To ask you to check Royal Mails Dangerous Goods list before you post anything!

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Comprehensive list is here:

www.royalmail.com/personal/help-and-support/Tell-me-about-Restricted-Goods

If you send something in their Restricted Goods list, and Royal Mail notices it, they will confiscate, and sell at auction.

Case in point: £300 suspension unit for bicycle. "Disposed" of by Royal Mail, was confirmed to have been sent for auction. Full thread here:

singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/royal-mail-have-binned-my-rear-shock

Strange.

They arent restricted I believe, just have to be packaged appropriately? Except when going overseas.

I say this as someone who used to work for a mail order bike shop.

Nope. They are now restricted. Anything that contains/can potentially contain pressurised gas. (Although shocks are allowed on aeroplanes bizarrely). You need to read the thread linked to - RM has recently tightened up massively with extremely broad definitions of "dangerous" (although not dangerous enough to not resell at auction!)

So hypothetically you cannot send a deflated football...

Ah just read it's different for business customers.

Extremely poor of royal mail.

That's ridiculous. We used to sell a lot of shocks, and nitrogen capsules for bikes.

I sort of understand why they're doing it, but the way they've auctioned his item??!!

I work at PO counter and we are supposed to ask customers what is inside their parcels for this reason. Always sounds terribly nosy. You need to be careful if sending Xmas gifts such as perfumes or alcohol, etc.

Can't resist this true reminiscence.

For every country there is a specific banned list. In 1968 (showing my age . . . ) there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth and the list for Ireland was updated as follows:

After Contraceptives insert Fresh fruit and vegetables

I was in the queue at the local Post Office today and I now know the contents of the Christmas Presents being sent by lots of my neighbours. Quite a lot of pajamas in the postal system this weekend.

Been following this on on STW - in a nutshell, the chap has had his shock confiscated and told it's been disposed of. Except RoyAl Mail have since clarified that "disposing of it" is actually passing it and all the other confiscated items on to an auction house who then sell it and give Royal Mail the money. And the items are often bought by professional ebayers who sell them on and post them out using - yes, you've guessed it - the Royal Mail. You couldn't make it up!

one that caught me (for ebay) is lithium-ion batteries, not allowed unless in a laptop.

collect plus don't care, but cost more for smaller parcels.

There are also restrictions on posting perfumes etc which require special labels and for you to specifically notify the post office teller...

There are 2 separate lists. Restricted which is the stuff you have to package in a certain way or can only send if certain conditions are met. The other list is of Prohibited items which cannot be sent at all.

Just like to point out, these rules have been enforced by the CAA.

It's basically much like your hand luggage on a flight.

I sent a present and was asked what was inside. Nail varnish. They then stuck a big sticker on the package with nail varnish ticked. There goes the surprise. I guess I can see why though

I had a parcel cancelled because it contained a cheese spatula. A sort of blunt spoon with a slightly serrated edge. I do think the world has gone mad.

I took some parcels to the post office for DH.
The lady asked in a rather haughty manner if I knew what was in them. I had seen DH wrap them so I did know. Anyway I replied yes and she then asked me what was in them. There was a massive queue and I had a screaming DS who doesn't tolerate waiting in his pram at the best of times so I couldn't resist telling her 'well that's a babies snow suit, that ones a jacket and that box is a vibrator' (it wasn't, it was dvds)
I really don't know why I said it aside from being a bit narked at her rude tone when she asked me.

It's basically much like your hand luggage on a flight

Except they aren't flying anywhere - just being driven around the UK in lorries....

And did you miss the bit where they confiscate goods and then auction them. There are several eBay sellers who specialise in the sales of these confiscated goods and then post them out again by Royal Mail

That's the suppliers fault, not Royal Mail's. If they are selling the goods then they should be aware of how they will need to be sent to the buyer.

I had a long discussion about the batteries in a toy I was sending to dh's nephew the other day. (I guessed a couple of AA's)

Well it's a private business now - they can do as they like.

You need to tell them what's in the package. If not then it is your own stupid fault. Lithion ion batteries can be posted, but they need to know, I've had a few recently, but these batteries, especially if cheap crap from China can cause fires if short circuited, and they go with a Big Bang.

Tell the post office what you are posting. It's then fine, unless banned.

Erm, if it's going to another country then it is going on a flight.

That's where most of the restrictions are, most things are still ok to post inland.

The worst of it is that you can't avoid queueing any more. You used to be able to print the postage at home, put parcel in hatch, job done.

Now you have to queue to be interrogated.

I took great pleasure in NOT using RM to send some big parcels this year, and it saved me quite a bit of cash too!

The quizzing takes ages as well - it must lead to longer queues. Having an AA battery operated toy (being sent inland) seemed to lead to some form filling on their part.

That's where most of the restrictions are, most things are still ok to post inland

Not necessarily. You need to check the lists pretty carefully. Domestic and international restrictions are actually pretty similar.

The big perfume sticker they put on the parcel to my mum has taken away my surprise..?