Ship to the UK without a UK warehouse in 2026

For an EU online shop, the UK is a large market behind a customs border. Most shops either stop selling there or keep shipping and let the carrier sort out the rest at the customer’s door. This article is about a third way, and about why the UK VAT registration is not what separates the options.

What a parcel to a UK customer costs #

Light parcels are cheap inside the UK: €2.92 at 2 kg. The rate steps up at 5 kg, to €6.16, then barely moves to 10 kg. From the EU it is a different price class: €14.00 from Germany and €16.24 from the Netherlands for 2 kg. Every other country and weight is in the European shipping rates index.

The £135 rule, order by order #

The UK splits parcels from abroad at a consignment value of £135. Where your order lands decides who deals with the VAT, and whether your customer gets a bill at the door. Take a shop in Germany with two typical orders.

A £60 order: you collect the VAT

At £135 or less, UK VAT is charged at the point of sale, as if you were a UK shop. Your checkout adds 20% UK VAT, you report it to HMRC on a UK VAT return, and the parcel crosses the border without duty: customs duty is not charged on goods up to £135 unless they are excise goods. To do this at all, you need a UK VAT registration.

A £180 bundle: your customer pays at the door

Above £135 the normal import rules apply: import VAT and, where due, customs duty at the border. Our labels into the UK are DAP, so the recipient pays whatever is due to the carrier before the parcel is handed over, usually with a handling fee on top. Your customer pays twice, and a refused parcel comes back across the same border.

What we ask for before a label into Great Britain #

A parcel into Great Britain is a commercial export, and the carrier will not issue a label without the numbers on the customs declaration. For every commercial parcel into Great Britain we ask for:

• ✓Your EU EORI number and your own VAT number, as the exporter.
• ✓Your UK EORI number and UK VAT number; an EU EORI is not valid in the UK.
• ✓An HS commodity code on every product in the parcel.
• ✕Not for Northern Ireland (postcodes starting BT): goods there follow different rules, and we do not ask for the UK pair.

On the EU side, a sale to a UK consumer is an export: your own VAT is normally zero-rated if you can prove the goods left the EU. Ask your accountant which evidence your country wants.

Route A: every parcel crosses the border #

You pack where your stock is and buy an international label: €14.00 for 2 kg from Germany. Every parcel carries a customs declaration and every order above £135 a door charge. With a handful of UK orders a month that is manageable.

Route B: one batch in the UK, domestic parcels after #

You ship one batch of your best seller to a verified sender in the UK. They hold it at home, pack each order and drop it off as a UK domestic parcel. You pay the domestic label, the sender’s fee and our €0.85 platform fee: about €6.02 for a small 2 kg parcel, against €14.00 in label alone from Germany. That is €7.98 less per parcel, before the cost of the batch import. The model is defined in what is peer-to-peer fulfilment.

The batch import, step by step #

Route B moves customs from every parcel to one shipment, and you are the importer of that shipment. Your sender is not: a sender never signs customs papers or pays import charges, and we tell them so in the chat.

1. 1

   Export from the EU

   Your carrier or customs broker files the export declaration. You supply the commercial invoice, commodity codes and your EU EORI number.

2. 2

   Import into the UK

   The import declaration uses your UK EORI number. For goods of EU origin, a statement on origin on the invoice claims the zero tariff under the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

3. 3

   Account for import VAT

   As a UK VAT-registered business you can use postponed VAT accounting: you declare and reclaim the import VAT on the same UK VAT return, so no cash is tied up at the border.

4. 4

   Sell from UK stock

   Every sale is now a UK domestic supply with 20% VAT, whatever the order value. The £135 split no longer applies to those orders.

How big that first batch should be is in how much stock to send a sender. Stock held by a sender is not insured; start with a batch you can afford to lose.

UK carriers on our rate card #

UK shoppers expect home delivery, and every domestic UK service on our rate card delivers to the door. The sender drops the parcel at a shop, locker or depot:

• Evri from a ParcelShop and InPost from a locker or shop, both up to 10 kg.
• Royal Mail Tracked 48, up to 10 kg, with cover up to £50.
• DPD, DHL and UPS, listed at 2 working days; DPD and UPS also up to 30 kg.
• FedEx, Parcelforce and DX for larger or heavier parcels; Parcelforce and DX up to 30 kg.

The live services per size, in pounds and euros, are on shipping options from the UK. Transit times are the carrier’s service level, not a guarantee.

Returns and prices in pounds #

A UK consumer can cancel an online order up to 14 days after delivery. On route A that return is an import into the EU. On route B it can go to your sender, if their profile shows the "Returns" badge: they report each return with at least 5 photos, you decide what happens to it, and you pay their return fee only when you accept. More in returns without a warehouse.

Show UK prices in pounds, including 20% VAT, as UK shops do. You pay labels and fees in euros.

How it works with AirPost #

1. 1

   Register in the UK first

   UK VAT with HMRC and a UK EORI number. You need both on either route. Add them to your company details with the commodity codes of your products.

2. 2

   Find a sender in the UK

   On /en/senders, filter by price and parcel size. Every sender is checked on identity and payout account, with reviews from other shops.

3. 3

   Import a test batch

   One box of your best seller, with your own packaging. The stock stays yours; ask for it back and it is returned within 14 days.

4. 4

   Put your UK orders through

   In the chat, or automatically through the Shopify app. The sender only sees your customer’s address after accepting the order.

5. 5

   We sort out the label

   We find the cheapest domestic rate within the service level you choose. If a parcel is lost or damaged, we file the claim with the carrier.

Selling inside the EU as well? Compare with how to ship to Germany without a German warehouse, where there is no customs step at all. The full model and prices are on local fulfilment in Europe.