Can I ship perfume, food, liquids, cards or branded goods?
Rules for the items customers ask about most: cards, e-cigarettes, food, tea, liquids and cosmetics, perfume, medicine, jewelry and precious metals, branded goods. Plus how to check an item before you buy.
It depends on the warehouse and the carrier. The table below sums up the rules for the items customers ask about most. The full lists for each warehouse are in Prohibited and restricted items.
The rules for common items
| Item | What applies |
|---|---|
| Cards (bank, credit, SIM, gift cards) | Many couriers, including FedEx, don't take cards. The UK warehouse can't ship cash, but most carriers there, for example Evri or Royal Mail, take bank, credit and debit cards. The China warehouse can't ship bank cards. Hong Kong Post (from Hong Kong) or Czech Post (from the Czech Republic and Germany) can usually take them, sent as a parcel. See Why is my envelope priced as a parcel? |
| E-cigarettes, vaporizers, nicotine products | Carriers don't accept them, even without a battery, and the Hong Kong warehouse can't receive them. |
| Food | Meat and perishable food are prohibited everywhere. The UK warehouse ships packaged food, mainly with UPS or FedEx, and the Czech and German warehouses send no food to the UK. No food can be sent to the USA from any warehouse. The China warehouse ships no food. |
| Tea | The China warehouse can't ship tea. The Hong Kong warehouse ships only retail-packed tea, not loose-leaf tea. The Czech, German and UK warehouses can ship tea. |
| Liquids, creams, cosmetics | Restricted at the China warehouse. From the UK warehouse they ship with UPS or FedEx, not Evri. Elsewhere it depends on the carrier: see Liquid in the calculator. Perfumes, fragrances and aftershaves can't go by air from any warehouse; the Czech, German and UK warehouses can ship them by ground. |
| Medicines | Restricted at the China and Hong Kong warehouses, prohibited at the UK warehouse. From the Czech Republic or Germany, Czech Post may take a medicine that is allowed in the destination country. Ask us first. |
| Jewelry and precious metals | From the UK warehouse, jewelry, precious metals, coins and stamps ship mainly with UPS or FedEx. From the other warehouses, jewelry can go where the destination country allows it. Precious metals ship without insurance from every warehouse. Full insurance covers coins only if they are lost, not if they are damaged. See Shipping insurance explained. |
| Branded goods | Restricted at the China warehouse, and Apple and Samsung phones can't be shipped from there at all. Some carriers don't take famous brands; in the calculator they show Leading brands under No. Ask us before you buy branded phones in China. Apple and Samsung phones can be shipped from Hong Kong. |
How to check an item before you buy
- Find out which warehouse the seller will ship to. See Which Tiptrans warehouse should I use?
- Look up the item on the Prohibited and Restricted Items page, in the All Warehouses lists and in the lists for your warehouse.
- Check that your destination country allows the item.
- Enter the warehouse, destination, weight and size in the shipping cost calculator. Under each service, No and Yes show whether it takes a Stand-alone battery, a Built-in battery and Liquid. Leading brands under No means it doesn't take famous brands.
- If you're still not sure, ask us before you buy.
Very large items may be too big for the warehouse to receive or ship. See Oversize packages, pallets and freight.
When you ask, send everything in one message through Contact us, so we can answer without follow-up questions:
- the warehouse and the destination country
- a product link or a screenshot of the seller's page, and a photo of the item
- the dimensions, the weight and the number of pieces
- the carrier you want, if you know it
- batteries: whether there is a battery inside and what type
- power banks: the brand, power rating, capacity and a photo
- liquids: what the liquid is, a photo and the weight
- chemicals: the type of chemical and a screenshot of the seller's page