UK Courier Shipping for Knife Sharpening by Post
Blade & Butler provides a convenient nationwide courier service for customers sending kitchen knives to us for professional sharpening and repair.
Our postal sharpening service is designed to make sending and receiving knives straightforward wherever you live in the UK.
Knives should be securely packaged following our packing instructions before being sent using the appropriate courier service.
We offer different shipping options, including insured services up to £1000 for customers sending particularly valuable knives.
Once sharpening, repairs and quality control are complete, your knives are carefully repackaged and returned directly to your door, providing access to professional knife sharpening without needing a local sharpening service.
Which Courier should you choose
We'll give you all the information you need to make your decision
Shipping Options, Prices & Delivery Times
We offer four shipping options.
All prices include all three shipping journeys and the protective packaging needed to send your knives safely.
We offer four shipping options. All prices include all three shipping journeys and the protective packaging needed to send your knives safely.
| Shipping Option | Delivery Time | Insurance | Total Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPD 350 | Next working day | Up to £350 | £19.99 |
| DPD 1000 | Next working day | Up to £1,000 | £25.99 |
| Evri Standard | 2–5 working days | Up to £20 | £8.99 |
| Evri Free Shipping | 2–5 working days | Up to £20 | FREE — 7 knives or more |
How Long Does Knife Sharpening by Post Take?
Our service involves three shipping journeys and approximately one working day in our workshop. The delivery time quoted by your courier applies to each journey, not the entire sharpening process.
1. We Send Your Empty Knife Box
We process and dispatch your protective knife box on the next working day after you order.
All empty boxes are sent by Evri, regardless of your chosen return courier, and usually arrive within 2–5 working days after dispatch.
You keep your knives during this stage. If your box hasn't arrived after five working days in transit, please contact us.
2. You Send Your Knives to Our Workshop
Once your box arrives, securely pack your knives and take it to your selected courier's ParcelShop.
Estimated delivery times from courier collection:
- DPD: 1 working day.
- Evri: 2–5 working days.
We recommend dropping off your parcel early. If you miss the day's collection, your shipment may be delayed until the next collection.
3. We Sharpen and Return Your Knives
We aim to sharpen your knives within one working day of receiving them and dispatch them the following working day.
Your sharpened knives are returned using your selected courier:
- DPD: Next-working-day delivery after collection.
- Evri: 2–5 working days after collection.
Understanding Your Total Turnaround Time
Your time without your knives begins when you hand them to the courier and ends when they arrive back with you. This includes both knife shipments and our workshop processing time.
The complete order-to-return timeframe also includes delivery of your empty box and any time you take before sending your knives.
All delivery estimates refer to working days. Our stated courier delivery times are achieved approximately 99% of the time, but they are guides rather than guaranteed arrival dates.
Important Shipping Information
Multiple knife packages
If you purchase more than one knife package in a single order, all knives must be sent together in one shipment. Orders cannot be split across multiple shipments because only one shipping charge is purchased per order.
Contact details and notifications
Please provide a mobile telephone number so our couriers can contact you. Ensure our emails are not blocked by your spam filters so you receive important shipping notifications.
Return label expiry dates
- DPD: Return labels expire 6 months after your order date.
- Evri: Return labels expire 28 days after your order date.
If your Evri label expires, we strongly recommend purchasing a replacement return label from our Shop page.
Using an expired label can cause significant delays because Evri may need to manually process and relabel your shipment before delivering your knives to our workshop.
DPD Next Working Day Delivery & Insurance
For valuable knives, we recommend DPD, our senior trusted courier partner, offering next-working-day delivery and comprehensive insurance.
We offer two insured shipping options:
- DPD 350 — £19.99: Next-working-day delivery both ways, insured up to £350 per shipment.
- DPD 1000 — £25.99: Next-working-day delivery both ways, insured up to £1,000 per shipment. Recommended for particularly valuable knives.
Both prices include shipping your knives to our workshop and returning them to you. Your initial empty knife box is always sent separately by Evri (formerly Hermes).
Delivery Times & ParcelShop Drop-Off
Next-working-day delivery means DPD expects to deliver on the working day following collection. ParcelShop collection cut-offs, weekends and bank holidays may affect delivery dates.
Please drop off your knives as early as possible in the morning, as drivers generally collect from ParcelShops from midday onwards. Missing the day's collection means your knives will normally be collected the following working day.
Always use a DPD ParcelShop, not a locker, and retain your proof-of-drop-off receipt. Without this receipt, a claim cannot be raised if your shipment encounters problems.
Important Insurance Requirements
For DPD 1000 shipments, please photograph your knives alongside your Blade & Butler protective packaging before dispatch.
This provides evidence of the parcel's contents and is essential for supporting a compensation claim in the unlikely event of loss.
UK Mainland Delivery Restrictions
DPD delivers to mainland UK only, excluding Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and all islands.
Excluded Scottish Highland postcodes:
FK17–21, IV1–39, IV52–54, IV63, KW1–14, PA21–40 (excluding PA38), PH19–26, PH30–41, PH49–50.
Excluded Scottish Island postcodes:
HS1–9, IV40–51, IV55–56, KA27–28, KW15–17, PA20, PA38, PA41–49, PA60–78, PH42–44, ZE1–3.
If your postcode falls within an excluded area, please contact us for a bespoke shipping quotation. We'll be happy to help.
Delivery Notifications & Missed Deliveries
DPD will keep you informed of your delivery window by email or text message. You can manage and amend your delivery arrangements at any time.
DPD will make two delivery attempts. If your parcel is subsequently returned to us, an additional shipping charge will apply.
Delivery issues must be reported to us within 14 days of your order being shipped.
Find Your Nearest DPD ParcelShop
Please use the link below to locate your nearest participating ParcelShop.
Evri Standard Shipping & Insurance
For a more economical shipping option, we offer Evri Standard, our slightly slower, fully tracked delivery service.
- Evri Standard — £8.99: Includes all three shipping journeys and your protective knife box.
- FREE Evri Shipping: Available on all orders of 7 knives or more.
- Delivery time: Approximately 2–5 working days per shipment.
- Insurance: Up to £20 per shipment, covering both journeys involving your knives.
Insurance & Valuable Knives
We recommend Evri for lower-value knives or knives with little or no material value.
All shipments are tracked and insured up to a maximum of £20. If you choose Evri for knives worth more than £20, you accept the risk of any loss exceeding that compensation limit.
For valuable knives, we recommend choosing one of our higher-insurance DPD services.
Delivery Areas & Restrictions
Evri delivers throughout most of the UK, excluding:
- Scottish Highlands postcodes IV1–33.
- Shetland Islands.
- Channel Islands.
- Isle of Wight.
- Isles of Scilly.
- Northern Ireland.
Please photograph your shipping label so that you retain the shipping information if you wish to track your order.
Return Labels & Expiry
Evri return labels are valid for 28 days from your order date.
If your label expires, we strongly recommend purchasing a replacement from our Shop page for £4.50.
Although Evri may accept expired labels, these require manual relabelling, which can delay delivery of your knives to our workshop.
Important Shipping Information: For security - orders must be dropped off at an Evri parcelhop - not a locker.
Tracking & Delivery Notifications
Each Evri shipment takes approximately 2–5 working days.
When your sharpened knives are dispatched for return, we'll email you a shipping confirmation and tracking reference so you can follow their journey back to you.
Find Your Nearest Evri ParcelShop
Use the link below to find your nearest participating Evri ParcelShop. Please select a ParcelShop location, not a locker.
Packing Your Knives
How to Pack Your Knives Safely
What's Inside Your Box?
Your Blade & Butler box contains everything you need to send your knives safely:
- A prepaid DPD or Evri return label.
- Protective knife sleeves.
- A mailing bag.
- Packing instructions.
Chef's knives and diamond honing steels are optional purchases.
1. Prepare Your Knives
Please ensure all knives are clean and completely dry before packing.
Remove any existing cases, sheaths or protective covers. Send us your knives only.
2. Photograph Your Knives
Before packing, take several clear, well-lit photographs showing:
- Every knife, including its condition and brand.
- Your knives secured inside our protective sleeves.
- Your packed box with the shipping label attached.
- For DPD 1000 shipments: Your knife box inside the ParcelShop when dropping it off.
Keep these photographs on your device until your sharpened knives have been returned.
3. Secure Your Knives
Place each knife inside one of our protective sleeves.
Press firmly in a circular motion over both adhesive circles to secure the blade and prevent movement during shipping.
For smaller knives, such as paring knives: If the blade is too short for both adhesive circles to attach fully, insert the knife completely into the sleeve and seal the open end securely with tape.
This prevents the knife from slipping out during transit.
Shipping cleavers
Shipping a cleaver to us and it won't fit in the protective sleeve?
Cut along one side of the protective sleeve.
Make sure you only cut exactly the length of your cleaver and not more.
Press down firmly on the adhesive circles.
Use tape to tape both sides of the protective sleeve shut.
Sending more than 5 knives to us?
Then top and tail your knives like this image shows.
The box is designed to hold up to 10 knives.
Packing up your knife box
Packing up your knife box
If you are packing more than five knives you should top and tail them to make them fit easily inside the box.
Your knife box is designed to carry up to 10 knives and fit easily through 99.9% of letter boxes.
Tear off the adhesive strip and close the box up ensuring box ears go inside box ends (see image above).
Place the box inside the plastic mailing bag, tape it up and affix your shipping label. The packing instructions on this page form part of our T&C's so it is imperative that they are followed to ensure safe transit.
Once you get your knives back
Once you get your knives back be sure to remove and inspect within 24 hours.
Be very careful when extracting your knives from their sleeves as you are now responsible for your knives.
Knives are returned taped together to prevent movement in transit. This protects our couriers from injury.
Do not force the knives out of their sleeves as this could lead to injury. Instead cut them free with scissors or carefully jig them until the adhesive circles release the blade.
Run your knife under warm soapy water and hand dry to remove any tape adhesive attached from the sleeves.
You'll find lots of information on our Knife Resource page in the footer of our website to help with maintaining your knives.
