If you sell matches, whether on their own, in candle gift sets or as wedding favours, it's tempting to pop them in the post like everything else. Your postage software will usually let you print the label. But matches are one of the few everyday products Royal Mail won't carry at all, and getting it wrong can cause more than a returned parcel.
What Royal Mail says
Royal Mail publishes a list of prohibited items: things it won't carry through its network for legal or safety reasons. Matches are on it, and the wording leaves no room for doubt: matches of any kind, including safety and windproof matches.
That means there's no small-quantity exception. A single box sent as a gift is treated the same as a box of fifty. Royal Mail's terms also make it the sender's responsibility not to post prohibited items.
Why matches aren't allowed
For transport, matches are classed as dangerous goods: they're a flammable solid that can ignite through friction. In a sorting centre, parcels are dropped, stacked, squeezed and run through machinery, which is exactly the kind of handling that can set matches off. A fire in a mail bag puts postal workers and everyone else's parcels at risk.
That doesn't mean matches can't travel at all. They can, but only through a service that's approved to carry them, packed and marked the right way.
What happens if you post them anyway?
- Your parcel can be held, returned or destroyed. Royal Mail can deal with prohibited items as it sees fit, including disposing of them. Your customer doesn't get their order.
- You may not be covered. Royal Mail won't accept liability for items that contain prohibited goods.
- It can be a criminal offence. Under section 85 of the Postal Services Act 2000, it's an offence to post anything likely to injure postal workers or other mail. The maximum penalty is a fine, or up to 12 months in prison, or both.
Other products to watch
Matches are banned outright. Several other gift and lifestyle products can go in the UK post, but only under strict limits, and never abroad:
- Perfumeup to 150ml a bottle and four bottles a parcel, in original packaging, with a hazard label. Read our perfume guide →
- Aerosolstoiletry aerosols such as deodorants only, up to 500ml each and two a parcel. Others, like air fresheners, can't be posted at all.
- Nail varnishup to 30ml a bottle and four bottles a parcel.
Some Royal Mail business services are stricter still and don't accept these products at all. And if a parcel contains matches, nothing else in it changes the answer: it can't be posted.
Royal Mail updates its list from time to time, so always check the current version before you post anything you're unsure about.
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 matches 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.
How to send matches properly
The legal route is a courier service that's approved to carry matches, with packaging and marking that meets the rules. One thing to know: being able to create a label doesn't mean the courier can carry it. Most standard parcel accounts will print a label for matches even when that service isn't approved for them.
Before you send any matches, check:
- 01Your courier service is approved to carry matches, in writing.
- 02The matches are in strong retail boxes, never loose.
- 03The outer box is sturdy, with nothing able to move inside.
- 04The parcel carries the correct marking, and the label doesn't cover it.
- 05Gift sets are checked as a whole, not just the box of matches.
Getting all of that in place yourself usually means dangerous goods training, qualifications and applying for your own approved account. That's exactly what FlipShip takes off your hands: we check your products and packaging, get you approved and give you a packing card for your team.
Questions
Can I post just one box of matches as a gift?
No. Royal Mail prohibits matches of any kind, with no small-quantity exception, so even a single box can’t go in the post.
What about a candle gift set that includes matches?
If the set contains matches, it contains a prohibited item, so it can’t go through Royal Mail either. Gift sets need checking as a whole.
Are safety matches treated differently from other matches?
Not by Royal Mail. Its list specifically includes safety matches and windproof matches.
My postage software let me print a label. Doesn’t that mean it’s fine?
No. Most systems don’t check what’s inside the parcel. Being able to create a label doesn’t mean the service can carry the goods.
Can I send matches abroad by post?
Not through Royal Mail. Rules for international shipping are stricter still. FlipShip currently supports UK mainland deliveries only.
Sources
- Royal Mail: prohibited goods, items you cannot send in the post
- Royal Mail scheme: prohibited and restricted items (The Gazette)
- Post Office: prohibited and restricted items
- Postal Services Act 2000, section 85 (legislation.gov.uk)
- The Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations 2009 (legislation.gov.uk)
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and carrier policies change, so always check the latest versions. More about shipping safety matches →