Quick answer: A 1 kg parcel UK→USA costs £12.80 via TradeWind's UPS Worldwide Economy DDP, against £19–£24 via Royal Mail PDDP, £25 via Parcel2Go and £42 via the direct UPS portal. Drag the slider below to see the full comparison at any weight up to 30 kg.
Shipping price only. US import duty applies on top for every parcel — TradeWind pre-pays it at checkout with no admin fee. Competitor prices are list rates; admin fees vary.
What's actually included in the shipping price
Every figure above is the all-in shipping cost — carriage, fuel surcharges, residential surcharges, end-to-end tracking and £100 of carrier liability cover (free, included). What it does not include is US import duty. Since the end of US de minimis on 29 August 2025, every UK→US parcel now incurs ad valorem US import duty based on the parcel's HS code and declared value. TradeWind calculates and pre-pays that duty at the live quote step (/ship) with zero admin markup, so your American buyer pays £0 at the door. For the full background read our end-of-de-minimis explainer.
How the calculator's numbers are sourced
- TradeWind: our published UPS Worldwide Economy DDP house rate card. The same numbers seed our production database — see
server/bootstrap-seeds.tsin the open source. We're a UPS-authorised reseller; the rate reflects UPS's wholesale price to us plus a small flat margin. - Royal Mail International PDDP: real counter rates as published on royalmail.com. Caps at 2 kg per parcel — for heavier shipments the line is hidden.
- Parcel2Go: aggregator quote for UPS Worldwide Economy delivered via Parcel2Go, plus their £2.50 administration fee. Parcel2Go re-sells the same UPS service with their own margin on top.
- Parcelforce Global Express: Parcelforce's published Global Express list price. Faster service tier than UPS WWE DDP but materially more expensive.
- Direct UPS portal: the retail rate at ups.com if you book the same service through your own UPS account without a negotiated discount.
- DHL Express Worldwide: DHL's published Express Worldwide list price (3-day premium tier).
Above 5 kg the non-TradeWind figures are mid-range estimates from each carrier's rate card — they shift slightly with collection zone, fuel surcharge windows and account terms, but the gap to TradeWind stays consistent.
Three things that move your real cost up or down
- Parcel dimensions, not just weight. A bulky-but-light parcel (think duvet, lampshade) gets billed at volumetric weight (length × width × height ÷ 5000 in cm/kg) rather than actual weight. The live quote at /ship asks for dimensions so you don't get an unpleasant surprise. The slider calculator above assumes a typical-density parcel.
- Residential vs business address. All consumer-facing US parcels are residential — there's no consumer-side cost difference, but if you ship to a US warehouse / 3PL the residential surcharge drops off.
- Declared value above £100. Free £100 liability cover is included; above that you can declare full value for a small surcharge. Most Etsy / Shopify orders sit well under £100 so the free cover handles them.
How TradeWind beats every other UK→US courier on the same UPS service
The cheapest UK→US shipping in 2026 is UPS Worldwide Economy DDP. The question is who you buy it from. Parcel2Go re-sells it at +£2.50 admin and a marked-up base rate. The direct UPS portal sells it at retail list price. TradeWind sells it at near-wholesale because we're an authorised reseller with the volume to negotiate the same rate the big retailers get — and we pass that through at a flat margin, no monthly fee. For the full carrier-by-carrier deep dive see cheapest UK to US shipping in 2026 and Royal Mail PDDP vs UPS Worldwide Economy.
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Quote my parcel →Frequently asked questions
How does this UK to USA shipping calculator work?
Drag the weight slider; the calculator returns the all-in £ shipping price across six carrier options for a typical-density parcel at that weight. For a real quote including dimensions and US import duty, go to /ship.
Are the rates accurate?
They reflect each carrier's published list rates as of May 2026. Real quotes vary by postcode, surcharge windows, and account-specific discounts — but the relative ranking holds.
Does the calculator include US import duty?
No, shipping cost only. Duty is calculated separately from your parcel's HS code and declared value; TradeWind pre-pays it at the /ship quote step with zero admin markup.
What's the cheapest weight to ship UK to USA?
Absolute cheapest is a 1 kg parcel at £12.80. Per-kilo it gets cheaper as weight rises — a 5 kg parcel at £27 is roughly £5.40/kg. Consolidate small orders to one US address when you can.
Can I use this for non-USA destinations?
Not today — TradeWind covers UK→USA only. Other lanes (Canada, EU, AU/NZ) will appear as we expand. For multi-destination quotes via TradeWind's partner carriers, /ship will tell you what we cover.
Does TradeWind charge per-label or per-month?
Per-label only. The public /ship guest flow needs no account and has no monthly fee. The optional Pro plan (£9/mo) is for higher-volume sellers who want the full software — see pricing.
Rates verified May 2026. Carrier list prices change quarterly; the live /ship quote is always current.