A large item courier is not a different company from a parcel courier in most cases, it is a different band and sometimes a different vehicle. The published grids show exactly where the change happens and what it costs: Royal Mail's Medium Parcel takes 20kg inside 61cm x 46cm x 46cm from £6.25 online, and above that dimension nobody in this record publishes a price at all. Knowing which side of that line your item sits on is the whole question.
What large actually means in each published grid
Royal Mail defines it by dimension: a Small Parcel to 45cm x 35cm x 16cm and 2kg, a Medium Parcel to 61cm x 46cm x 46cm and 20kg, priced from £3.95 and £6.25 online. Evri's published table stops distinguishing size above 2kg and prices on weight alone, at £6.59 for 2-5kg and £10.28 for 10-15kg. Parcelforce publishes only weight, from £11.95 up to 5kg. Three companies, three different definitions of large, and an item can be large for one and ordinary for another.
Where a courier for large items becomes a different product
Past the Medium Parcel dimension the item usually needs a two-person lift or a tail-lift vehicle, and that is a quoted service rather than a published one. It is also where the useful questions change: not what does it cost per kilo, but does the price include getting it out of a first-floor flat, and does the destination have somewhere to put it. None of the published grids in this record answers either, because none of them sells that service.
How to price a large item without four quote forms
Measure the packed item and check it against the Royal Mail dimensions first, because that single check tells you whether you are in a published price or a quoted one. If it fits, the published bands are the whole answer and the cheapest is knowable in a minute. If it does not, describe it once and let carriers price it, which is what the form on this site is for.
What the price does not cover on a large item
Collection is priced separately by every company here and only Royal Mail publishes what it charges, at 30p an item on Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 bought online. Cover above the free compensation limit is separate again, and a large item is usually worth more than the limit. And a failed delivery on a large item is expensive in a way it is not on a small one, because the return leg costs what the outbound did.
Questions people ask about large item courier
What counts as a large item for a courier?
It depends whose band you are in. Royal Mail calls anything over 45cm x 35cm x 16cm or 2kg a Medium Parcel, up to 61cm x 46cm x 46cm and 20kg. Evri prices on weight alone above 2kg. Read on 10 September 2026.
How much does a large item courier cost?
Inside the published bands, from £6.25 online for a Royal Mail 2nd Class Medium Parcel and £6.59 for Evri's 2-5kg. Beyond those dimensions no company in this record publishes a price and the service is quoted.
Do I need a two-person delivery?
If the item is beyond the published parcel dimensions, usually yes, and that is a quoted service. It is also where you should ask whether the price includes getting it out of and into the buildings at each end.
Is it cheaper to split a large item into two parcels?
Sometimes. Two Royal Mail 2nd Class Small Parcels are £7.90 online against £6.25 for one Medium, so not there; but two Evri 0-1kg Smalls at £3.04 beat one 2-5kg at £6.59. The bands decide it.