📦 Sending luggage abroad • UK door collection • Since 1998

Send luggage abroad from the UK
When you’re the sender, not the traveller

Sending belongings to family, getting a student’s things out to them, or posting on the boxes that would not fit in the case. We collect from your UK door and handle the paperwork — and we’ll tell you what changes when the receiver is somebody other than you.

Get a quote 📞 0800 096 38 39

📍Door collection — UK-wide
📋Paperwork prepared for you
✈Air or sea — your choice
📅Sending luggage abroad since 1998

The difference

Sending to someone else isn’t the same as taking it with you

Most shipping pages assume you are the one travelling. This one is for the other situation: you are here, and the bags need to be somewhere else. Sending belongings to family, getting a student’s things out to them, returning a relative’s effects, or posting on the boxes that wouldn’t fit in the case.

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The receiver matters more than you might expect. Customs at the other end treats a shipment differently depending on who is receiving it and why. Belongings going to their own owner are usually personal effects; the same boxes going to a friend or relative are generally a normal import, assessed on what is inside.

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Which means the paperwork changes. If you are sending to someone else, we need the receiver’s full name, address, phone number and any local identification or tax reference their customs asks for — and an honest, itemised list of the contents.

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What we do either way: collect from your UK door, export-pack if you need it, prepare the paperwork, and get it there by air or sea.

Practical

What people actually send

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Students. Books, bedding, clothes and kit sent out at the start of term, or brought home at the end of it. Term dates make this seasonal — book early for September and June.

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Family belongings. The boxes that could not go in the suitcase, sent on after someone has already flown.

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Goods for relatives. Common on the Caribbean, West African and South Asian routes — often as barrels. These are a normal import, assessed on the value of the contents, so itemise honestly rather than writing “miscellaneous”.

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Things left behind. A returning resident’s effects, an estate being sent on, equipment following a move.

Before you pack

The things that cause trouble

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Anything with a battery. No lithium batteries in a standard shipment — including inside laptops, phones, tablets and power banks. Batteries can be packed and exported as declared dangerous goods; ask us before you pack. Undeclared dangerous goods are a criminal offence and the duty sits with the sender.

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Aerosols and perfume. Deodorant, hairspray and fragrance are regulated and are the items most often found at screening. Leave them out.

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Vague contents lists. “Household goods” invites an inspection. A numbered, itemised list clears faster.

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Guessing at values. Give realistic second-hand values — inflating them invites duty, deflating them caps what you can claim.

Getting it there

How long it takes and what it costs

Air freight is the fast option, typically a few working days to a week or so depending on destination, subject to space and flight availability with the carriers. Sea freight is the economical option for volume — anywhere between about 4 and 12 weeks depending on your destination and sailing dates.

Cost depends on weight and size together, not weight alone: we charge on whichever is greater, actual or volumetric weight. That is why two boxes of the same weight can price differently, and why we quote on your specific consignment rather than a table. As long as your bags are what you told us, that’s the price you pay — subject to airline rates at time of booking.

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Door collection anywhere in the UK. We come to you — no depot, no post office queue, no airport.

Common questions

Your questions answered

Can I send luggage to someone else abroad? +

Yes. We collect from your UK address and deliver to your receiver overseas. Bear in mind that customs usually treats belongings going to their own owner as personal effects, while the same boxes going to a friend or relative are generally a normal import assessed on the contents - so the paperwork and any duty can differ.

What do you need from me? +

What you're sending, where it's going, and the receiver's full name, address and phone number - plus any local identification or tax reference their customs requires. We'll also need an honest itemised list of the contents.

How long does it take? +

Air freight is typically a few working days to a week or so depending on destination, subject to space and flight availability with the carriers. Sea freight runs roughly 4 to 12 weeks depending on destination and sailing dates.

Can I send a laptop or phone? +

Not with the battery in a standard shipment. Lithium batteries are Class 9 dangerous goods and are not accepted in an ordinary consignment. They can be packed and exported as declared dangerous goods - ask us before you pack.

How is the price worked out? +

On whichever is greater, actual weight or volumetric (size-based) weight. That's why two boxes of the same weight can price differently. We quote on your specific consignment.

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Lak Kharod, Director

Excess Luggage Co. • 40 years in the freight industry • MetEx House, Hounslow, next to Heathrow

“When you are sending to someone else rather than travelling yourself, the receiver’s details and an honest contents list matter more than anything. Get those right and the rest is straightforward.” Call 0800 096 38 39.

Send luggage abroad from the UKWhen you’re the sender, not the traveller