MetEx House, 496a Great West Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW5 0TE  ·  Shipping since 1998
0800 096 38 39
⚓ & ✈ Shipping to Poland • UK’s Poland specialists • Since 1998

Shipping to Poland from the UK
Boxes, luggage, personal effects & cargo — by air or sea

Everything you need to ship to Poland in one place. Whether it’s a couple of boxes, your luggage, a student’s belongings or the contents of a home, we collect from your door anywhere in the UK, prepare the paperwork Polish customs needs, and deliver to Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk and beyond. Road groupage in about a week, air freight in 3–7 working days, or economical sea freight to Gdańsk in 3–6 weeks, subject to space and flight availability with the carriers. Shipping to Poland since 1998.

Get a quote 📞 0800 096 38 39

We’ve been shipping to Poland from our Heathrow-side base since 1998 — boxes and bags for students, personal effects for people relocating, and cargo for businesses. Poland rewards getting two things right: an honest, itemised inventory, and making sure whoever is receiving the goods has the paperwork Polish customs expects. Get those right and clearance is straightforward; get them wrong and a shipment can sit at the port. This page is everything we’d tell a friend sending their things to Poland, whether that’s a single box or a whole household.

Every way we ship to Poland

Not sure which service you need? Start here — each links to full details, transit times and what’s included.

How shipping to Poland works, step by step

1
Quote & book

Tell us what you’re sending and where. We give you a clear quote up-front — and as long as your shipment is what you told us, that’s the price you pay, subject to airline rates at the time of booking.

2
Door collection

We collect from your address anywhere in the UK. No need to get anything to a depot or the airport.

3
Wrap, pack & itemise

Goods are export-packed and we prepare an itemised inventory in English or Polish — the document Polish customs relies on most.

4
Ship by air or sea

Air freight from Heathrow, or consolidated sea freight to your nearest Polish port.

5
Poland customs clearance

Your receiver’s residence and work permits and, for personal effects, the import permit are used to clear the goods. Every shipment is subject to inspection.

6
Delivery or collection

Your goods are delivered to the Polish address, or ready to collect from the arrival depot.

What customs needs when you ship to Poland

Poland is in the EU — and since Brexit, a shipment from the UK now clears EU import formalities. It’s routine and we handle the paperwork, but it does mean an itemised inventory and, for anything other than used personal effects, potential duty and Polish VAT.

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Transfer-of-Residence relief. If you’re moving your home to Poland, your used personal belongings can usually come in free of duty and VAT under EU transfer-of-residence (ToR) relief — provided you’ve lived outside the EU for at least 12 months, the goods have been owned and used for at least 6 months, and you apply within 12 months of moving. We’ll tell you exactly what to prepare.
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What’s assessed for duty and VAT: new items, goods in commercial quantities, and anything beyond used personal effects. Standard Polish VAT is 23%; many goods carry little or no EU import duty, but it depends on the item. If you’re not relocating, expect VAT on the value.
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An honest, itemised inventory. Poland’s customs authority is KAS (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa). A clear, itemised list in English or Polish is what keeps clearance quick — vague descriptions like “household goods” are what cause hold-ups.

What not to put in a shipment to Poland

Most UK–Poland shipments are straightforward, but some things that are ordinary at home are restricted on the way in. Declaring honestly is always cheaper than being found out at inspection.

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Meat, milk and dairy. Since Brexit you cannot bring meat, milk or dairy products from the UK into the EU, even in small personal quantities. Leave food out of the shipment.
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Alcohol and tobacco. Above personal allowances these are dutiable and can complicate a personal-effects clearance. Declare anything you do send.
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Weapons, ammunition and replicas need the right permits — don’t include them without arranging clearance first.
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No lithium batteries in a standard shipment, including inside laptops, phones, tablets, cameras and power banks. Batteries can be packed and exported as declared dangerous goods — ask us before you pack.

What we see most often — and how to avoid it

Most UK–Poland shipments clear without drama. The ones that don’t nearly always come down to the same short list of things:

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Missing the ToR relief. People pay 23% VAT they didn’t need to, simply because the transfer-of-residence paperwork wasn’t prepared. If you’re relocating, tell us early.
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Food in the boxes. The single most common held item since Brexit — a jar, a pack of cheese, some meat. It has to come out.
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Vague inventories. “Household goods” on the list invites a customs look. Itemise properly and clearance is quick.
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Assuming “it’s Europe, so no customs.” Post-Brexit there are always customs formalities UK–Poland. It’s routine — but it’s not nothing, and the paperwork has to be right.

What shipping to Poland actually looks like

An illustrative example of a common scenario — your own quote is always specific to your exact shipment.

🏠 A family relocating from London to Kraków with the contents of a flat — furniture, boxes, kitchen things and a few suitcases — would typically send the lot by road groupage, the most economical option for Poland, with the transfer-of-residence relief prepared so the used belongings come in free of duty and VAT. We’d collect from their UK door, export-pack, itemise the inventory, and deliver to their Kraków address, usually within about a week to ten days. Someone who just needs a few boxes there quickly would send them by air to Warsaw (WAW) in 3–7 working days instead.

Door-to-door to every major Polish city

We deliver right across Poland — by road groupage, air to Warsaw (WAW), or sea via Gdańsk for larger volumes. Our most popular destinations:

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Warsaw (Warszawa). The capital and our busiest Poland lane — road groupage and air to Warsaw Chopin (WAW), fast door-to-door delivery.
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Kraków. Southern Poland by road groupage or air to Kraków (KRK) — popular for relocations and students.
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Wrocław, Poznań & Katowice. Western and southern hubs reached quickly by road groupage from the UK.
Gdańsk & the coast. The Baltic ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia handle sea freight for larger, heavier consignments.

Which is right for your shipment?

Air freight suits a few boxes, urgent items or anything you need within a couple of weeks — 3–7 working days, priced on weight and size. Sea freight suits volume — a room, a family’s contents or a whole home — at a fraction of the per-kilo cost, by road in about a week or by sea over 3–6 weeks. These sea transit times are approximate — the actual time depends on when your LCL container finishes loading and consolidating, the vessel’s sailing date and route, any transhipment hub before the final destination, and customs clearance, so please allow a week or two either side. Many customers split the two: air for the essentials, sea for the rest.

Air cargo to Poland ›   Sea freight to Poland ›

Shipping to Poland — your questions answered

Should I ship or pay the airline for extra bags? +
For anything beyond one or two extra bags, shipping is almost always cheaper than airline excess-baggage fees — and you’re not lugging the weight through the airport. We collect from your door, ship door-to-door and prepare the paperwork Polish customs needs.
How long does it take? +
Road groupage to Poland typically takes about a week to ten days door-to-door. Air freight is typically 3–7 working days to the arrival airport plus clearance, subject to space and flight availability with the carriers. Sea freight via Gdańsk is around 3–6 weeks for larger volumes. These sea transit times are approximate — the actual time depends on when your LCL container finishes loading and consolidating, the vessel’s sailing date and route, any transhipment hub before the final destination, and customs clearance, so please allow a week or two either side.
Will I have to pay customs duty or VAT? +
If you’re moving your home to Poland, your used personal belongings can usually come in free of duty and VAT under EU transfer-of-residence relief, provided you meet the conditions. For new goods, commercial quantities, or if you’re not relocating, Polish VAT (23%) and any duty may apply. We’ll tell you which applies before you commit.
Can I send food? +
Since Brexit you cannot bring meat, milk or dairy products from the UK into the EU, even in small quantities. It’s best to leave food out of a shipment to Poland altogether.
What’s the cheapest way to ship to Poland? +
For most personal effects, road groupage is the most economical option to Poland — you share space and pay for what you use. Air is faster when you need things quickly; sea suits large, heavy volumes.
👤
Lak Kharod, Director
Excess Luggage Co. • overseeing UK–Poland shipping since 1998 • MetEx House, Hounslow, next to Heathrow

Excess Luggage Co. has shipped luggage, boxes, personal effects and cargo from the UK to Poland for over 28 years — through our own Heathrow-side warehouse and collection fleet. We know this route, its ports, and exactly what Polish customs looks for. For a quote or advice on what your receiver needs, call us on 0800 096 38 39.

What our customers say
★★★★★

“Since the first day Excess Luggage has been a great help, communicating with me throughout the entire time and updating me on the important details. I would 100% recommend this company to anyone transporting baggage abroad.”

— Neide · Verified review on Trustpilot ↗

Ready to ship to Poland?

Tell us what you’re sending and where it’s going. We’ll come back with a quote and a realistic transit-time estimate — before you commit to anything.