Cheapest carrier for small parcels in Europe: 22 countries

Ask which carrier is cheapest in Europe and the honest answer is: in which country? There is no pan-European winner for small parcels. The cheapest service in Germany is not on offer in Austria, the cheapest in Italy is a locker service, and in the Baltics a locker parcel costs less than half of a French one.

This article lists the cheapest small-parcel carrier in each of the 22 European countries on our rate card, measured on one day. A small parcel here means up to 5 kg and 35 × 25 × 15 cm — a shoebox. Prices are what a shop pays through AirPost for a domestic parcel and include our €0.85 platform fee, which is the same everywhere, so the ranking inside each country is the carriers’ own.

What is the cheapest carrier for a small parcel in each country? #

Two columns, two different questions. The first is the cheapest way to get a shoebox to a customer in that country at all. The second is what it costs if your customer expects the door — which, as the pickup point vs home delivery comparison shows, is the norm in Germany, the Netherlands and Austria and the exception in France and Poland. The last column strips out our fee and shows the lowest carrier rate for 2 kg, useful if you want to compare with a rate card you already have.

Is the national post the cheapest? #

Less often than you would expect. A national post by name was the cheapest small-parcel service in Austria, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal and Spain — 5 of 22. Everywhere else a courier, a locker network or a parcel-shop network came out cheaper.

• France: Colis Privé to a point relais cost €7.63, UPS to an Access Point €7.84, Chronopost Shop2Shop €8.14. Colissimo, at €14.38 to a service point, was not the cheap option.
• Italy: InPost locker to locker at €4.46 beat Poste Italiane shop to shop at €5.24. The InPost small locker takes parcels up to 35 × 25 × 8.8 cm, so it only works for flat items.
• Belgium: Mondial Relay (€5.38, 3 days) beat bpost (€6.29 to a point, next day). If next day matters, bpost is the cheaper choice.
• Poland: DPD to a point (€3.32, about zł 14.49) edged out Poczta Polska (€3.41) and ORLEN Paczka (€3.59). InPost was €4.00 (about zł 17.46).
• Germany: DPD at €5.55 against DHL Paket at €9.27. The full German comparison is in DHL vs DPD vs GLS in Europe.

What if the item fits through a letterbox? #

Three countries on our map have a mailbox-size service that sits below the small parcel. In the Netherlands PostNL’s mailbox parcel (up to 2 kg, 3.2 cm thick) cost €5.50 with next-day delivery — cheaper than any Dutch small parcel. In Finland Posti’s Pikkupaketti to the door or letterbox cost €8.66 with up to 5 working days. In Norway Bring’s Pakke hjem i postkassen cost €9.35 (about kr 102), less than half its door parcel. For thin products — cosmetics, jewellery, phone accessories — check the mailbox size first. How the Dutch options compare in detail is in PostNL vs DHL in the Netherlands.

Cheapest versus fastest: where do they differ? #

In most countries the cheapest service is also reasonably quick. The exceptions are worth knowing before you set a default:

The gap between cheapest and next-day ranges from under a euro in Belgium and the Netherlands to more than three euros in France. For a low-value item the slower service is usually right; for a customer who paid for speed it is a refund waiting to happen.

Why are small parcels so much cheaper in some countries? #

The Baltic states, Croatia, Czechia and Poland sit at the bottom of the table, and the reason is mostly the locker. A parcel machine takes dozens of parcels in one stop and never has a customer who is not at home, so the carrier’s cost per parcel falls. Estonia’s Unisend locker at €3.02 against its door service at €4.70 shows the gap inside one carrier. Finland, Norway, Sweden and Austria sit at the top; in Austria the cheapest carrier charged the same €7.91 for every size up to 30 kg.

None of this helps you if the parcel crosses a border first. The European shipping rates index puts the median 2 kg domestic rate at €4.04 and the same box from the Netherlands to another country at €13.25. A Czech customer can be reached for €3.07 (about Kč 75) — but only from inside Czechia. The cost side of that trade-off is worked out in parcel shipping costs in Europe.

How do you actually get these prices? #

A domestic price needs a domestic sender. With local fulfilment through AirPost, a verified person in your customer’s country holds a batch of your stock and ships each order as a domestic parcel. You set the service per product and destination — the cheapest from the table, or the cheapest next-day option — and we buy the cheapest label within that choice. You pay the label, the fee you agree with your sender and our €0.85 platform fee per parcel; no subscription, no storage costs.

1. 1

   Pick the countries

   Start with the two or three countries where most of your orders go, and look up their row in the table above.

2. 2

   Choose a default service

   Cheapest where customers accept a point and a few days; cheapest next-day where they expect the door.

3. 3

   Send a test batch

   One box of a best seller to a sender in that country. The stock stays yours and comes back on request.

4. 4

   Check after a month

   Look at delivery times and uncollected parcels. If a slow or point service causes complaints, switch that country to the next-day option.