Recorded delivery is the most misunderstood product on any UK price list, because the name suggests speed and it buys a signature. Royal Mail's own grid makes the distinction visible and produces a genuinely surprising result: its Signed For 2nd Class letter is £2.91 while its Tracked 48 Large Letter is £2.85, so the tracked service is cheaper than the signed one and tells you more. Reading the grid as a grid is the only way that shows up.
What each of these names actually buys
Signed For adds a signature on delivery to an ordinary 1st or 2nd Class service; it does not change the speed. Tracked adds scan events through the network and a delivery confirmation, with a next-day or two-day aim depending on the tier. Special Delivery Guaranteed adds a contractual time with a stated remedy if it is missed. Three different things that a customer will describe with the same three words at a counter.
The published prices, side by side
Royal Mail publishes Signed For 2nd Class at £2.91 for a Letter, £3.55 for a Large Letter and £5.55 online for a Small Parcel; Tracked 48 at £2.85, £3.65 and £5.55 online across the same shapes; and Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm from £9.45 online. Read across the rows rather than down the column and the tracked service is at or below the signed one nearly everywhere.
When a signature is the thing you need
Proof of delivery to a named person is a legal need rather than a comfort in some cases: serving documents, dispatching under a contract that requires it, or anything where a dispute would turn on whether it arrived. That is what Signed For is for and no amount of tracking replaces it. For everything else, tracking answers the actual question, which is where is it.
Express delivery, which is a different axis again
Express is speed and it is priced separately from both. Royal Mail's whole premium for moving from a two-day aim to a next-day aim is between 95p and about a pound across its grid: Tracked 24 at £3.80, £4.65 and £6.55 online against Tracked 48 at £2.85, £3.65 and £5.55. The expensive step is not speed, it is the guarantee, which starts at £9.45.
Questions people ask about recorded delivery
What does recorded delivery cost?
Royal Mail publishes Signed For 2nd Class from £2.91 for a Letter, £3.55 for a Large Letter and £5.55 online for a Small Parcel, read on 10 September 2026.
Is recorded delivery the same as tracked?
No. Recorded, or Signed For, buys a signature and does not change the speed. Tracked buys scan events and a delivery confirmation, and on Royal Mail's own grid Tracked 48 is at or below the Signed For price on nearly every row.
Is recorded delivery guaranteed?
No. Only Special Delivery Guaranteed carries a contractual time with a stated remedy, and it starts at £9.45 online.
How much more is express delivery?
On Royal Mail's grid, between 95p and about a pound to move from a two-day aim to a next-day one. The guarantee, not the speed, is what costs several pounds.