Prohibited items
Some products are prohibited for transportation through our services, these items are classified as hazardous items or dangerous goods.
The Vehicle Certification Agency defines Dangerous Goods (known in the United States as hazardous materials) as “pure chemicals, mixtures of substances, manufactured products or articles which can pose a risk to people, animals or the environment if not properly handled in use or in transport.”
The items classified under this category may not be dangerous in their day to day use but the can become dangerous when they are exposed to unusual movement, changes in temperature, and variations in atmospheric pressure. Anything that can cause harm to those transporting the items must be correctly labelled as dangerous goods.
To avoid any incidents, all couriers have a list of items that they refuse to ship. This prevents any delays whilst your shipment is in transit and helps to avoid any legal issues as well.
When a company ships its own goods to a particular destination, they will know if they are transporting dangerous goods, as they physically see their package. Unlike online resellers who often pick up the packages from many different sources trusting on the person sending these packages to know what they're shipping and to respect the rules, regulations and laws of the country where they are sending their parcel to.
We generally advise customers to follow a three point rule to keep it simple:
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Make sure you know exactly what is included in your shipment.
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Crosscheck with your couriers prohibited items list.
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If still in doubt, contact the customer service team and explain exactly what you're attempting to send.
Many of us often do not realise that the goods we're planning on sending are classified as prohibited for transport.
We have listed a few items with a brief description to avoid disappointments whilst shipping, some of which are listed below:
Loose Lithium Batteries
Shipping lithium batteries is dangerous, if these highly flammable items are exposed to certain conditions, they have the potential to overheat and explode. Disturbingly, lithium fires cannot be extinguished.
Aerosols
The dictionary defines this as "a substance enclosed under pressure and released as a fine spray by means of a propellant gas" hence, identifying this as dangerous goods due to the fact that this could explode if exposed to temperatures exceeding 52°C.
Perfume
Perfume is one of the most common goods that are sent by the couriers that end up destroyed or returned – If you ship perfume, it will be returned or destroyed. In this case, perfumes include aftershaves and any other fragrances. Generally, perfume contains large amounts of alcohol which is classified as a flammable commodity.
Related information:
How to send a parcel
Prohibited and restricted items list