For candle, fragrance and home gift brands, the weeks before Christmas can be half the year's sales. They're also when the networks are busiest, delivery times stretch and a parcel that comes back costs you a customer as well as an order. Most Christmas shipping problems with these products are decided long before December, when gift sets are designed and packed.
Check your gift sets before you build them
The products that make the best gifts are the ones with the most shipping rules. Before you make up stock, check every set against them:
- MatchesProhibited in the post. Any set with matches needs an approved courier service. Gift sets guide →
- PerfumeUp to 150ml a bottle, and a limit on bottles per parcel. Perfume guide →
- Diffusers and oilsTreated like perfume. Most full-size diffusers are over the limit. Home fragrance guide →
- AerosolsTwo per parcel, body products only. Room spray aerosols can't be posted. Aerosols guide →
- CrackersThe snap in a cracker is classed as an explosive. Made-up crackers in their original retail packaging can go by Royal Mail within the UK, but loose snaps and cracker-making kits can't, and parcel couriers won't carry crackers at all. Christmas crackers guide →
- LightersLighters with fuel are prohibited.
Watch the item count, too. Restricted items are limited by the number in a parcel, not just their size. A fragrance advent calendar or a box of miniatures can take you over the limit even when every bottle is tiny.
A Christmas timeline
- 01Early November: finalise gift sets and get them checked. Order packaging, inserts and markings for peak volume.
- 02Mid November: write a packing card for every set, and train anyone helping out over peak.
- 03Black Friday: expect your biggest week. Make sure your courier service can handle the volume and the products.
- 04Early December: publish your last order dates for Christmas delivery, with a buffer of a few days before your carrier's.
- 05After your last date: switch messaging to gift cards or new year delivery, so nobody orders expecting the impossible.
Pack for peak
Parcels get handled more, stacked higher and sit in busier depots in December. Glass candles, diffuser bottles and gift boxes that survive in March may not survive in peak.
- 01Shake test every set: nothing should move inside the box.
- 02Pack liquids upright, sealed and bagged, with this-way-up arrows on two opposite sides of the box.
- 03Keep the gift box clean by putting it inside a plain outer box.
- 04Pack every set exactly the same way, exactly as approved.
Plan returns and replacements now
January brings returns. Many returns services exclude restricted items, and products with matches can't be returned by post at all. Decide now how customers send back gift sets, and how you'll send replacements for anything damaged, so your team isn't working it out with a queue of unhappy customers.
The cost of getting it wrong at Christmas
- A lost gift. Parcels with prohibited or non-compliant items can be held, returned or disposed of. At Christmas, a late gift is often as bad as no gift.
- No cover. Consequential loss cover isn't available for restricted items, and carriers won't accept liability for prohibited ones.
- Reviews that last. A broken or missing gift in December is the review that sits at the top of your page in January.
FlipShip checks your gift sets and packaging, gets you approved on our account and gives your team a packing card for every set, so you can ship them next working day across the UK mainland, matches and all.
What about couriers?
Switching to a courier doesn't get you round the rules. Most couriers, and the parcel comparison sites and drop-off shops that resell them, won't accept gift sets with matches, perfume or aerosols on a standard account. The couriers that do carry dangerous goods only accept them when all of this is in place:
- Approved accountA business account the courier has approved for dangerous goods in advance. A standard account, or a label bought online, isn't enough.
- Trained staffEveryone who packs, marks or books the parcels must be trained in dangerous goods for their role, under the road transport rules, with training records kept.
- Packed and declaredProducts packed within the small-quantity limits for each product, in strong inner and outer packaging with the correct marking, and declared to the courier when the label is created. Some dangerous goods, such as fireworks and Christmas cracker snaps, have no small-quantity allowance, so parcel couriers can't carry them at all.
Get any of it wrong and the parcel can be stopped in the network, returned or destroyed, usually at the sender's cost. FlipShip gives you an approved account to ship on, checks your products and packaging, and gives your team a packing card to follow on every parcel.
Questions
When should I set my last order date?
Check your carrier’s published last dates for Christmas delivery, then set yours a few days earlier. That buffer covers busy depots, bad weather and orders that need a second look.
Can I post an advent calendar with mini perfumes?
Probably not by post. Royal Mail limits the number of perfume items per parcel, and a calendar usually contains more than that. It needs an approved courier service.
Can I put Christmas crackers in a gift set?
Think twice. Cracker snaps are classed as explosives. Royal Mail accepts made-up crackers in their original retail packaging for UK addresses, but parcel couriers, including FlipShip, can’t carry them. A set with crackers and matches can’t go in one parcel by any route, so send the crackers separately by post.
Should I ship gift sets in their display box?
Put the display box inside a plain outer shipping box. It protects the presentation, hides what’s inside, and leaves room for the correct marking.
Is it too late to get set up for this Christmas?
Not if you start now. Send us your products and packaging through the free review and we’ll tell you what’s needed.
Sources
- Post Office: prohibited and restricted items
- Royal Mail and Parcelforce: prohibited and restricted items for business customers (August 2025)
- Postal Services Act 2000, section 85 (legislation.gov.uk)
- The Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations 2009 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Royal Mail and Parcelforce: prohibited and restricted items (Christmas crackers)
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and carrier policies change, so always check the latest versions. All our guides →