How much does it cost to send a parcel within Italy?
Sending a parcel within Italy with Poste Delivery Standard costs from EUR 10.30 up to 3 kilograms to EUR 18.30 up to 20, but only if the box fits the standard format. A parcel outside that format costs exactly five euros more in every band, from EUR 15.30 to EUR 23.30.
Verifiable answer
Sending a parcel within Italy with Poste Delivery Standard costs from EUR 10.30 up to 3 kilograms to EUR 18.30 up to 20, but only if the box fits the standard format. A parcel outside that format costs exactly five euros more in every band, from EUR 15.30 to EUR 23.30.
- How much does it cost to send a parcel within Italy?
- €14.30 / parcel
- €10.30 – €23
- Italy
- 22 July 2026
- Confidence: High
- Carriage and tracked delivery of the parcel anywhere in the country; Poste restante and PO box delivery, which the provider states are included in the price; Return to sender after a failed delivery, also included; An acceptance receipt with the code for following the shipment
- Insurance of the contents, charged separately; Cash on delivery and the return receipt, both paid optional services; Packaging, tape and protective material, none of which has a list price; Collection from your address, included only in prepaid booklets and not in a single shipment; Shipments above twenty kilograms and shipments abroad, which use different services
- The weight of the parcel, across four bands up to twenty kilograms; The format, standard or non-standard, worth a flat five euros; Whether the contents are insured; Whether cash on delivery or a return receipt is added; The choice between a single shipment and a prepaid booklet for frequent senders
- 2 sources
Official price versus real cost
Official price
€10.30
/ parcel
Difference+€2.58 (+25%)
Real cost
€12.88
€10.30 – €26
The EUR 10.30 figure is correct but holds in one precise case: a parcel up to three kilograms in a box that fits the standard format dimensions. Outside that case the price moves in two ways. The first is format: a non-standard item pays five euros more in every band, so the same three-kilo parcel becomes EUR 15.30, almost fifty per cent more, and the dimensions are checked at the counter — that is, after the mental estimate has already been made. The second is optional services: insuring the contents costs EUR 2.58 and becomes close to unavoidable when sending something you have sold, taking the typical bill to EUR 12.88. The opposite deserves saying too, because it is equally little known: poste restante, PO box delivery and return to sender are included in the price and should not be counted as extras.
Short answer
The price of a domestic parcel turns on two variables rather than one: weight, which everybody considers, and format, which almost nobody checks and which is worth a flat five euros in every band.
People sending a parcel within Italy think about weight, because it is the intuitive variable and the one every comparison highlights. The Poste Delivery Standard tariff, though, has two dimensions: four weight bands up to twenty kilograms and two format categories, standard and non-standard. The difference between the two is exactly five euros in each band, which means a two-kilo parcel that falls outside the standard format costs EUR 15.30 rather than EUR 10.30 — almost fifty per cent more — while an eighteen-kilo item costs EUR 23.30 rather than EUR 18.30, twenty-seven per cent more. The surcharge is identical in absolute terms but crushing in percentage terms on exactly the small parcels people send most often, and for which nobody is likely to have measured the box. There is an equally little-known point in the opposite direction: several services that look like extras are already included in the price, from poste restante to return to sender after a failed delivery, and paying for them or fearing them is a symmetrical mistake. This guide publishes the whole tariff rather than just its two ends.
What is included
- Carriage and tracked delivery of the parcel anywhere in the country
- Poste restante and PO box delivery, which the provider states are included in the price
- Return to sender after a failed delivery, also included
- An acceptance receipt with the code for following the shipment
What is not included
- Insurance of the contents, charged separately
- Cash on delivery and the return receipt, both paid optional services
- Packaging, tape and protective material, none of which has a list price
- Collection from your address, included only in prepaid booklets and not in a single shipment
- Shipments above twenty kilograms and shipments abroad, which use different services
How the price breaks down
| Item | Type | Frequency | Minimum | Typical | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard format, 0 to 3 kilogramsThe lowest band and the figure quoted whenever someone says a parcel within Italy costs a little over ten euros. It applies only if the box falls within the standard format dimensions. | Compulsory | one-off | — | €10.30 | — |
| Standard format, 3 to 5 kilogramsA little under two euros above the lowest band. | Optional | one-off | — | €12.20 | — |
| Standard format, 5 to 10 kilogramsThe typical band for a partial move or a private sale. | Optional | one-off | — | €14.30 | — |
| Standard format, 10 to 20 kilogramsThe top of the service in standard format: twenty kilograms. | Optional | one-off | — | €18.30 | — |
| Non-standard format, 0 to 3 kilogramsSame weight, five euros more: almost a fifty per cent surcharge for a box that exceeds the permitted dimensions. It is the item that ruins estimates made by eye. | Optional | one-off | — | €15.30 | — |
| Non-standard format, higher bandsFrom EUR 17.20 between 3 and 5 kilograms to EUR 23.30 between 10 and 20. The surcharge over the standard format stays at exactly five euros in every band. | Optional | one-off | €17.20 | €17.20 | €23 |
| Insurance of the contentsCovers the value of the goods carried up to EUR 1,032.91. It is the optional service most worth adding when sending something sold online. | Optional | one-off | — | €2.58 | — |
| Cash on delivery and return receiptCash on delivery costs between EUR 1.05 and EUR 3.05 depending on how the money is to be received. The return receipt costs EUR 1.05. Poste restante, PO box delivery and return to sender are included in the price. | Optional | one-off | €1.05 | €1.05 | €3.05 |
What the price depends on
- The weight of the parcel, across four bands up to twenty kilograms
- The format, standard or non-standard, worth a flat five euros
- Whether the contents are insured
- Whether cash on delivery or a return receipt is added
- The choice between a single shipment and a prepaid booklet for frequent senders
Hidden costs
- The five euro surcharge for non-standard format, which nobody checks before reaching the counter and which is worth almost fifty per cent on small parcels
- Packaging bought specially, when a box found at home is unsuitable or exceeds the standard format dimensions
- Insurance, which becomes effectively compulsory when sending something sold online and adds EUR 2.58
- Queueing and travel, since collection from your address is not included in a single shipment
- A second shipment at your own cost when the parcel comes back for a wrong address, even though the return itself is free
Three realistic scenarios
Economy scenario
€10.30
A parcel up to three kilograms in a box that fits the standard format, with no optional services: EUR 10.30. This is the case where the advertised figure and the amount paid coincide.
Typical scenario
€12.88
The same parcel up to three kilograms in standard format, with insurance added because the item was sold online: EUR 10.30 of tariff plus EUR 2.58 of insurance, EUR 12.88 in all.
Premium scenario
€26
An item between ten and twenty kilograms that exceeds the standard format dimensions, with insurance: EUR 23.30 of tariff plus EUR 2.58, EUR 25.88, two and a half times the lowest price of the service.
How to spend less
- Measure the box, not just its weight: staying inside the standard format is worth exactly five euros, which on a three-kilo parcel is almost half the tariff.
- Strip out unnecessary packaging before sealing the box: a smaller box can keep you inside the standard format for the same contents.
- Do not pay for services already included: poste restante, PO box delivery and return to sender carry no extra charge according to the provider.
- Add the EUR 2.58 insurance only when the contents are worth appreciably more than that: below about fifty euros of value it rarely pays.
- If you send regularly, look at prepaid booklets, which according to Poste also include the home collection that a single shipment does not.
- Weigh the parcel sealed and packed before leaving: the step between 3 and 5 kilograms is worth EUR 1.90 and the one between 5 and 10 is worth EUR 2.10, and packaging weight is easy to underestimate.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost to send a 2 kilogram parcel within Italy?
It falls in the 0 to 3 kilogram band, which costs EUR 10.30 with Poste Delivery Standard if the box respects the standard format dimensions. If the box exceeds them, the same two-kilo parcel costs EUR 15.30: five euros more, almost fifty per cent. That is why it is worth measuring the box rather than only weighing it, and it is the difference most often missing from comparisons published elsewhere.
What is the difference between standard and non-standard format?
The price, by exactly five euros in each of the four weight bands. Standard format costs EUR 10.30, 12.20, 14.30 and 18.30 as weight rises; non-standard costs EUR 15.30, 17.20, 19.30 and 23.30. The distinction concerns the dimensions of the parcel and is checked when the item is accepted, not when it is packed at home. In percentage terms the surcharge weighs far more heavily on light parcels, which are also the most common.
Which optional services are charged and which are included?
According to the provider you pay for insurance of the contents, EUR 2.58 for values up to EUR 1,032.91, for the return receipt at EUR 1.05, and for cash on delivery, between EUR 1.05 and EUR 3.05 depending on how you want the money. Included in the shipping price are poste restante, PO box delivery and return to sender after a failed delivery. Collection from your address is included only in prepaid booklets, not in a single shipment.
Does the price depend on the distance between sender and recipient?
No. The Poste Delivery Standard tariff is national and has no zones: a parcel sent within the same province costs the same as one sent from one end of the country to the other, islands included. The only variables are weight and format. Delivery times can vary with destination, but the amount payable does not. This is an important difference from international shipping, where the destination zone is the principal variable.
What is the weight limit?
Poste Delivery Standard reaches twenty kilograms, the top of the last band. Above that you need a different service with its own tariff, and private-to-private sending quickly becomes poor value against a specialist courier. It is worth remembering that the weight that counts is the parcel sealed and packed: protective material weighs something, and underestimating it is the commonest way of landing in the next band without meaning to.
Is the EUR 2.58 insurance worth it?
It depends on the value of the contents. The insurance covers the goods carried up to EUR 1,032.91 and costs EUR 2.58, roughly a quarter of the lowest tariff. On something worth a few tens of euros it rarely makes sense, because the premium bites too hard on the sum insured. On an item sold online, where the sender remains liable to the buyer if it is lost, it is almost always the most rational spending in the whole shipment.
Sources and methodology
How we worked it out
The eight tariff amounts, four for the standard format and four for the non-standard one, were read on 22 July 2026 from the official Poste Delivery Standard page. The prices of the optional services come from a second official page from the same provider, opened the same day, which also establishes which services are already included: poste restante, PO box delivery and return to sender are not charged. The typical real cost is a stated sum of two tariff items, minimum band plus insurance, not an estimate. Prepaid booklet rates are excluded, since Poste publishes them in a separate document we did not open, as are private couriers, whose commercial rates vary and cannot be compared band by band. Packaging is excluded because it has no list price.
Why this confidence level
High confidence: every amount comes from two official pages belonging to the provider, read in full on the day of publication, and concerns a published tariff that is uniform across the country. Confidence is not at the maximum for one stated reason: the prepaid booklet tariff is published by Poste in a separate document we did not open, so this guide holds for single shipments rather than for volume senders. Packaging cost is not quantified because no list price exists, and we would rather leave it out than introduce an invented figure.
Standard format from EUR 10.30 to EUR 18.30 and non-standard format from EUR 15.30 to EUR 23.30, across four weight bands up to 20 kilograms
Poste Delivery Standard — tariffe per formato e scaglione di peso (opens in a new tab)
Poste Italiane · Official tariff · Verified on 22 July 2026
Poste Italiane's official page, opened on 22 July 2026. It is the source of all eight amounts in this guide. The distinction between standard and non-standard format, worth five euros in every band, is published on the same page but almost never appears in third-party summaries: it is the main reason this record was rewritten.
Authority5/5
Insurance at EUR 2.58 for values up to EUR 1,032.91, return receipt at EUR 1.05, cash on delivery from EUR 1.05 to EUR 3.05, poste restante and return to sender included
Servizi accessori di Poste Delivery Standard (opens in a new tab)
Poste Italiane · Official tariff · Verified on 22 July 2026
A second official page checked to establish which optional services are genuinely charged and which are already included. It guards against the opposite of the usual error: inflating the real cost with items that in fact cost nothing, such as poste restante and return to sender.
Authority5/5
Revision history
First published on 22 July 2026 with the full tariff read from the official Poste Italiane pages. The four non-standard format prices, the EUR 2.58 insurance and the list of already-included services were added, none of which appeared in the earlier record, which carried only two standard-format amounts.
- 22 July 2026
- 22 July 2026
- 5 September 2026
What did you actually pay?
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