Check last posting dates
For Royal Mail parcels within the UK, these are: 17 December for second class and second-class signed for; 20 December for first class and first-class signed for; 19 December for Tracked 48; 22 December for Tracked 24; 23 December for special delivery guaranteed.
If you are sending gifts to friends or family abroad, you need to act fast as the deadlines differ by the country and the delivery option you want to use.
If you are using Royal Mail, you can key in the country on the Post Office website to find out the last recommended posting dates. For example, for Spain and New Zealand it is 8 December, the US is 12 December, and for France and Ireland, it is 15 December. For Australia, it is Friday 5 December.
Meanwhile, the courier price comparison site Parcel2Go has listed the UK and international deadlines for many of the leading courier companies on its website.
Which company?
There are dozens of parcel delivery and courier companies, from household names to smaller players, and a dizzying array of options: standard, signed for, next day, tracked, guaranteed, etc. The options may include dropping your parcel at a local shop, leaving it in a locker for collection or having a courier come and collect it.
So if you are shopping around, make sure you are comparing like with like.
Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert website says there are lots of variables, but for a small item weighing less than 1kg: “Royal Mail usually wins.”
However, for items heavier than that, it reckons courier comparison websites are usually cheapest. The largest is thought to be Parcel2Go, and other biggies include ParcelHero, ParcelCompare, Parcel Monkey and Worldwide Parcel Services.
Try Royal Mail first
A good first step is to consult the price guides on Royal Mail’s website. For a small parcel weighing up to 2kg, standard second class would cost £3.50 or £3.99. The first figure is the online price and the second is what you will pay at a post office. The equivalent standard first-class prices are £4.40 (online) and £5.09 (post office).
Then try the competition
Once you know what Royal Mail would charge, you may want to get a quote from a courier comparison website. This is generally a much better bet than going to the individual courier companies.
Some of the comparison sites are able to offer competitive prices because they buy spare delivery slots from courier companies and then sell them cheaply.
Some courier firms will deliver to all postcodes, while others may have more limited coverage.
Check their track record
A record 15 million people experienced a problem with a recent parcel delivery, according to Citizens Advice, so choose carefully. “The festive season is the busiest time of year for sending post and deliveries, and many of us will understandably be worried about whether important Christmas post will arrive on time,” says Gurpreet Chhokar, a consumer law expert at Which?.
In October, Amazon and FedEx jointly took the top spot in the postal regulator Ofcom’s customer satisfaction survey of parcel delivery companies. Meanwhile, Evri and Yodel customers were the “least satisfied” when it came to contacting parcel companies for help.
Citizens Advice recently looked at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume (Royal Mail, DPD, Yodel, Amazon and Evri). In its study, Royal Mail bagged the top spot in the league table with an overall score of 3.25 out of five stars, while Yodel was in bottom place with two out of five stars.
Can you get free delivery?
If you are buying an item from an online retailer to give as a gift, it is “almost always” cheaper to get it sent directly to the recipient, says MoneySavingExpert. Retailers often offer free delivery if you are spending more than a certain amount (£70 at John Lewis and £60 at Marks & Spencer, for example).
“This can really help with larger or heavier gifts, as Royal Mail and parcel companies charge by size and weight, while retailers don’t tend to – it’s normally based on the underlying cost of the item,” the site says.
Some online retailers will let you add a gift message or will wrap the gift (for a few pounds). It can save time and means you don’t have the hassle of waiting for the item to arrive and then wrapping and posting it yourself.
Many, however, will feel this is a bit impersonal, and you may have less control over how long the delivery will take. Also, some retailers such as John Lewis won’t send packages overseas.
If it’s small …
If it is a smallish or light item such as a slim paperback, a child’s picture book or a notebook, you may be able to get under the wire of Royal Mail’s “large letter” format: an envelope measuring up to 35.3cm x 25cm x 2.5cm and weighing up to 750g.
If you are sending it to a UK address, this will cost between £1.55 and £2.50 for standard second class, depending on the weight. For standard first class, it is between £3.05 and £3.30. If you are sending it overseas, large letter untracked standard delivery starts at £3.40.
They are the online prices. If you pay at a post office, you may pay a bit more: for example, large letter standard second-class prices for the UK range from £1.55 to £2.70, while for standard first class it is from £3.15 to £3.60.
Avoid post office queues
If you have only one parcel to send, you may opt to pop into a post office. However, if you want to minimise your chances of standing in a long queue, don’t go on Monday 8 December. The Post Office expects this to be the busiest day for sending Christmas parcels and post.
It is worth being aware that some Post Office branches can be used to collect or drop off prepaid parcels for delivery by companies such as Amazon, DPD, DHL and Evri.
Beware ‘banned’ items
Delivery and courier companies publish lists of prohibited and restricted items. Some are simply banned (although the rules sometimes vary depending on whether the item is being sent to a UK or overseas address), while others can be sent but the firm won’t provide compensation or cover if they get lost or damaged.
The aim is to prevent customers sending illegal, hazardous or fragile substances or submitting huge claims for lost valuables – but you may be surprised about some of the items on the lists. For example, Evri’s prohibited items include nail varnish, perfume, aftershave and secateurs, while DHL’s UK list includes “designer goods (including handbags/footwear/clothing/watches/jewellery)” and antiques.
Some companies even warn that if you send a prohibited item and it causes damage to other people’s parcels – for example, it leaks – they will seek to recover the repair or replacement costs from you.
Need a customs form?
Remember that you will need to fill out a customs form if you are sending gifts from England, Wales or Scotland to anywhere outside the UK. The websites of companies such as the Post Office, Royal Mail and Parcel2Go have useful guides on how you do this. For most gifts (those worth less than £270), it is form CN22.
Crucially, when describing your items, you need to be specific and detailed, says Parcel2Go. “Avoid general terms like ‘gift’ or ‘clothes’ and aim for something like ‘knitted woollen scarf, clothing’,” it adds.
Some gift givers may worry this will spoil the surprise for the recipient – the customs declaration must be physically attached to the outside of the package. “I’m afraid it’s not good news to keep this item a surprise,” Royal Mail told us. “Unfortunately, the description does need to be clear and accurate, as anything ambiguous/generic will be rejected by the customs authority clearing the goods at import.”
Get cards off early
If you are planning to send Christmas cards, it is well worth making the effort to get them off second class: for UK destinations, the last posting date is 17 December. For first class it is 20 December.
A second-class stamp costs 87p and a first-class one is £1.70. So if you are sending 10 letters, you will save £8.30 by sending them second class, and if you are sending 20, the saving is £16.60.
