Courier size limits for long and heavy parcels, how to work out length plus girth, and how to pack a bike, a golf bag, gym weights and a pram.
Updated 6 October 2026
Before you start
Courier size limits for long and heavy parcels, how to work out length plus girth, and how to pack a bike, a golf bag, gym weights and a pram.
A bike or a set of golf clubs fails on length before it fails on weight. Most standard services stop at around 60 cm, and the cheap locker and letterbox options can't take them.
Limits below come from each courier's own pages, checked 6 October 2026. Measure the packed box first, then pick the courier, so you book once.
Kit for this
The products this guide uses, with typical UK prices.
Double-wall boxes, 18 x 12 x 8 in, 15 pack
Double-wall board resists crushing better than single-wall, so your boxed trainers arrive intact.
Typical price£22 to £34
See on Amazon
Bubble wrap, 500 mm x 100 m
A long roll costs several times less per metre than the small packs sold in shops.
Typical price£10 to £15
See on Amazon40 kg digital parcel scale
A wrong weight costs you surcharges or overpaid postage. A flat platform scale with a separate display stays readable when a box covers the top.
Typical price£15 to £25
See on Amazon
Parcel2Go
Suits you if you post the odd bulky parcel, such as a pair of boxed trainers, and want to compare couriers before booking. You can choose a home collection or a drop-off shop, and its free Smart Send tool gathers orders from several marketplaces.
Typical priceCheck current pricing
Visit siteThe guide
Each step in the order you'll need it.
Length plus girth
Several couriers cap a parcel by length plus girth: the longest side, plus twice the sum of the other two. A bike box of 140 × 80 × 20 cm scores 140 + 2 × (80 + 20) = 340 cm.
Work that number out before you compare prices, because it rules out more couriers than weight does.
Courier limits for long parcels
UPS takes up to 70 kg, 274 cm long and 400 cm length plus girth, and collects from home. Parcelforce takes up to 30 kg, 1.5 m long and 3 m length plus girth, and publishes its own bike packing guide.
Royal Mail Medium Parcel stops at 61 × 46 × 46 cm and 20 kg; InPost lockers at 64 × 38 × 41 cm and 15 kg. Evri takes up to 15 kg and 120 cm long with a 245 cm length plus girth limit. Those three suit gym kit and folded prams; a boxed bike needs UPS or Parcelforce.
Packing a bike
Ask a local bike shop for a spare bike box: new bikes arrive in them. Take off the pedals, turn the handlebars sideways, drop the saddle and remove the front wheel.
Zip-tie the wheel to the frame with card between them, wrap the derailleur and disc rotors in bubble wrap, and put the pedals and tools in a bag taped inside. Shake the box: if anything rattles, pad it.
Kit for this step
Golf clubs and gym kit
Golf clubs go in a long box or a hard travel case. Wrap each head, tape the shafts together in a bundle and fill gaps so the heads cannot knock. Sell a single club or a wedge set in a tube instead.
Dumbbells and kettlebells are small but heavy. Double-wall boxes, a layer of card on the base and plenty of tape keep a 20 kg box from splitting. Split a pair into two parcels if one box goes over a limit.
Kit for this step
Prams and pushchairs
Fold the frame, remove the wheels if they come off, and bag the hood and fabric so they stay clean. Wrap the wheels and the folding joints, since they take the knocks.
A folded pushchair often fits a Medium Parcel box. Weigh it packed: a travel system with a carrycot can pass 20 kg once boxed.
Items couriers refuse
Royal Mail bans e-bikes and other battery-powered vehicles, and loose lithium batteries not fitted in or packed with their equipment. Spare CO2 inflator cartridges are compressed gas: take them out of a bike sale parcel.
Check each courier's prohibited list before you book. A refused parcel comes back to you and the postage is gone.
Offer collection for heavy items
eBay and Vinted both let a buyer arrange collection for heavy items. A £20 courier charge on a £60 bike puts most buyers off, and a local buyer with a car pays nothing for postage.
If you post, put the packed size and weight in the listing so the postage you charge matches the booking you make.
Checklist
Run through it before each one goes out.
- 1Pack first, then measure and weigh
- 2Work out length plus girth
- 3Pick a courier whose limit covers both
- 4Remove CO2 cartridges and loose batteries
- 5Book a home collection for anything over 20 kg
- 6Offer collection on the listing as well
Setups
Complete kits for one kind of seller, costed and laid out.
Questions
What is the cheapest way to post a bike in the UK?
Compare couriers on a booking site for your packed box size. Parcelforce and UPS take bike-sized boxes; Royal Mail Medium Parcel, InPost and Evri do not.
Can I send golf clubs with Royal Mail?
Only if the packed box fits 61 × 46 × 46 cm and 20 kg. A full set in a long box needs a courier that takes longer parcels.
How do I work out length plus girth?
Longest side plus twice the other two sides added together. A 120 × 40 × 30 cm box is 120 + 140 = 260 cm.
Can I post an e-bike?
Royal Mail does not accept e-bikes or their large batteries. Check a courier's dangerous goods rules, or sell it for collection.
Where do I get a box for a bike?
Ask a bike shop for one of the boxes new bikes arrive in. Many shops give them away.
How heavy can a parcel be?
Royal Mail Medium Parcel goes to 20 kg, Parcelforce to 30 kg and UPS to 70 kg per parcel. Over 20 kg, book a collection.