How to Ship Sold Items: A Reseller's Guide to UK Postage

Postage is one of those unglamorous parts of reselling that quietly decides how profitable, and how reputable, you are. Overspend and it eats your margin; skimp on reliability and you get lost parcels, disputes and bad reviews. Get it right and it becomes a smooth, low-cost routine. Here's a practical guide to shipping your sold items in the UK.

Comparing carriers

The UK has several delivery options, and the best one depends on the parcel's size, weight and value.

• Royal Mail is the long-established option, convenient thanks to widespread post boxes and Post Offices, with services from small-parcel to tracked and signed-for. Its size-based tiers (like Small and Medium Parcel) matter, so knowing your parcel's dimensions helps you pick the cheapest suitable service.
• Evri (and other courier networks) often work out cheaper for larger or heavier parcels, with drop-off points and collection options. Reliability can vary by area, so it's worth learning what works well where you are.
• Other couriers compete on price for specific sizes and weights, especially bigger items.

There's no single "best" carrier, the cheapest reliable option changes with each parcel. The skill is matching the item to the right service rather than defaulting to one carrier for everything.

Weigh and measure everything

The most common way resellers lose money on postage is guessing the size or weight and getting hit with a surcharge, or overpaying for a service bigger than they need.

• Weigh each parcel on a kitchen or luggage scale once it's packed.
• Measure its dimensions, since many services price by size band as well as weight.
• Pick the smallest suitable service that still protects the item and offers the tracking you want.

A cheap set of scales pays for itself quickly by helping you always buy the right postage.

Packaging

Good packaging protects the item, protects your reviews, and can even save money by keeping parcels compact.

• For clothing, a poly mailer is usually enough, lightweight, cheap and space-efficient. Fold garments neatly and consider a plastic sleeve if there's any risk of damp.
• For fragile or structured items (shoes in boxes, delicate pieces), use a proper box with some protective filling.
• Keep it compact but safe. Smaller, lighter parcels cost less, but never at the expense of the item arriving in good condition.
• Reuse sensibly. Clean, sturdy recycled boxes and mailers cut costs and are more sustainable, as long as they still look tidy and protect the contents.

Buying mailers, boxes and tape in bulk lowers your per-parcel cost and means you're never caught without supplies.

Printing labels and dispatching

• Use the platform's own postage where it's competitive. Vinted provides the label as part of the sale, and eBay's integrated labels are often discounted and save time.
• Print clearly, or use QR-code drop-off options where available if you don't have a printer.
• Always keep proof of postage. This is your protection if a buyer claims non-delivery, and it's free, never skip it.
• Dispatch quickly. Fast posting is one of the easiest ways to earn great reviews, and on eBay and Vinted alike, strong reviews make your next items sell faster.

Saving on postage without cutting corners

The goal is low cost and reliability, not one at the expense of the other:

• Match each parcel to the cheapest suitable service rather than habitually using one carrier.
• Buy packaging in bulk to lower your per-item cost.
• Factor postage into your pricing so it never quietly erodes your margin, build it into the price or set postage deliberately.
• Track postage as a real cost. It's easy to forget, but postage comes straight out of profit. Including it in your numbers is essential to knowing your true profit margin.

Because postage is a per-sale cost that's easy to underestimate, keeping track of it matters. A tool like Dancarly can include postage and fees in its profit calculations automatically, so the price you celebrate is the profit you actually keep. Treat shipping as the routine business process it is, right service, right packaging, tracked as a cost, and it stops being a drain and becomes just another smooth part of selling.