Sending your device

Getting it here in one piece

Most of what goes wrong with a mail-in repair goes wrong in the post, not on the bench. Twenty minutes of packing is the difference between a straightforward job and a damage claim — so here is exactly what we'd do in your position.

1. What to send

  • ✓ The device itself and nothing else
  • ✓ No controllers, cables, stands, discs or docks unless we've asked
  • ✓ Take out game cards, discs and memory cards
  • ✓ Power it down fully — asleep isn't off
  • ✓ Laptops and handhelds: leave the battery in, it travels better fitted than loose

2. Packing it

  • ✓ Original box is ideal; otherwise a sturdy double-walled box
  • ✓ Bubble wrap the device, then pad the box so nothing shifts when you shake it
  • ✓ Put something rigid over any screen so nothing can press on it
  • ✓ Tape every seam
  • ✓ Write FRAGILE — HANDLE WITH CARE in capitals on the outside. This isn't fussiness: couriers can refuse a damage claim without it

3. Put a note in the box

Handwritten is fine. It means your device never becomes an anonymous parcel on the bench:

  • ✓ Your name, full return address, mobile number and email
  • ✓ One line describing the fault, or what you want doing

4. Posting it

  • ✓ Royal Mail, from any Post Office — see why below
  • ✓ Pick a service with enough cover for what the device is worth
  • ✓ Mention at the counter if there's a lithium battery fitted. It's perfectly allowed, and declaring it protects your claim
  • ✓ Keep your receipt until the device is back with you
  • ✓ Send us the tracking number once it's gone

What postage costs

Our prices are for the work only. Postage is charged at cost, with no margin on it, and the exact figure is confirmed with your price before you send anything.

It's quoted separately because it isn't one number. The right service is set by what the device is worth, not what it weighs — £750 of cover to return a £70 console wastes most of what the job was worth, and sending a £1,500 graphics card back on £75 of cover leaves you badly exposed if it goes missing. Rolling an average into every price would mean PS4 owners subsidising high-end GPU owners.

Device Service Rough cost Cover
PS3, PS4, Xbox One, older Switch Royal Mail Tracked 48 around £9–10 £75 of cover included
PS5, Series X, graphics cards, laptops, Steam Deck, OLED Switch Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm around £22 £750 of cover included
High-end graphics cards, gaming laptops, anything over £750 Special Delivery with upgraded cover around £32 up to £2,500 of cover

Guide prices only, last checked October 2026. Royal Mail reprices roughly twice a year, so treat these as the shape of it rather than a quote — yours comes in writing before you post anything.

Why Royal Mail

Because most of the alternatives won't pay out on electronics. Parcelforce excludes computer monitors, laptop screens, all-in-one desktops and TVs from damage compensation. Evri excludes internal damage to electronics outright, along with anything with fragile or glass parts. The broker sites — Parcel2Go, ParcelMonkey, InterParcel — routinely exclude electricals from their bundled cover.

Royal Mail's exclusions are about prohibited items, valuables sent on the wrong service and inadequate packaging — not a blanket electronics carve-out. That's the whole reason we recommend them.

Who carries the risk

The journey to us is at your own risk, which is why we'd rather you spent a few pounds more on cover than save it. Use a tracked service, insure it for what the device is actually worth, and keep the receipt until it's back in your hands.

The return journey is ours to arrange — insured, tracked and booked at the level your device warrants.

One thing worth knowing: screens are the hardest damage claim to win on any carrier. Pack so nothing can press on a Switch, Steam Deck or laptop display, and don't assume a cracked screen gets paid out.

Get a price and the postal address

Nothing gets posted until you've got a confirmed price, the postage cost and the address in writing.