Ship to Poland without a Polish warehouse in 2026

Poland has the cheapest domestic 2 kg rate of the large EU markets on our index. That is exactly why foreign shops lose there: the domestic parcel is cheap and fast, and a cross-border label is neither. This article is for European and British online shops that want Polish customers without a Polish warehouse. It sets out what each route costs, how the locker culture works, which carriers exist, and what you need for VAT and customs.

What a 2 kg parcel to a Polish customer costs #

The rates below are carrier prices without any AirPost fee, from the European shipping rates index, measured on 26 September 2026. Each is the cheapest service found for that route and weight.

The gap depends on where you are. From the Netherlands a Polish parcel costs more than five times the domestic rate, and the domestic route wins clearly. From Germany the cross-border rate is much closer, and the case for local stock rests more on delivery time, lockers and returns than on the label.

The domestic rate also stays flat with weight: €2.48 at 5 kg and €2.57 at 10 kg on the same index. The bulk shipment into the stock is spread over every unit in it, and at fifty units it is usually well under a euro per order. The general sum is in how to ship domestically in Europe without a warehouse.

Paczkomat, pickup point or home delivery in Poland #

The InPost paczkomat is a parcel locker, and in Poland it is what many customers choose first. They pick their locker at checkout, get a code on their phone and collect when it suits them. A checkout without it looks foreign to a Polish customer, in the way a Dutch checkout without iDEAL does.

Other carriers have their own networks: DPD pickup points, Poczta Polska points, and ORLEN Paczka at ORLEN petrol stations and partner shops. Home delivery exists with all the main carriers and is the usual choice for larger parcels.

A cross-border label usually gives you home delivery, or a point network that is smaller than the domestic one. A parcel that starts in Poland can go to any paczkomat. A sensible default for Poland is the locker, with home delivery as the choice at checkout. The trade-off country by country is in pickup point vs home delivery in Europe.

Which Polish carriers your sender can use #

• InPost: to a paczkomat or to the door, for small and medium parcels.
• DPD: to a pickup point or to the door, including large parcels up to 30 kg.
• Poczta Polska: the national post, to a point or to the door, including large parcels to a point.
• ORLEN Paczka: to a pickup point, for small and medium parcels.

Services and prices per size are on the shipping options page. Which of them your sender offers depends on what they have ticked in their profile, so check that before you send stock.

Delivery time and currency #

InPost, DPD and Poczta Polska list next-day delivery for domestic parcels on the shipping options page. That is the carriers’ own indication, not a guarantee. A cross-border parcel travels the same last mile, plus the leg into the Polish network, and from the UK a customs step on top.

Poland uses the złoty. Polish customers expect prices in złoty and a local payment method at checkout, and BLIK is the one they look for. Neither is about shipping, but both decide whether the order is placed at all. AirPost invoices you in euro; what your customer pays is set in your own shop.

Returns from Polish customers #

You choose the address for customer returns. If you agree it with your sender in the chat, a return goes back to them as a cheap domestic parcel and the item goes back into stock in Poland. A failed delivery follows the return route of the service your sender used, which ends at the sender’s address.

Agree in the chat, before the first order, what your sender does with a returned item: check it, put it back on the shelf, or send it on to you.

VAT and customs #

If your shop is in the EU

Cross-border sales to consumers in other EU countries have a threshold of €10,000 a year, across all EU countries together. Below it, you usually charge your own country’s VAT. Above it, you charge Polish VAT on Polish orders and can declare it through the One-Stop Shop (OSS) instead of registering in Poland.

Stock held in Poland is a different case. Selling from stock that is already there makes the sales Polish domestic supplies. That generally means a Polish VAT registration from the first sale, with no threshold, and OSS does not cover it. Check with your accountant before the batch moves. The detail is in VAT when you store stock in another EU country.

If your shop is in the UK

Every parcel from the UK to Poland is an import. The customer pays Polish VAT, at checkout through IOSS or at the door, often with a carrier handling fee. A British business that wants to use IOSS must appoint an intermediary to register for it. Since 1 July 2026 there is also customs duty of €3 per product type in the parcel. The full sum is in the €3 EU customs duty explained.

With stock in Poland you import once: the bulk shipment is one commercial import with you as the importer, and the orders after it are domestic parcels. You then usually need a Polish VAT registration or a fiscal representative. AirPost does not arrange either; a customs broker or the Polish tax administration does.

How this works with AirPost #

1. 1

   Create an account

   It takes about 20 seconds with just your email address. No intake call, no contract, no minimum.

2. 2

   Find a sender in Poland

   On /en/senders. Every sender’s identity and payout account are checked before they get stock or orders. Check that they offer InPost and the parcel sizes you need.

3. 3

   Send a test batch

   Your products and your own packaging, about a month of Polish orders of one product. Your other stock stays with you.

4. 4

   Send the orders

   In the chat, with the address and the size, to one sender or to all your senders at once. Whoever responds first ships it, and they only see the address once they take the order. With Shopify, the Airpost Order Link app routes paid orders automatically and sends the tracking code back to your store.

5. 5

   Your sender packs and drops off

   They buy the label, pack the order and take it to a point or locker. You pay from your balance. If a parcel is lost or broken in transit, AirPost files the claim with the carrier and passes the awarded amount on in full.

6. 6

   Compare after a month

   Cost per order, delivery time, support questions and returns. If it does not work, ask for your stock back and it is returned within 14 days.

The full picture for shops is on local fulfilment in Europe. The same question for neighbouring markets: shipping to Germany without a German warehouse and shipping to Austria without an Austrian warehouse.