If you think your parcel is standard, make sure the carrier agrees with you. Despite appearances, the term non-standard doesn't only cover bizarre or rare items - for the courier industry a non-standard parcel is simply one that cannot be processed by an automated sorter.
Every parcel collected from your door goes to a sortation hub, where high-speed sorters route it to the correct destination region. The process is heavily automated and continuously monitored. Parcels that, because of their shape, packaging or size, can't ride safely on the belts and chutes have to be sorted by hand. Hub operators won't risk a single parcel jamming the line and stopping thousands of others per hour.
The three reasons your parcel will most often be reclassified:
1. Shape
Round, oval or cylindrical parcels (tubes, drums, rolls of fabric) can roll back down the conveyor belts instead of climbing them, or roll off a chute and collide with other parcels. Boxes with irregular edges - or even slight protrusions - can snag and jam between the gaps in the sorter rollers. If even one face of the cardboard isn't flat, or it's curved, dented or rounded, the parcel is reclassified as non-standard.
2. Type or method of packaging
Senders often wrap their parcels in plastic or stretch film because, from their point of view, it feels safe and convenient - it reduces the risk of tearing, protects against damp and lets you bundle several items together. The downside is deformation: tight wrapping in uneven layers creates bulges and protruding edges that restrict movement. The parcel can then jam and block the line, for example by getting wound into the rotating rollers that turn and move parcels along the sorter.
Stretch film also has a defining characteristic: it's tacky. Anything wrapped in it has extra grip on the belt surface, which prevents it sliding freely on the conveyor or sliding down chutes. Instead of moving along, it stays put and blocks every parcel travelling behind it. What feels convenient for you can be a real obstacle for the carrier.
3. Dimensions and weight
To be sorted automatically a parcel must physically fit on the sorter. Belts and chutes have a fixed width and a maximum permissible load. That's why every carrier publishes its own dimensional and weight envelope for standard parcels - anything outside that envelope is non-standard by definition.
Because non-standard parcels can't be processed automatically, they need a person to handle them - which means more labour and higher cost. That is why the price of a non-standard shipment is higher than a standard one.
If a carrier verifies your parcel after pick-up and finds that you declared the wrong shape, packaging or dimensions - and as a result paid less than the service should have cost - you will receive a price correction to bring the cost in line with the published tariff.
When you place an order on our site, the system automatically checks whether the values you've entered qualify the parcel as non-standard and shows the correct price for what you've declared. When you describe the shape and packaging method, remember: if your parcel has even one of the characteristics above, it is non-standard.