If you’re looking for an affordable and reliable delivery service when sending a parcel to the USA, look no further. Do you know what items you can (or can’t) send to America? Take a look at this guide for all the info you’ll need to get a package posted successfully, quickly and cheaply with ipostparcels, part of DHL Parcel UK.

To all cities including; New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadephia, Dallas, Austin, San Francisco and more...

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2019 US Federal National Holidays
Tuesday - 1 January	New Year’s Day
Monday - 21 January	Martin Luther King Day
Monday - 18 February	Presidents' Day
Monday - 27 May	Memorial Day
Thursday - 4 July	Independence Day
Monday - 2 September	Labour Day
Monday - 14 October	Columbus Day
Monday - 11 November	Veterans Day
Thursday - 28 November	Thanksgiving Day
Wednesday - 25 December	Christmas Day

*Public holidays in the USA may affect our estimated transit times.

We offer door to door delivery from the UK when sending a parcel to the USA. After you have placed your order with us and selected what day you want us to collect your parcel, we’ll send you a one hour collection window so you don’t have to wait in all day, or you can leave your parcel in a designated safe place for one of our drivers to collect. That very day your parcel will be returned to its local depot and sorted. From there it will travel overnight to one of our distribution centres and begin its speedy journey by air to the United States.

 

You can expect delivery to your US destination within 2-3 days after collection.

 

Please note – federal and state holidays in 2018 which may affect delivery times to USA: Jan 1, 18, 19, 21 / Feb 12, 18, 24 / Mar 2, 4, 5, 25, 26, 31 / Apr 15, 16, 19. 21, 22, 26, 29 / May 8, 10, 12, 27 / Jun 3, 11, 16, 19, 20 / Jul 4, 24 / Aug 12, 16, 27 / Sep 2 / Oct 14, 18, 25 / Nov 5, 11, 28, 29 / Dec 24, 25, 26, 31

Do I need to deal with United States customs?

For any parcel to be delivered outside of the EU, you’ll need to fill out a customs form. This tells the Customs Agents about the contents of your package so they can process it properly and speedily.

To avoid any delays your parcel must be accompanied with the correct customs documents. Conveniently, during the booking process, these forms will be auto filled in and emailed to you, along with your labels once you have completed booking your parcel.

This may sound complicated, but we’ll help automatically generate these documents for you from the information you provide on the booking form. You’ll just need to print and sign them, place them in an envelope marked ‘customs documents’ and attach them securely to the outside of the package.

It’s also worth knowing that US customs may apply additional duty or tax to your shipment and these charges will be applied to the recipient of the parcel. As these charges are applied at point of entry to the USA we cannot include these charges in our prices.

HM Revenue & Customs has more information on tax and customs considerations for the USA.

The US is fairly open when it comes to trade policies, but there are few important factors to note when sending a parcel to USA.

Please refer to our prohibited items list to see which items are permissible to send to the USA. Military and biological shipments must have licensing from the proper US agency in order to be imported legally.

It’s also important to note that the USA will not do business with the following countries; Iran, Libya, Iraq, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Sudan. Whilst it’s usually ok to ship parcels from the UK, if the products have originated from these countries it may cause issues.

Restricted and Prohibited Goods
Food	Illegal and dangerous	Other
Food products (prepared)	Flammable fuels and liquids	Game and Hunting Trophies
Fruit and vegetables	Biologicals	Gold
Dairy products	Firearms	Textiles and clothing
Meat products	Medications	Plants and seeds

Please be aware that we also have our own prohibited items list, in addition to country-specific restrictions.

The USA has strict rules around meat and meat products from countries with risk of BSE (Mad Cow Disease). This broadly means you shouldn’t send from the UK anything with meat, milk, egg, poultry and their products (including products made from them) as they are either prohibited or restricted from entering the United States.

Many sellers on the marketplace opt to use ipostparcels, part of DHL Parcel UK because you can get cheap parcel delivery rates and still receive a premium 2-3 day courier service. If you are selling items, you’ll know people expect their goods within 1-3 days – for this you need a reliable delivery service like us. We will deliver your goods quickly at competitive costs.

We’ll transport parcels from 0.5kg to 25kg in weight and max dimensions of 80 x 80 x80. So, if you’re sending a small parcel to the USA or a large and heavy parcel Regardless of the size, care and thought is needed when packing your parcel for delivery to the States as it will be handled multiple times in various locations while in transit. Individual wrapping, use of bubble wrap and a sturdy outer container sealed with strong tape will help to keep your parcel secure.

We also recommend you consider the climate in the US, when packaging your parcel contents. Your items may be sensitive to temperature; as the US can be extremely hot during the summer and very cold during the winter.

When labelling your parcel, you should clearly state the delivery address. Failing to do so could cause inefficiencies during delivery. For the USA, you’ll need to include a ZIP code – a nine digit number, which is the equivalent of a postcode.

See our handy International packaging guide for more packaging hints and tips.

Ipostparcels is part of DHL Parcel UK meaning we have access to DHLs global network – DHL are renowned for being one of the most reputable couriers in the world. When you send a parcel with us, we’ll obtain proof of delivery and keep you fully updated with our online tracking and trace tool at dhlparcel.co.uk. We provide a £50 contents cover as standard on all international parcels being sent – additional cover of up to £1000 can be obtained if you are sending high ticket items.

You’ll be notified with a one hour collection window for our DHL Parcel UK drivers to collect your parcel from your registered address, alternatively you can drop off at one of our 50+ DHL Parcel UK depots and save £1.30 on every parcel you send.

The USA might be vast (about 3,000 miles from east to west, depending on the route) but don’t let that worry you; door to door parcel delivery from the UK to the States is surprisingly easy. Just register with us – it only takes a minute – and choose the delivery option that suits you best.