UK Standard: £2.50 (Free for orders over £20) – delivery goes by Royal Mail Second Class and usually takes 3 - 5 working days
UK Express: £3.50 – delivery goes by Royal Mail First Class and usually takes 1 - 2 working days
UK Next Working Day: £6.95 – delivery goes by Royal Mail Special Delivery or Parcelforce tracked courier service. Guaranteed next working day delivery for orders placed on working days before 13:00 UK time (orders placed Monday to Thursday will be delivered Next Day, orders placed on Friday might be delivered on Saturday, if not then on the following Monday)
Europe Standard: £4.95 – delivery goes by Royal Mail Airmail and usually takes 7 - 10 working days (maximum 2kg - see below).
- International Priority Airmail (IPA) is a USPS commercial service for volume mailings of all First Class Mail International postcards, letters, and large envelopes (flats) and small packets. IPA shipments are typically flown to the foreign destinations and entered into that country’s air or surface priority mail.
- A mail plane is an aircraft used for carrying mail. Aircraft that were purely mail planes existed almost exclusively prior to World War II.Because early aircraft were too underpowered to carry cargoes, and too costly to run any 'economy class' passenger-carrying service, the main civilian role for aircraft was to carry letters faster than previously possible.
Creation will hand it over to their local postal service. It will then get sorted along with all other mail destined for the UK and put on a plane. When the sack of mail lands here then Royal Mail/ParcelForce take over for delivery to you. If there is VAT due then Royal Mail pay it and send you a bill.
Europe Priority Signed/Tracked: £6.95 – delivery usually takes 3 - 5 working days. Delivery via Royal Mail Priority Signed or Tracked Airmail, or Parcelforce/DPD for heavy orders (maximum 2kg - see below).
Worldwide Standard (excludes USA/Canada): £6.95 – delivery usually takes 7 - 10 working days (excluding customs clearance time). Delivery via Royal Mail Standard Airmail, or Parcelforce/DPD for heavy orders (maximum 2kg - see below).
Worldwide Priority Signed/Tracked (excludes USA/Canada): £9.95 – delivery usually takes 5 - 7 working days (excluding customs clearance time). Delivery via Royal Mail Priority Signed or Tracked Airmail, or Parcelforce/DPD for heavy orders (maximum 2kg - see below).
Weight limit (International orders): - the prices above are for international parcels up to a maximum of 2kg, which is most orders. Parcels over 2kg cannot be sent with Royal Mail so need to go with a courier which is more expensive. If your parcel is over 2kg we will contact you and provide a quote for the additional cost.
Delivery Time: - Please note that the delivery times given are estimates provided by the carriers we use. Please allow up to 15 working days for UK orders and 30 working days for International orders to arrive, as an item cannot be classified as “lost in post” and a replacement issued until that length of time has elapsed.
Some delivery services require a signature on delivery. If you are unable to sign for the goods, you will need to arrange redelivery with the carrier or collect the goods yourself. If you fail to do so within their timescales (usually 7 days), the goods will be returned to us and you will need to pay for redelivery.
Our delivery company may leave your parcel with your neighbour or in a designated safe place if you are not available when they attempt to deliver it. If you do not want them to do this you must inform us at the time of ordering so we can instruct them.
Any costs incurred due to incorrect delivery details being submitted when you place your order will be at your own cost.
Any charges made by local customs are the sole responsibility of the customer.
Dispatch Times
We dispatch orders from Monday to Friday, and aim to dispatch all orders received before 15:00 UK time on the same working day, although this may sometimes take longer. Orders received at weekends or Bank Holidays will be dispatched on the next working day.
On 17th January 1947, the complicated web of numerous different airmail rates for various destinations was replaced by a simplified arrangement, in which the countries of the world were grouped into zones. Although there have been changes in the number of zones, and in which destinations were placed in each zone, this approach is in essence still in use – see this page for a full listing from 1947 to date.
The major revisions that took place were as follows.
1947
There were three zones for countries outside Europe designated A, B, and C (although not named as such until 1949). The groupings were basically as follows:
- Zone A: North Africa and the Middle East
- Zone B: The Americas, most of Africa, the Indian subcontinent
- Zone C: East/Southeast Asia and Australasia/Oceania
(also included much of Latin America and the West Indies up to 30th April 1948)
Mail to Europe was not part of this system, and with a minor exception (see below), from mid-1948 to early 1991 it was sent 'all-up'. This meant that it was sent by air if this was quicker (as it normally was) at surface mail rates, carriage by air being the preferred method of despatch.
1966
An air newspaper rate to Europe was introduced on 3rd October 1966 – it was referred to as 'all-up', although the surface printed papers rate was still cheaper.
1991
On 7th January 1991(*) the three-zone division of world destinations outside Europe was reduced to two. Zones A and B were combined to form a new Zone 1 (the rates had been equalised a few months before), and Zone C was renamed Zone 2.
Also in 1991, the surface/airmail distinction was reintroduced for European letters, with airmail postage to Europe becoming (slightly) more expensive than the equivalent worldwide surface rates, and the special newspaper rate replaced by general airmail printed papers and small packet rates.
(*) This date is taken from the leaflet issued to the public. The relevant Post Office Scheme gave a start date of 21st January, but this marked the start of a period of a few months where whoever was responsible for placing the Overseas Letter Post Schemes in the London Gazette made a series of errors that had to be corrected!
2008
The two zones outside Europe were themselves combined into a single 'Rest of World' zone. The lower rates (or for some classes of mail, all rates) had been similar for the two zones for some years.
2012
The single 'Rest of World' zone was split up again into a World Zone 1 and a World Zone 2 (similar but not identical to the former Zones 1 and 2). World Zone 1 covered 'all countries not defined as being in Europe or World Zone 2 ... North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and South East Asia'. World Zone 2 is a short list of territories, mostly in Australasia.
From this point, the rates for the various classes of airmail became identical above 100g, starting a process of combining the services into one as for inland mail.
2014
The combined airmail services were rebranded 'International Standard'.
2020
In 2019, an emergency UPU congress agreed to allow the USA to set terminal dues/prices themselves from 1st July 2020, so that they could increase how much they charged other countries for delivery. It averted their threat to leave the UPU. As a result, the US Postal Service increased the fees charged for 'last mile' delivery of international mail by more than 100%.
This factor, combined with the increased cost of securing air freight due to the reduction in flights globally due to the Covid-19 outbreak, forced Royal Mail to increase the rates for parcels (but not letters) to the USA. This was done by defining the USA (only) as a new Zone 3.
Rates Listed
Letters and Cards 1947-2012
Printed Matter 1947-2012
Small Packets, Samples etc 1947-2012
Combined Airmail Services from 2012
Royal Mail Airmail World
Special Handling 1947-2003
Royal Mail Priority Airmail
Priority Services 1993-date
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