Evri (formerly Hermes) parcel labels in bulk: size and weight limits, ParcelShop, and batch imports

First, the question that dominates search: Evri is the company formerly known as Hermes. It was renamed in 2022; the network, drop-off points and account system are the same. So "Hermes ParcelShop" in older material and "Evri ParcelShop" today mean the same thing.

For UK sellers, Evri’s position is clear: light parcels, price first. Its drop-off and locker network is dense and per-parcel cost on that class of orders is frequently better than Royal Mail. The trade-off is that its size and weight rules are relatively strict, and parcels that breach them get stopped at handover—which is exactly where bulk shipping goes wrong.

Three hard limits: 15kg, 120cm, 245cm

Maximum weight is 15kg. That is the overall ceiling; above it, Evri is the wrong carrier.

Maximum length is 120cm for ParcelShop or courier services.

Combined volume must come in under 245cm. This is the one that catches people: add the two shortest dimensions, multiply by two, then add the length—the result needs to be below 245cm. Which means a box where no single side breaches a limit can still be rejected for being too bulky overall. This calculation belongs in your system’s validation rules, not in a packer’s judgement.

Lockers have their own, smaller limits: 62cm × 39cm × 57cm. If locker drop-off is part of your flow, that is the real constraint—do not apply the 120cm figure to it.

Do not ignore the letterbox tier

Evri has a postable tier for letterbox-friendly parcels: maximum 35cm long, 23cm wide and 3cm deep (with a minimum depth of 1cm). Parcels in this tier do not need anyone home—they go straight through the letterbox, which raises first-attempt success and lowers cost.

For sellers of accessories, jewellery, phone cases or cosmetics samples, this tier is badly underused: repackaging the same product flat so it lands in this tier reduces both per-parcel cost and failed-delivery rate at the same time. It is worth a deliberate packaging review rather than defaulting every order into the same box.

Choosing between the three handover methods

ParcelShop drop-off: take parcels to a partner convenience store or newsagent. Dense coverage and long opening hours make this the most flexible option—fine from a few parcels a day up to a few dozen.

Locker: available around the clock, independent of shop hours, but constrained by the locker dimensions above.

Courier collection: a driver collects from you. At volume this is the only sensible choice—once you are shipping at scale, the hour a day spent on drop-off runs costs more than the rate difference you were protecting.

One practical caveat: some locations support printing on site (Print In ParcelShop) or accepting a QR code instead of a printed label, but availability and how long a code stays valid vary by location. Check Evri’s current published guidance rather than assuming every location supports it. For regular volume, printing your own thermal labels remains the more predictable route.

Bulk: CSV, platform integrations and API

An Evri business account supports importing orders from channels such as Amazon, eBay and Etsy, and uploading by CSV, with integrations into tools including Shopify and Linnworks; for teams with developers, Evri also offers an API. So producing hundreds of labels in one pass is perfectly feasible on the Evri side.

The problem appears when you run more than one carrier. If you use Royal Mail and Evri together, you have two portals, two import formats and two results files—every day someone moves orders between systems and writes two sets of tracking numbers back into your own. The larger the volume, the more time this glue work consumes, and none of it produces value.

Where Evri wins, and when not to use it

Honestly: Evri is not the better choice everywhere. Its advantage concentrates on light, small, price-sensitive parcels where timing is flexible. Once parcels get heavier or bulkier, or once customers expect firm delivery timing and certainty, Royal Mail—or Parcelforce for oversized items—is usually the better fit.

Which makes "Evri or Royal Mail" the wrong question. The right question is which carrier for this order. Within one store, routing accessories through Evri and larger items through Royal Mail is an entirely normal split.

At volume: auto-compare the UK carriers in one pass

The ShipCay approach on UK lanes: import orders once via CSV or API, connect directly to Evri, Royal Mail and other carriers to batch-create official labels, auto-compare every order and print at the lowest rate, then pay for the batch in one go with labels merged into a single PDF and tracking synced back automatically—no shuttling data between two carrier portals. From US$1 per label on UK lanes, with carrier freight billed separately.

The size checks above (15kg, 120cm, the 245cm combined figure, locker dimensions) can also run before labels are produced, so parcels that would be rejected are caught before printing rather than at the drop-off counter.

Common questions

Are Hermes and Evri the same company? Yes. Hermes was renamed Evri in 2022; the network and account system carried over.

What is the heaviest parcel Evri takes? 15kg. Above that, switch carriers rather than splitting into more boxes—each box is charged separately, so splitting is not automatically cheaper.

Why was my parcel oversized when no single side breached a limit? Almost certainly the combined figure: the two shortest dimensions added together, multiplied by two, plus the length, must come in under 245cm.

Is Evri always cheaper than Royal Mail? No. Usually on light parcels; often not once items get heavier or bulkier, or when delivery certainty matters. Committing to one carrier means overpaying on one side or the other—comparing per order is the fix.

Do I need a business account to ship in bulk? For regular volume, yes. Business accounts support channel and CSV imports, and rates relate to volume; check Evri’s current published terms for thresholds and pricing.