LetterAgent

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Status: LetterAgent is currently in private testing ahead of public launch. Everything on this page describes the service as it works today.

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Can I ship perfume or cologne?

LetterAgent's shipping labels are Canada-only Canada Post Xpresspost labels for parcels up to 5 kg, and perfume cannot travel on them: alcohol-based fragrance is a flammable liquid, which parcel networks treat as hazardous. Here is how perfume actually ships: by ground, in limited quantities, and never on a standard parcel label.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Why is perfume treated as hazardous?

The culprit is the alcohol. Most perfumes and colognes are 70 to 90 percent alcohol by volume, which makes them flammable liquids under transport law: perfumery products carry the UN1266 classification, Class 3 flammable liquid. That single classification changes everything about how the bottle can move. It cannot fly on cargo aircraft carrying a standard parcel load, it cannot go through mail streams that ban flammable liquids, and it cannot be packed casually. The scent is irrelevant to the carrier. The alcohol is the whole story.

Carrier or servicePerfume rules
Canada Post (all services)Does not accept flammable liquids at all, including perfume. No ground exception for consumers.
USPS (domestic)Allows perfume by surface transport only, in limited quantities, in the original sealed retail packaging, marked for ground handling. Never by air, never international.
Couriers (UPS, FedEx, etc.)Some accept fragrance as dangerous goods with surcharges and strict packaging rules; policies and paperwork vary by carrier and country.
Solid or alcohol-free perfumeShips like ordinary goods on any carrier, since there is no flammable liquid involved.

How does perfume legally ship?

By ground, in limited quantities, in packaging that assumes the bottle will break. The standard playbook: the bottle stays in its original sealed retail box, that box goes inside a sturdy outer box with cushioning, and absorbent material goes around it in case of leakage. Quantity caps apply per package under limited-quantity rules, so one bottle is a different conversation from a case of them. The parcel must be marked for surface transportation so it never gets loaded onto an aircraft by mistake. Where a carrier accepts fragrance at all, expect a dangerous-goods surcharge and expect to declare it honestly at drop-off. Lying on the declaration to dodge the surcharge is exactly the kind of misdeclaration that gets shipments destroyed and shippers banned.

Can I ship perfume internationally?

Effectively no, not as a consumer. International parcel networks move largely by air, and flammable liquids are barred from that stream. The USPS rules above are domestic-only. Sending fragrance across a border means a dangerous-goods courier booking with export paperwork, which is a commercial freight conversation, not a parcel-label one. If you are buying fragrance from abroad, buy from a seller who already handles compliant shipping. If you are the seller, this is one product category where restricting sales to domestic ground shipping is the normal, responsible policy.

What about solid perfume or body spray?

Solid perfumes, wax-based fragrance, and alcohol-free oil scents contain no flammable liquid, so they ship like any ordinary item on any carrier, including on a standard parcel label. Body spray in an aerosol can is a different hazard (pressurized container) with its own rules, so do not assume it rides along under the perfume exceptions. When in doubt, read the product's own transport classification: if the manufacturer ships it as dangerous goods, so must you.

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