Shipping Parcels Over 30 kg and Oversized Items: Limits and When to Use a Pallet

A parcel over 30 kg will be turned away at an ordinary pickup point, and the driver of a standard parcel service will refuse it too. It can still be sent. You split it, you pay for a heavy-parcel service, or it ends up on a pallet. Which of those is yours depends on the limits, so that is where this guide starts.

Weight and size limits of parcel carriers

Most parcel carriers in Europe accept a parcel of up to 30 or 31.5 kg. Besides weight they check dimensions: the longest side and the girth, which is twice the width plus twice the height plus the length.

The figures come from carrier websites as of 9 October 2026. Watch out for pickup points and lockers, where the limits are far lower: DPD and GLS parcel shops take parcels up to 20 kg, and at DPD the longest side may be no more than 100 cm. National postal services set their own limits and often move heavy items into a separate bulky-goods product, so check before you carry the box to the counter.

A parcel usually counts as oversized when one side is longer than 120 or 175 cm (depending on the courier), or when the sum of its dimensions exceeds roughly 210 to 230 cm. That is Eurosender’s own definition, and it matches the table above fairly well.

Three ways to ship a parcel over 30 kg

A parcel over 30 kg can be split into two boxes, sent with a heavy-parcel service that takes up to 70 kg, or loaded onto a pallet. Which one works out best depends mostly on one thing: can the contents be divided?

1. Split it into two boxes

Splitting it into two boxes is usually cheapest, and people forget it. Two 20 kg parcels can go with anyone at a normal price. One 40 kg parcel can go with almost nobody. Books, tools, dumbbells sent one at a time and supplies from home all divide well. Eurosender says the same in its own advice: repacking into two smaller boxes often costs less than one heavy piece.

2. A heavy-parcel service up to 70 kg

When the item cannot be split (an engine, a bench vice, a one-piece tool chest), you need a carrier that accepts parcels up to 70 kg. Express couriers such as DHL Express and UPS do, but a private customer pays the full list price there. A broker tends to be cheaper: Eurosender’s Priority and Priority Express services have a 70 kg limit and collect from your address, while its basic Standard service stops at 30 kg.

The 70 kg includes the packaging. And somebody has to be able to lift a parcel like that. The courier usually arrives alone, so do not count on a tail-lift or a trolley. The box should be multi-wall corrugated board with no holes and no old labels, and filled so the contents cannot shift. The basics are the same as in the guide on how to pack a parcel, only everything is multiplied by the weight.

3. A pallet or a van

A shipment over 70 kg no longer travels as a parcel but as freight on a pallet. The same goes for things that are lighter but fit nowhere by size: a washing machine, a lawnmower, a piece of furniture. Eurosender quotes pallet transport between European countries from €206.89 including VAT, and depending on the pallet class you can load several hundred kilos. The whole process, packing included, is in the guide on how to ship a pallet as a private person.

If there are several items and you would rather not pack anything, there is also a dedicated van with a driver. It costs more. But the pallet, the stretch film and the per-piece limits all disappear, which is worth the money when you are moving half a workshop.

When a parcel makes sense and when a pallet does

Up to 30 kg, send an ordinary parcel; between 30 and 70 kg the question is whether the contents can be split; above 70 kg a pallet is the only option. As a rough rule:

• Up to 30 kg and a girth of 300 cm: an ordinary parcel with any carrier.
• 30 to 70 kg, divisible: two boxes. Nearly always.
• 30 to 70 kg in one piece: a service up to 70 kg. Get a pallet quote as well, though, because for bulky items the two prices meet sooner than you would think.
• Over 70 kg or over the size limits: a pallet, or a van for several pieces.

With big boxes, volumetric weight also decides the price: length × width × height in centimetres divided by 5,000. A light but large 100 × 60 × 60 cm box is billed as 72 kg. The volumetric weight calculator does the sum for you.

What to watch with a heavy shipment

For a heavy shipment, enter the real weight and dimensions of the packed box in the booking. The carrier will weigh and measure it again at the depot anyway. Does it come out higher? You get a surcharge. And if the shipment exceeds the maximum of the service you chose, the courier may refuse to collect it or send it straight back. Eurosender adds that insurance does not apply to a shipment heavier than the one in the booking. Changes can be reported in advance, at Eurosender until 12:00 one business day before collection.

The second thing is insurance. The basic cover included in the price tends to be low, and for heavy goods (machines, tools, electronics) it rarely matches the value. How to add cover and what you need for a claim is in the guide to parcel insurance and compensation.

One last thing that gets forgotten: agree with the recipient who will be at home and who will carry the box. A courier sets a heavy parcel down at the front door of the building and does not haul it to the third floor without a lift. Is the heavy item a bike? That has its own guide: how to ship a bike by courier.