How to Ship a Dress in the UK

For everyday dresses — cotton, jersey, viscose, polyester, most maxi dresses — InPost is the best choice. A folded dress in a mailing bag weighs 200–600 g and is a few centimetres thick, so it fits the Small or Medium compartment; on Vinted and eBay the buyer pays the postage and InPost is normally the cheapest carrier they are offered, and you drop it at any of 16,000-plus lockers with a QR code, no printer needed. Every InPost compartment is 38 cm wide and 64 cm high, so a folded dress always fits on width and height; only the depth matters.

Evri is the courier for dresses that will not compress: heavily structured bodices, tulle or crinoline skirts, boned corsetry, and anything you want to send in a box rather than a bag. Evri accepts parcels up to 15 kg and 120 cm on the longest side at more than 9,000 ParcelShops (its own lockers take up to 62 × 57 × 39 cm), and it is the only courier inside Depop Shipping. Sending direct costs £3.04 to a home address for a parcel under 1 kg.

Royal Mail comes into its own for two kinds of dress. A very thin dress that packs under 2.5 cm — a slip dress or a silk camisole dress — can go as a Large Letter, the cheapest tracked postage in the UK at £2.85 for Tracked 48. And a valuable dress deserves Special Delivery Guaranteed: £750 of compensation as standard (extendable to £2,500), a signature on delivery and next-day arrival, from £9.45 online. InPost covers second-hand items only up to £50 and Evri's standard cover is £20, so for designer, vintage or bridal pieces the extra postage is cheap insurance.

Start with a clean, dry, ironed dress — creases pressed in before packing are the ones that show up at the other end. Lay it face down, fold the sleeves and side seams inward so the dress is a rectangle about the width of the mailing bag, then fold from the hem upward in thirds. A sheet of acid-free tissue between each fold stops sharp creases and keeps embellishments from snagging the fabric.

Slide the folded dress into a polythene mailing bag that fits with a little room to spare: 30 × 40 cm for a short or midi dress, 35 × 50 cm for a maxi or a heavier fabric. Press the air out before sealing so the parcel is as flat as possible — a flat bag drops into a smaller, cheaper InPost compartment and is far more likely to be available at a busy locker. If it is raining, a mailing bag also keeps the dress dry inside the locker, which a paper mailer will not.

Skip the box and the bubble wrap for ordinary dresses. Both add depth without protecting anything a soft garment needs protecting from, and a rigid box is the single most common reason a dress parcel will not fit a locker. The exceptions are dresses with beading, sequins or delicate appliqué, which benefit from a layer of tissue and a padded mailer, and structured gowns, which need a box and should go by Evri or Royal Mail rather than InPost.

• Remove hangers, belts you are not selling and anything metal that could mark the fabric
• Put the dress in a clear garment bag or tissue first if it is silk, satin or has beading
• Write the buyer's name on the mailing bag as a backup in case the courier label is damaged
• Measure the packed depth before you leave — under 8 cm is InPost Small, under 19 cm is Medium

On Vinted, a dress is a 'standard' item: the tier allows up to 2 kg and, for InPost, 64 × 38 × 41 cm, so any folded dress qualifies and the buyer will usually be offered InPost, Evri and Royal Mail. Vinted picks the parcel size automatically from the listing, so the only thing you control is packing it small enough for the compartment you choose on the locker screen. Ship within five working days of the sale.

On Depop, choose Depop Shipping when you list and pick the Small tier (under 1 kg) for almost any single dress; a heavy wool or maxi dress with a lining may need Medium (under 2 kg). Weigh it packed on kitchen scales before you decide — the tier price is what the buyer pays and Evri can surcharge an underweight choice. After the sale Depop emails you an Evri QR code for any ParcelShop or Evri locker.

On eBay, enter the packed dimensions and weight accurately when you list. Simple Delivery prices the postage by parcel size and item value — a small parcel up to 1 kg is £2.94 for the buyer on an item under £75 since 1 September 2026 — and offers InPost only if the dimensions fit a compartment. A dress listed as 30 × 40 × 5 cm and 500 g will be offered InPost, Evri and Royal Mail; the same dress listed in a 40 × 30 × 20 cm box will not get InPost.

Full-skirted gowns are a different job. A wedding or prom dress with a tulle or hooped skirt cannot be compressed into a mailing bag without crushing it, weighs 2–5 kg with its layers, and is usually sold in a box or a garment carrier. That rules out InPost's 41 cm compartment depth. Use Evri (up to 15 kg, longest side 120 cm) with cover added, or Royal Mail's Medium Parcel format (61 × 46 × 46 cm, 20 kg) — £8.05 by 2nd Class online for 2–10 kg, or Special Delivery if the dress is worth more than £100.

For any dress worth over about £100 — designer labels, vintage pieces, bridal — send it by Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed. It includes £750 of compensation (upgrade to £1,000 or £2,500 for a few pounds more), needs a signature, and arrives the next working day. InPost's cover for second-hand goods is only £50 and Evri's is £20, so a lost gown on either would be a heavy loss. Photograph the dress, its labels and any flaws before packing, and keep the proof of postage until the buyer has left feedback.

Pack a gown in a sturdy box lined with tissue, with the skirt folded in loose loops rather than tight folds and tissue between the layers. Fill any empty space so it cannot shift, and hand it over a Post Office counter — Special Delivery cannot go in a postbox or a locker.

Sending direct, a folded dress in a Small InPost compartment costs £1.99 to another locker or shop or £2.89 to a home address; a Medium compartment is £2.59 or £3.99. Evri charges £2.62 to a ParcelShop or £3.04 to the door for a parcel under 1 kg, and £3.52 for 1–2 kg. Royal Mail Tracked 48 is £2.85 for a Large Letter (under 2.5 cm thick, up to 1 kg) or £3.65 for a Small Parcel, rising to £2.90 and £3.75 on 5 October 2026. Special Delivery for a valuable dress starts at £9.45.

On Vinted and eBay the buyer pays a price the marketplace sets, and on Depop the buyer pays the Depop Shipping tier, so these figures only come out of your pocket on Etsy or when you use your own postage. What always matters is how you pack: a dress in a mailing bag qualifies for the cheapest compartment and the widest choice of couriers, while the same dress in a box costs more and fits fewer lockers.