The problem on a busy delivery day
One parcel is easy. You open the tracking page, see the option, pick a shop and you are done. The trouble starts when six orders from three retailers are all heading to the same address in the same week.
Royal Mail only offers the option once it actually has the parcel, and that moment is different for every item. A dispatch email is not the same as Royal Mail having it. So you end up refreshing tracking pages through the evening, and the one you forget is the one that turns up while you are out, gets carded, and goes back to the delivery office.
Every parcel also asks for the delivery postcode to prove you are the recipient. Retype it wrong a few times and Royal Mail can lock the option for that parcel. On a night with a dozen tracking numbers, that is an easy mistake to make.
How Royal Mail redirection to a Post Office works
This is the option Royal Mail gives the recipient of a tracked parcel, and it works the same for every customer. It is worth knowing the rules before you rely on it.
- It is for tracked parcels. Untracked letters and large letters cannot be redirected this way.
- The option appears once Royal Mail has the parcel in its network, not when the retailer says it has shipped.
- You confirm you are the recipient with the tracking number and the postcode the sender used.
- You choose a nearby Post Office or Parcel Shop and a collection day from the ones offered.
- Take photo ID and the tracking number when you collect. The shop holds the parcel for a limited time before it is returned to the sender.
- Some senders and some services do not allow it, so the option will not show on every parcel.
What you get with Minted
The redirect booked for you
Choose the shop for a parcel and Minted books the redirect as soon as Royal Mail allows it. You do not need to be awake for it.
A shop saved per area
On the Pro plan you can set a rule for a postcode area. Royal Mail parcels to that area go to your saved shop without you touching them.
Backup shops
A postcode rule can hold a second and third choice. If your first shop cannot take the parcel, the next one is used.
The postcode kept with the parcel
The delivery postcode stays attached to the parcel, so nobody retypes it at midnight.
A message when it is booked
You get a notification in Minted, and in Discord if you have connected it, with the shop the parcel is going to.
One list for everything
Redirected or not, the parcel stays on your tracker with its latest status next to all your other couriers.
Who it is for
Anyone in the UK who gets more Royal Mail parcels than they can be home for. It is built around resellers, because that is who has the problem at its worst.
- Resellers with several orders landing at one address in the same week.
- People who work days and cannot wait in for a delivery.
- Anyone using a family or work address who would rather collect than have a pile left on the step.
- Small sellers who want every parcel collected in one trip.
What you need
- A Minted membership. Redirects are included on every paid plan, and postcode rules are part of Pro. The pricing page has the details.
- The tracking number and the delivery postcode for each parcel.
- A Post Office or Parcel Shop you are happy to collect from.
- Photo ID for when you collect.
Read more: Royal Mail tracking statuses explained and redirecting Royal Mail parcels before they reach you.
