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Did you know Royal Mail’s Parcel Collect can send your phone to a recycler? We guide you through booking a collection step by step.
Written by Antonia, Head of Marketing | Consumer Electronics and Money-Saving
Last updated on 26 March 2026
Parcel Collect is Royal Mail’s new collection service that can be booked online. Royal Mail will send a mail carrier to your address to collect your device. This is a quick and cost effective way to get your phone collected without the need for you to go to your local post office.
When placing your order to sell your device, the majority of recyclers will have two postage options for you to choose from - Postage Pack or Postage Label.
Both of these options will provide you with a postage-paid label. The label will be either sent to your address with a trade-in pack or to your email as an attachment or via a link to generate the label on a dedicated Royal Mail page. The label will have its unique tracking reference which is what you need to book a collection through Royal Mail’s Parcel Collect service.
If you have requested a trade-in pack to be sent to your address, you’ll need to wait until it arrives with the label, then you’ll be able to book your collection with Royal Mail.
If you’ve chosen to receive only the label and use your own packaging, you can book the collection using the provided label whenever you’re ready. Please note that you will need to print the label and attach it to the packaging you’re using before the collection takes place.
Using the provided postage-paid label, the collection through Royal Mail is free of charge.
Once you have the postage label, follow these steps to book your collection with Royal Mail:
After you’ve booked the collection, you need to prepare your device for sale (take a look at our guide here and put your device in the pack you've received or purchased yourself. Please keep in mind that if you're using your own packaging, the pre-paid postage label needs to be printed out and attached to the packaging).
Then, when the mail carrier arrives at your address, all you need to do is give them your parcel, and they will do the rest.
We recommend posting high value devices to the recycler via Royal Mail Special Delivery (or any alternative tracked service) as this keeps your parcel fully insured.
You can purchase the Special Delivery postage online from Royal Mail and follow the same steps we discussed above. Just make sure to use the tracking reference from the Special Delivery label you’ve purchased to book your collection.
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