USPS, UPS and FedEx each publish their own international size and weight tables by country. Germany's is above; check the country you're sending to before you tape the box.
A suitcase against the mailing limit
Read 2026-08-18 from USPS's Individual Country Listing for Germany at pe.usps.com/text/imm/fh_011.htm: Priority Mail International parcels there top out at 70 lb, a maximum single-side length of 60 inches, and a maximum combined length and girth of 108 inches. USPS's general Priority Mail International page, read the same day, states the 70 lb ceiling applies broadly to packages sent by weight and warns that some destination countries set a lower limit than that.
| Measurement | This suitcase | Germany's limit |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 32 lb | 70 lb |
| Longest side | 30 in | 60 in |
| Length + girth | 96 in | 108 in |
That leaves 12 inches of headroom on length plus girth, which is not much once a soft-sided bag or an extra layer of packing tape is involved. A duffel stuffed round rather than packed flat can add several inches of girth without adding a pound, and girth is what a tape measure catches, not a bathroom scale.
The United Kingdom sets the same box, a different tax
The UK's own USPS country listing, read 2026-08-18 at pe.usps.com/text/imm/tz_018.htm, publishes the identical Priority Mail International shape ceiling as Germany at a lower weight, and a far tighter one on the express product. Where the two countries part company is tax, and that is the half most people shipping a case do not price in.
| Country | Product | Weight limit | Max length | Length plus girth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Priority Mail International | 70 lb | 60 in | 108 in |
| Germany | Priority Mail Express International | 66 lb | 60 in | 108 in |
| United Kingdom | Priority Mail International | 66 lb | 60 in | 108 in |
| United Kingdom | Priority Mail Express International | 66 lb | 36 in | 79 in |
A boxed checked case clears the slower product for either country without effort. It is the faster UK express tier that gets tight, at a 36 inch length ceiling — a large hard-shell case can miss that one while fitting the slower service with room left. On tax, the UK has collected VAT at the point of sale on goods valued at £135 or below since January 2021, and at the border on anything valued above that, per the same listing. Germany's route is different again: its blanket exemption for low-value imports ended in July 2021, with a narrow carve-out for gift parcels under 45 EUR sent between two private individuals. A case declared at a token value to duck either rule is a misdeclaration, and it also caps what the shipment's contents coverage is worth if something goes wrong on the way.
Packing a suitcase for the mail, not for a flight
Close it, don't strap it
A carrier's conveyor and sorting equipment expects a rigid closed box. Locked zippers and a luggage strap are fine for an airline, but a mail carrier treats an unboxed bag as a soft parcel and it takes more damage in transit than a taped carton would.
Weigh and measure sealed
Zip the case shut, lock it, then put it on the scale and the tape measure. A weight taken before packing the last sweater in is the number that gets corrected later, not the number on the label.
List what's inside, honestly
The customs form asks for contents and value. “Used personal clothing” at a realistic secondhand value is the accurate answer for most suitcases; guessing low to save on duty is what triggers a hold at the border, not a discount.
Where the EU's import charge does and doesn't reach
Our shipping to Europe page covers the European Union's flat three-euro duty and its VAT-from-the-first-cent rule in full, both read from the European Commission's own pages on 2026-08-07. Both rules are written around distance sales: a seller outside the Union shipping to a buyer inside it. A suitcase of your own clothes, mailed to yourself or a family member, is not that transaction on its face.
We have not independently confirmed a blanket personal-effects exemption for every EU member state, and country-level customs practice varies enough that a firm claim here would be guessing. Declare the suitcase honestly as used personal belongings with a realistic value, and if the shipment matters, ask the destination country's customs authority how they classify it before it ships rather than after it is held.
The domestic alternative: send it to whoever is flying
SMKlog issues United States domestic labels and sells two European lanes online, Germany and the United Kingdom, with the customs declaration completed before payment; every other European country is the same limit our luggage overseas page is built around. A route that does stay domestic: ship the suitcase ahead of you, or to whoever is flying, to an address near a major international gateway, so it crosses the ocean as checked baggage rather than as a mailed parcel. We priced exactly that on 2026-08-18: “28-inch hard-shell checked suitcase, packed with clothing”, 30 × 20 × 13 in at 32 lb, from Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 to the Jamaica, NY 11430 ZIP code that sits beside JFK.
| Carrier | Service | Price |
|---|---|---|
| UPS | Ground | $26.30 |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $33.22 |
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $35.48 |
| FedEx | Ground | $37.82 |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $48.30 |
No USPS rate came back for this box on this lane, so UPS and FedEx are the working pair for a suitcase this size domestically. Carrier pricing moves week to week and no two lanes match, so treat this as a worked example and price your own ZIP codes.
Where these rules come from
- USPS, Priority Mail International — the 70 lb general weight ceiling for packages sent by weight. Read 2026-08-18.
- USPS Postal Explorer, Individual Country Listing, Germany — 70 lb, 60 in maximum length, 108 in maximum length and girth for Priority Mail International; the 66 lb express ceiling, the July 2021 end of the low-value VAT exemption and the 45 EUR gift-parcel carve-out. Read 2026-08-18.
- USPS Postal Explorer, Individual Country Listing, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — the 66 lb Priority Mail International ceiling, the 36 in and 79 in express limits, and the £135 VAT threshold in force since January 2021. Read 2026-08-18.
Every EU member state publishes its own USPS country listing, and the figures differ; Germany's numbers above are not a stand-in for Italy's or Spain's. Check the listing for the actual destination before boxing a suitcase.
Common questions
How big of a suitcase can I mail to Europe?
For Germany, USPS Priority Mail International allows up to 70 lb and 108 inches of combined length and girth, with no single side over 60 inches, per the Postal Service's Individual Country Listing for Germany, read 2026-08-18. A 30 x 20 x 13 in suitcase comes to about 96 inches of length plus girth, inside that line. Other EU countries publish their own tables and some run lower.
Does USPS accept a full suitcase as Priority Mail International?
Yes, when it clears the destination country's weight and size table and is properly closed and labeled rather than shipped as a bare bag. USPS's general Priority Mail International page states packages sent by weight top out at 70 lb, read 2026-08-18, and country listings can set a lower ceiling than that.
What size suitcase can be mailed to the United Kingdom?
Up to 66 lb on Priority Mail International, with the same 60 inch length and 108 inch length-plus-girth ceiling Germany publishes, per the USPS Individual Country Listing for the United Kingdom read 2026-08-18. The faster Priority Mail Express International product caps far lower, at 36 inches of length and 79 inches combined, so a large hard-shell case can fit the slower service and miss the express one.
Do I have to pay VAT sending a suitcase to the UK?
Usually. Since January 2021 the UK has collected VAT at the point of sale on goods valued at £135 or below, and at the border on anything valued above that, per the USPS country listing read 2026-08-18. The listing carries no separate carve-out for a used personal suitcase, so declare a realistic secondhand value and expect the charge rather than a waiver.
Is a suitcase of used clothes taxed the same as an online order shipped to Europe?
Not necessarily, and it is worth checking before assuming either way. The flat EU duty and the VAT-from-the-first-cent rule on our shipping to Europe page are aimed at distance sales, a seller shipping to a buyer, not at a person mailing their own used belongings. We have not confirmed a blanket exemption for personal effects, so check the classification with the destination country's customs authority rather than guess at the border.
What's the alternative to mailing a suitcase overseas?
Send it domestically to whoever is flying out of a major US gateway, so it travels the ocean as checked baggage rather than as an international parcel. We priced a 32 lb suitcase-sized box from Berkeley Heights, NJ to the Jamaica, NY ZIP code that sits by JFK on 2026-08-18: $26.30 to $48.30 across five domestic services.
What does it cost to ship a suitcase-sized box domestically?
$26.30 to $48.30 in our own capture: a 30 x 20 x 13 in box at 32 lb, Berkeley Heights, NJ to Jamaica, NY, quoted 2026-08-18. UPS Ground was cheapest; no USPS rate came back for a box this size on this lane, so ground with UPS or FedEx is the realistic domestic pair for a suitcase this large.