In short
- From account to delivered order is eight steps, and most take minutes. The only one that takes days is the batch travelling to your sender.
- You pay per shipment from a balance you top up in advance, from €5.00. You see the exact cost of an order before you create it; nothing is charged you did not see.
- You choose a sender from their card: badges, handover time, fee per parcel size, carriers, storage and reviews. Then a conversation, and only then a batch.
- If the batch crosses a border there is a step most guides skip: VAT registration in the destination country, and from outside the EU a commercial import. Do it before the batch moves.
- Per order you pay the carrier rate, the sender’s fee (a guide of €2.25 for a small parcel) and €0.85 platform fee — about €3.10 plus the label. No subscription, no minimum.
- Cancelling is possible until the carrier scans the label. The amount comes back as balance, not as money to your card.
Explaining the model is one thing; what actually happens after you click "sign up" is another. This is the second: eight steps from an empty account to a parcel at your customer’s door, in the order you meet them, with what you need to know before each click.
It is written for a shop that has never done this, and for one whose first batch probably crosses a border — because that is where the step most guides skip lives. If you already have a sender and only want to know how an order works, jump to step six.
Before you start
- One product to start with. Not your catalogue: your best seller, or the product with the most orders in the country you are starting in.
- Its packed weight and dimensions. They decide the parcel size and therefore the rate.
- A rough count of monthly orders in that country. That sizes the first batch.
- Your own packaging or inserts, if you want them used — they travel with the batch.
- Your accountant’s number, if the batch crosses a border.
- No contract, no quote request, no integration project. Everything below you do yourself, today.
The eight steps
1. Create an account and fill in your shop profile
An account is an e-mail address and a sign-in link. The shop profile — name, what you sell, a link to your store — is what a sender sees when you contact them. A profile without a store link gets fewer replies; senders also look at who they are letting into their home.
2. Top up your balance
Shipments are paid from a balance you top up in advance, from €5.00. For a first month of twenty orders a few tens of euros is enough; you see the exact amount for every order before you create it, and the app warns you below a threshold. It never runs out silently.
3. Choose a sender in your customers’ country
Filter the list by country, parcel size and carrier. On the card: the badges (verified, bank account checked, ships within 12 hours, percentage delivered), the handover time, the fee per size, the storage space and reviews from other shops. Send a message with what you sell and how much you expect.
4. If the batch crosses a border: VAT, and possibly customs
Stock in another EU country makes your sales from it domestic supplies there, which usually means a VAT registration in that country; OSS does not cover it. From outside the EU the batch is a commercial import — one customs event, declared by you or a forwarder. Settle both before the batch moves. Details in VAT when you store stock in another EU country.
5. Send the first batch and record it
After a conversation agreeing what is coming, send one batch as an ordinary shipment — about a month of orders of that one product. Record the quantities under Stock so you and the sender see the same count. This is the only step that takes days.
6. Create the order in the chat
An order is three choices: the customer’s country, the sender (one, or several for a broadcast), and the parcel size with the service — pick-up point or home, standard or express. Enter the customer’s address, or let your Shopify connection do it. The total is shown underneath: carrier rate, fee and platform fee. Then create.
7. The sender accepts, packs and buys the label
They see the order in the chat and on their work list, accept, pack from your batch and buy the label; the amount leaves your balance. Once the parcel is scanned at the parcel point, you and your customer see the tracking. With Shopify, the order is fulfilled at the same moment.
8. Follow it, and cancel if you must
The order moves through its statuses to "delivered". If it must not go — the customer cancelled, wrong address — you cancel as long as the label has not been scanned. The amount returns as balance for your next order. After the scan the parcel is on its way and a cancellation has become a return.
What cancelling gives back
A cancelled order returns its amount as balance, available for your next shipment — not as money to your card. Money you topped up yourself and did not use can go back to your card. Those are two different buttons, and it is worth knowing before your first cancellation.
What an order costs
| Item | Who sets it | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier rate | The rate card, by size, service and country | Shown before you create the order |
| Sender’s fee | The sender, per parcel size | Guide €2.25 (small parcel) |
| Platform fee | Us, flat per parcel | €0.85 |
| Storage, set-up, minimum | — | None |
Whether that beats packing it yourself is arithmetic on your own hours, and whether it beats a 3PL is arithmetic on volume; both are in peer-to-peer fulfilment vs a 3PL. The rates themselves are on /en/pricing.
What usually happens in the first month
- The first order takes longer than the second. You are learning the form; the sender is learning your product. Allow an extra day for the first; after that it is routine.
- A question about packaging comes up. Send your own boxes or inserts with the batch, or say explicitly that the sender uses their own materials. One agreement saves ten questions.
- Stock runs faster or slower than you thought. Check the count under Stock mid-month and send the second batch before the first runs out.
- One parcel has a problem. A scan that does not come, a customer who received nothing. There is a procedure with deadlines — read it before it happens: parcel lost or damaged: what a shop does next.
If you run Shopify
Steps six and seven stop being manual. Airpost Order Link routes every paid order to the sender who holds the product, with the default shipping method you chose per product and country, and writes the tracking back into Shopify. Steps one to five stay the same; the connection itself is one code. How it works is in a Shopify fulfilment app without a warehouse.
Everything a shop can do on the platform — find senders, follow orders, manage balance, file claims — is summarised on /en/shops.
Frequently asked questions
How long from signing up to my first shipped order?
Signing up, profile, balance and choosing a sender take an hour. The batch travels for a few days — longer if it clears customs. Once it is on the sender’s shelf, the first order can ship the same day.
How much balance do I need?
From €5.00. For a first month of twenty small parcels a few tens of euros is enough. You see the exact amount for every order before you create it.
Do I sign a contract?
No. There is no contract, no minimum and no subscription. Stopping is asking for your stock back.
Do I need a VAT registration where my stock sits?
Usually yes, if it is another EU country: sales from that stock are domestic supplies there and OSS does not cover them. Talk to your accountant before the batch moves.
Who buys the label?
The sender, in the app, when they pack the order. The amount leaves your balance; you saw it when you created the order.
Can I cancel an order?
Yes, until the carrier scans the label. The amount comes back as balance for your next shipment. After the scan the parcel is on its way.
What if the sender does not accept?
The offer expires and the order comes back to you unshipped. Offer it again, pick another sender, or tick several at once so the first to accept ships it.
Sources
Eight steps, seven of which take minutes. The eighth is a box in transit.
Create an account and take the first step today
Sign up as a shop