Understanding Royal Mail Parcel and Letter Sizes: Comprehensive Guide for Ecommerce (2024)

Royal Mail is a trusted UK-based courier company that offers a wide variety of parcel and letter sizes that suit different ecommerce business needs.

Whether you are shipping from the UK internationally or locally, Royal Mail is available in support of UK-based ecommerce.

This article provides an overview of the different options Royal Mail offers for parcel and letter sizes.

Overview of Royal Mail parcel services

With a rich history that spans over 500 years, Royal Mail is one of the oldest parcel services companies in the world. It currently offers parcel and letter services for items of different sizes.

You will see in the table below, a quick overview of the maximum dimensions of Royal Mail’s courier services.

Royal Mail Small Parcels

These small parcel boxes came in many variants that can go up to 45 cm x 35 cm x 16 cm in size. And it allows for items with a maximum thickness of 1.6 cm and up to 2 kg in weight.

Medium Parcels

Royal Mail medium parcels refers to packages that are as large as 61 cm x 46 cm x 46 cm, and up to 20 kg.

Large Parcels

Royal Mail large parcels refer to packages that are up to 2.5 m in length or up to 30 kg would need to be shipped via Royal Mail large parcels. This is sent via ParcelForce Worldwide, a part of Royal Mail.

Letter

If you have a letter of maximum size 24 cm x 16.5 cm x 0.5 cm (length x width x thickness) and up to 100 gm weight, you can use Royal Mail letters. Both, first and second class letter sizes are the same.

Large Letter

With Royal Mail large letters, send large letters that are a maximum size of 35.3 cm x 25 cm x 2.5 cm (length x width x thickness) and not weighing more than 750 g.

Tubes

This is used for goods that weigh up to 2 kg, with length up to 90 cm and length plus twice the diameter not more than 104 cm.

Here is an overview of the costs associated with each Royal Mail service:

Comprehensive guide to Royal Mail parcel sizes

Below are a few examples of parcel sizes and prices when shipped via Royal Mail (not all of which can be fulfiled by ShipBob, but are used for illustration purposes):

A few notes:

• Small items like jewelry, books, and novelty candles would fit into a small parcel.
• Medium items like clothes, shoes, laptops (bigger than 33 cm and heavier than 2 kg), and kitchen appliances would require a medium parcel.
• For large items like furniture and sports equipment, that weigh more than 20 kg, you would need to choose a large parcel.
• Irregular-shaped items like musical instruments and artwork could also be sent with large parcels.
• If you wish to send a canvas or reams of paper, you could use the tube.

Overall, Royal Mail’s shipping costs fluctuate significantly with changes in the weight of the package. If you were to ship a dumbbell weighing 2 kg, it would cost only £5.49 by medium parcel service.

But an 8 kg dumbbell would cost £6.99 and a 14 kg one would cost £10.49 to ship within the UK.

The price also varies with the geography that the packages need to traverse. For example, if you were to ship a book weighing 2 kg to the mainland USA from the UK, it would cost £14.30.Whereas it would only cost £2.99 for shipping within the UK.

The costs are also different based on the urgency of the order shipment. Shipping the book of 2 kg can cost £10.85 within the UK with special delivery guaranteed by 1 pm.

There are also different prices for next day delivery, delivery with signature, delivery with age verification, and so on.If you are transporting expensive goods, you can even choose coverage up to £2,500 at an added cost.

Understanding Royal Mail letter sizes

Letters can be up to 100 gm and maximum size of 24 cm x 16.5 cm x 0.5 cm. This service is used for greetings cards, postcards, or bills.

You can also send large letters with a maximum size of 35.3 cm x 25 cm x 2.5 cm, and weighing up to 750 gm. Use this service to send certificates, magazines, documents, and CDs.

Understanding the cost implications and packing guidelines

As the parcel size increases, so does the cost of shipping.

Here are Royal Mail’s specific rules and regulations about packaging:

• With the parcel, you must include a barcode and full destination address (including post code), a UK return address, and a complete sales order.
• Padded envelopes or mailer bags are necessary for items with sharp edges or odd shapes.
• Take permission from Royal Mail before using wallets, tape, string, or strapping on a parcel.
• The writing on the shipping label must be clear and legible.
• Place one address label outside and another inside the package.
• With small packages, make sure that the barcodes and address information aren’t wrapped over the edges.
• Avoid placing sticky tape over the label.
• Use a thermal printer when printing your own shipping labels. And they need to be designed using Royal Mail approved software.
• If you have multiple fragile items in a package, make sure they don’t touch each other or the side of the box.
• As necessary, include cushioning materials (especially so for fragile goods) and book wrap, or bubble wrap.
• Close all edges and open areas with packing tape.
• For easily breakable goods use a ‘FRAGILE’ sticker.
• Depending on the service you choose, you may be required to weigh each item or put them into a sealed bag. Find out the details here.

For efficient and safe packaging, at ShipBob we recommend that you follow these steps also:

Royal Mail parcel size FAQs

1. Select a service that suits the dimensions and weight of your item.
2. Use strong tape and appropriate labelling.
3. Consider the environment when packing your order items. It may help to choose biodegradable packing material. Also, distribute your SKUs to fulfilment hubs closest to your customers for more efficient last-mile delivery.

How ShipBob can help with your Royal Mail shipments

Royal Mail delivers 650+ million parcels each year. Is that your preferred courier company for shipping from and within the UK?

Then we have good news, ShipBob works with this courier company to streamline your entire order fulfilment process.

Thanks to the direct integration between ShipBob and Royal Mail, you also stand to lower shipping costs. We also offer access to real-time carrier rates that can be shown on your ecommerce platform to improve delivery expectations and exceptions.

Sometimes you may want to try other courier companies. But it can be a struggle to compare the services of Royal Mail vs DHL, DPD vs Royal Mail, etc.

ShipBob weighs the pros and cons of these shipping companies on your behalf and assigns the best courier services to meet your business needs, so you can focus on growing your company.

“Before ShipBob, we were fulfiling all of our UK orders out of our Oxford office, with one person in charge of picking and packing orders and taking them to Royal Mail daily. This solution was not scalable, especially if we wanted to continue expanding our business into new countries and demographics.

We knew we needed a partner with a global presence, who could handle fulfilment for us wherever we go. Thankfully, ShipBob has fulfilment centres in strategic locations not just across the US, but all over the world. We’re able to store inventory on both coasts of the US and in the UK and Poland, which cuts our average shipping costs and shipping times considerably.”

See Also

Stamping Tips

Natalia Lara, CMO of Oxford Healthspan

Below are answers to the most common questions about Royal Mail parcel sizes.