More of our parcels start in London than anywhere else, which tracks: the capital has the UK's deepest pool of independent fashion labels, vintage dealers, print studios and design brands, and a large share of their customers are American. If you sell on Etsy, Shopify, eBay or your own site from a London postcode (E / N / NW / SW / SE / W / WC / EC), the US is probably already your biggest export market — or would be, if the shipping didn't feel like a tax on your time.
We built TradeWind to fix exactly that. It's a UK to USA shipping platform run by sellers — we ship our own Etsy orders through it every morning — that sells UPS Worldwide Economy DDP and Royal Mail PDDP labels with the US import duty pre-paid at checkout. You get one PDF with the label, commercial invoice and customs declaration; your buyer in Brooklyn or Austin gets a normal tracked delivery with nothing to pay at the door.
What it costs from London
Our rate card doesn't vary by origin postcode — a label booked in Hackney costs the same as one booked in Harrogate. What changes the price is weight, dimensions and the duty on your specific product:
| Weight | UPS Worldwide Economy DDP (TradeWind) | Royal Mail PDDP |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1kg | £12.80 | £19 |
| 1–2kg | £15.50 | £24 |
| 2–5kg | £27 | — (over 2kg cap) |
| 5–10kg | £41 | — (over 2kg cap) |
| 10–20kg | £71 | — (over 2kg cap) |
| 20–30kg | £101 | — (over 2kg cap) |
Label prices. US import duty is calculated from your HS code and declared value and added — pre-paid — at checkout, so your buyer pays nothing on delivery. Live quotes show the full landed figure before you pay.
Royal Mail PDDP caps at 2kg, which is why most sellers shipping anything heavier than a couple of garments end up on UPS Worldwide Economy. For a precise figure on your parcel — including the duty for your HS code — run it through the live quote on the homepage. Thirty seconds, no account needed.
Transit, duty and the honest coverage line
UPS Worldwide Economy DDP delivers in 4–7 working days from drop-off. DDP means Delivered Duty Paid: since the US ended its $800 de minimis threshold, every UK parcel attracts import duty, and if you don't pre-pay it your buyer gets a brokerage fee plus the duty bill at the door — the single biggest source of one-star reviews for UK sellers right now. With DDP the duty is settled before the parcel leaves London, full stop.
Coverage, honestly stated: both services deliver to the 48 contiguous US states plus Washington DC only. No Alaska, no Hawaii, no US territories — those need a non-DDP service where the buyer pays duty on arrival. UPS also won't deliver to PO Boxes; Royal Mail PDDP will, via USPS.
Dropping off in London
No collection van to wait for. UPS Access Points are the corner shops, newsagents and dry cleaners you already walk past — over 5,000 nationally, and London has the densest stretch of the network, from zone 1 right out through the suburbs. When you book, the booking screen looks up the points nearest your postcode, so you can pick the one on your actual route rather than the one an algorithm thinks is closest. Hand the parcel over, get a receipt scan, done.
Booking Royal Mail PDDP instead? Any Post Office branch takes it — useful if your nearest counter is a Post Office rather than an Access Point.
What London sellers ship
The categories we see most from London postcodes:
- Fashion & accessories
- Design & homewares
- Vintage & resale
- Print & art
- Beauty & wellness
- Specialist food & drink
Each category lands on a different US duty rate — apparel and footwear sit high, printed matter low — so the same £30 parcel can carry quite different duty depending on what's inside. Our HS code lookup shows the rate for your product before you commit to pricing.
Sellers who've made the switch
"We can finally offer free US shipping on our dinosaur sculptures and still make margin. That wasn't possible before TradeWind."
— Rusted Banana founder, Rusted Banana
TradeWind is built by UK Etsy sellers — three Star Seller shops, 80,000+ verified reviews — and roughly half of our own parcels go to American buyers every week. We're a UPS-authorised reseller, not a broker stacking admin fees on top.
Ship your next London → USA parcel
Quote it in 30 seconds — weight, destination, declared value, done. No account or contract required to buy a label.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I drop off a UPS parcel in London?
At any UPS Access Point — there are over 5,000 across the UK, and in London they are typically corner shops, newsagents and dry cleaners, so most neighbourhoods have several within walking distance. When you book a label with TradeWind, the booking screen looks up the Access Points nearest your postcode before you pay. If you book Royal Mail PDDP instead, you drop off at any Post Office branch.
How long does a parcel from London take to reach the USA?
UPS Worldwide Economy DDP runs 4–7 working days from drop-off to delivery. The transit window is the same wherever in the UK you hand the parcel over — drop off earlier in the day to catch that day’s collection from the shop.
Will my American buyer have to pay customs charges?
No. Both services we sell are DDP (Delivered Duty Paid): the US import duty is calculated from your HS code and declared value and paid at checkout, before the parcel leaves London. Your buyer gets a normal tracked delivery with no invoice, no brokerage fee and no doorstep demand.
Can I ship from London to a PO Box, or to Alaska and Hawaii?
PO Boxes: not on UPS — UPS needs a street address — but Royal Mail PDDP delivers to PO Boxes via USPS, so book that service instead for those orders (it caps at 2kg). Alaska and Hawaii: neither DDP service covers them; both cover the 48 contiguous states plus Washington DC only. AK/HI parcels need a non-DDP service, which means your buyer pays the duty on delivery.