges, collection fees, congestion charges etc., all make up the final price you pay. Some of these charges can fluctuate because of the variable rates of petrol. However, we calculate all this factors for you so you only see the final price.

How much does it cost to send a parcel?

We offer various courier services starting from different price points, speeds and carriers.

UK courier services

International courier services

The benefits of sending a parcel with Interparcel

We hope this article has helped answer how much a package is to send. As well as low-cost shipping costs, sending a parcel with Interparcel comes with other benefits, including:

• Free account set up
• Free online parcel tracking
• 10+ available eCommerce platform integrations
• Branded Tracking to improve post-purchase continuity
• No printer delivery options
• Shipping Manager to manage all Interparcel orders in one place
• Rule Manager to automate repetitive shipping process tasks
• Plus, much more!

Enter your parcel details online

Once ready, compare and book a parcel delivery service in a flash using our online quote tool. Pop in your parcel details, collection postcode and delivery postcode for an accurate list of courier services.

If you require any assistance with your Interparcel booking, you can contact our Customer Service Team, seven days a week, for friendly and helpful support.