Exporting with Royal Mail
Exporting with Royal Mail
Royal Mail is trusted by thousands of customers to export across the globe. In partnership with the Department for International Trade and their Exporting is GREAT campaign, we want to support businesses to start shipping overseas, grow into new markets, or streamline their export process.
Here you will find resources to help your business export and grow with confidence.
What kind of exporter are you?
Scaling up shipping
Royal Mail business export guides
For the past number of years, we’ve commissioned Delivery Matters research looking at the attitudes of online shoppers in the UK and around the globe.
We’ve analysed their findings and created business export guides for key international markets. See how Royal Mail can help you grow in:
You can also download the full set of reports now:
What would you like to do with your exports?
Check our country guides for more information on shipping to 230 countries and territories with Royal Mail, including:
- Local delivery partner services
- Prohibitions and restrictions
- Correct address formats
- Customs requirements
Royal Mail is the go-to delivery provider for many marketplace sellers. Our Click & Drop online postage tool allows you to link all of your storefronts and marketplaces and import all your orders to one place.
Amazon and eBay are the most recognisable global names, but other marketplaces can have a bigger reach in different countries and territories. The Department for International Trade has a handy drop-down so you can quickly find the best marketplace for your export destination:
Incidents or ongoing situations in different countries can affect mail services, causing delays and other problems.
We regularly update our international incident bulletin. If you send a lot of items abroad – or frequently receive items from abroad – you may want to bookmark this page, and complete the form to receive email updates.
Public holidays can also delay mail: check this list of international holidays and factor in more delivery time when needed.
Knowing the markets where you want to export is crucial to a successful experience. We have put together some guides with key elements on major markets, in order to assist you along the way.
On 24 December 2020, the UK and the EU reached an agreement on how to trade (the Trade and Cooperation Agreement). It entered into force on 1 January 2021. As a result of the agreement, the UK is no longer part of the EU’s single market and customs union and new rules apply.
From 1 January 2021, the UK has extended the rules which applied to non-EU postal items before. Similarly, the EU now treats postal items from the UK as it did non-EU items before. This means there may be changes to how you send and receive items from abroad.
For more information on how sending and receiving items to the EU may be impacted from 1 January 2021, please click here.
Electronic Customs Pre-advice Data
It is now mandatory to provide electronic customs pre-advice data and an S10 barcode when you ship abroad.
Use one of our data-compliant shipping platforms – Click & Drop, Pro Shipping or API shipping – to automate this process and take the stress out of electronic customs.