How to Ship Books in the UK: Cheapest Options for Resellers

Royal Mail's Large Letter format is 35.3 × 25 × 2.5 cm and 750 g (1 kg on Tracked), and it is the cheapest way to post a book that fits. Measure the packed book, mailer included: a standard paperback is 2 cm thick and 250 to 350 g, so it qualifies; a trade paperback or a hardback at 3 cm does not. The 2nd Class prices did not change in October 2026: £1.55 up to 100 g, £1.90 up to 250 g, £2.40 up to 500 g and £2.70 up to 750 g, all with £20 of cover and no tracking. Tracked 48 Large Letter is £2.90 up to 1 kg with £75 of cover and full tracking, which is the service to use for anything you would mind losing.

An InPost Small compartment is 8 cm deep, 38 cm wide and 64 cm high, so a hardback, a thick paperback or two or three paperbacks stacked all fit it. Sending direct it costs £1.99 to another locker or InPost Shop (£2.89 to a home address), with full tracking and nothing to print; on Vinted and eBay the buyer pays the marketplace's price and you just scan the QR code at the locker. The catch is cover: InPost pays at most £50 for a second-hand item and nothing for collectables, so a rare first edition should go by Royal Mail Tracked or Special Delivery instead.

Three or four paperbacks stacked and bagged are 7 to 10 cm thick and 1 to 1.5 kg: a Royal Mail Small Parcel (45 × 35 × 16 cm, 2 kg) at £3.75 by Tracked 48 online since 5 October 2026, or an InPost Medium (19 cm deep) at £2.59 direct. A box set or a stack of textbooks passes 2 kg quickly and becomes a Royal Mail Medium Parcel (£7.00 up to 2 kg, £9.00 up to 10 kg by 2nd Class) or an Evri parcel (£6.59 for 2 to 5 kg to the door), and Evri is usually cheaper above 2 kg. Weigh the stack with the packaging on; a box adds 200 to 500 g.

Private sellers on eBay do not buy postage: Simple Delivery prices it and the buyer pays. A large letter up to 1 kg costs the buyer £2.70 on an item under £75, a small parcel up to 1 kg £2.94 and a 1 to 2 kg small parcel £3.38, whichever courier eBay assigns. List the packed dimensions accurately so a slim paperback is priced as a large letter rather than a small parcel.

Books are damaged by moisture far more often than by impact: condensation in a van warps pages and makes covers tacky. Put every book in a polythene mailing bag, then in a rigid cardboard book mailer or a padded envelope for a Large Letter, with the bag as the moisture barrier. For a bundle, square the stack, hold it with an elastic band and bag it before boxing. Valuable first editions and signed copies should be double-bagged and sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery (from £9.85, £750 of cover), and photographed before packing.

A paperback novel sold on eBay for £6: 19 × 13 × 2 cm and 300 g in a card mailer, so a large letter, and the buyer pays £2.70 under Simple Delivery. A hardback cookbook sold on Vinted for £12: 26 × 20 × 3.5 cm and 1.1 kg, too thick for a Large Letter, so the buyer picks InPost and it goes in a Small compartment with the QR code. A set of four textbooks sold on Etsy for £40: 2.8 kg in a box, a Medium Parcel by weight, bought as Evri through Etsy at around £6.59 rather than Royal Mail's £9.00.