Why can’t I buy Etsy international shipping labels with Royal Mail anymore?

Hi! The two most common reasons UK sellers suddenly see “no delivery options available” for Royal Mail international Etsy shipping labels are (1) Etsy temporarily disabling certain Royal Mail international label types for specific destinations (the US has been a big one recently), and/or (2) your package is set to “Letter”, but Royal Mail/Etsy now only allow international “letters” for personal correspondence—so anything sold as goods needs to go as Large Letter (or a parcel), which makes Etsy think there are “no options” for the current package type.

Here are the most likely causes (in order of how often they fix it):

1) Your package type is “Letter” (try “Large Letter” immediately)
Even if you’re physically posting it in an envelope, Etsy’s Royal Mail label options may only appear if you choose Large Letter for international.
What to do:

• When buying the label, change Package type from Letter → Large Letter
• Put in realistic thickness/weight (even a “thin” rigid mailer can push you out of “letter” rules)
• Try again on the same order

If this works, you’ll want to update your shipping preset/shipping profile so future orders default to Large Letter for international.

2) The destination country is currently restricted (especially US-bound labels)
Etsy has had periods where it suspends label purchases for certain carriers/routes (Royal Mail included) when the destination requires delivery-duty/tax handling (DDP) or when carrier service availability changes.
What to do:

• Test with a non-US international order (or temporarily change the country on a test address) to see if it’s destination-specific
• If it’s only happening for certain countries, it’s not your preset—it’s a route/service availability issue

3) Missing/invalid customs info is blocking the service
International labels usually won’t show until Etsy has enough customs data to generate the label correctly.
Quick checks:

• Make sure the order has item description, quantity, value, and weight
• Make sure you didn’t leave anything as blank/zero that Etsy expects for customs

4) Address formatting is failing validation
Etsy can hide label options if the address has invalid characters or line lengths.
Try:

• Remove special characters (accents, unusual punctuation)
• Shorten long address lines (move overflow to line 2/3)

5) Temporary Etsy/Royal Mail tech issue
This does happen. If the same order shows no options on one device/browser but works on another, it’s likely technical rather than a service change.

Steps to get it working again (fast checklist)

1. On an affected order, switch Package type to Large Letter and retry.
2. Test a different destination (EU vs US) to spot country-specific suspensions.
3. Re-enter package details: weight, thickness, and customs info.
4. Check the buyer’s address for length/characters and tidy it up.
5. Try label purchase on desktop web (not the app), incognito/private window, and/or a different browser.

Reliable workarounds if Etsy labels won’t come back

• Buy Royal Mail postage outside Etsy (Royal Mail Click & Drop is the usual choice for letter/large letter workflows), then in Etsy mark the order complete and add the tracking number if you have one (or mark as dispatched without tracking if the service doesn’t provide it).
• If you ship a lot internationally and need predictable tracking/labels, consider switching your Etsy international options to tracked services or a courier for affected countries, and keep your envelope orders as Large Letter where possible.

If you tell me which countries you’re trying to ship to (US vs EU/elsewhere) and what package type you’re selecting (Letter vs Large Letter), I can narrow it down to the most likely single fix.