Bringbox vs forward2me.
This is the closest comparison we publish, and the one most often recommended when people ask which UK forwarder to use. forward2me is free to join, holds parcels and combines them like we do. The differences are in what you have to get right: which of two combining services you pick, when free storage runs out, at what point a shipment is final, and whether what arrives is one box or several boxes in one shipment.
What is the same
Both give you a free UK address with nothing to pay to join and no subscription. Both receive your orders, hold them while you shop, and can send several purchases together rather than one at a time.
If you have been comparing us on that list, you will not find much between us. The differences are in the small print, and in how much of it you have to understand before you choose.
What is different
Four differences, and three of them are about what happens while you are still shopping, before anything has been sent anywhere.
One box. No service to choose, and no per-parcel fee.
This is the difference that costs people money, because it depends on a distinction that is easy to miss.
Combining parcels into one shipment and packing them into one box are not the same thing, and the difference is charged for.
The free option puts your parcels on one airway bill. They keep their original packaging, and they will not necessarily end up in one box. The option that does unpack them and repack them into a single box is a separate, paid service, priced per package. Six orders means six charges. Ten means ten, before anything has been shipped.
With Bringbox there is nothing to choose and nothing to add. Everything is unpacked, repacked by hand and sent as one box, on every order, at no extra charge. It is not a service you select, it is the thing we do. How your box is packed.
their published £3 per package, UK£30
included on every box£0
There is no time limit, and nothing starts counting with your first order.
A Bringbox stays open for as long as you like. Not thirty days, not sixty. There is no free period, because storage is simply free for as long as you like. Nothing is timed.
Where a storage window does exist, the detail worth knowing is when it starts and whether it resets. If it begins with the first parcel to arrive, then the longer you shop the less time everything else has, and the parcel you ordered first is the one that ages while you wait for the last.
forward2me publishes"Your first parcel arrives at the warehouse. This will start your free 30 day period for holding your packages." Its support pages add: "Storage time starts from package arrival, not processing or repacking. Adding a package to a combined shipment does not reset storage time." On the same page: "It's free to hold your items for 30 days, after this it's an additional £0.50 per day."Nothing is sealed until you decide to send it.
Your Bringbox stays open while you shop. Add something on Friday, add something else three weeks later, and it goes in the same box. Nothing is closed off until you press ship, and there is no cap on how many parcels can go in one.
It is worth checking, on any service, at what point a shipment becomes final and whether there is a limit on how many parcels it can hold.
forward2me publishes"We allow a maximum of 15 packages per multi-piece shipment with our couriers. […] If you have more than 15 packages, you can use our Combine & Repack service (£3 per package) to reduce the number of parcels." On changing a repack: "Once your optimized package has been prepared and sealed for shipping, it is classified as a completed unit… Any requests to add or remove items must be submitted before the initial repack request is processed."Photographs you never have to ask for.
Every parcel is photographed the moment it arrives, free, without being requested, and the photo reaches you the same working day. Once your items are packed you get a photo of the box itself, so you can see the space you have left.
The point is not the photo. It is finding out the jumper is the wrong colour while it is still in the UK, where sending it back is quick and cheap. See exactly what you get, and when.
What every box includes
Here is what is included in the price of every box, at no extra charge.
Automatic, on every delivery, plus a photo of the box once your items are in it.
No countdown, no daily fee, no timer on any individual parcel.
Bulky packaging removed, gaps padded, fragile items protected, and a note from you followed if you leave one. Not a per-parcel extra.
On our prepaid destinations, duty is calculated and paid up front so nothing is owed at the door. Your destination page says which applies.
A message when something arrives, and somewhere to ask a question without filling in a form.
If you are sending one small item once, a simpler service will suit you better. If you are filling a box and want to know what is inside, what it weighs and what it costs before you commit, that is the thing we sell.
Where forward2me has the edge
No comparison is worth reading if it only points one way, and this is the closest of the three we publish.
A Bringbox is priced by the size of box your things go in, and the smallest box costs what the smallest box costs whether there is a pair of contact lenses in it or nine kilograms of shopping. If you are sending one lightweight thing and nothing else is coming, paying by weight will be cheaper and you should do that instead.
forward2me publishes shopping addresses in the UK, US, Germany, Japan and Turkey. They are separate addresses rather than one, so parcels arriving in different countries are handled separately, but if you also buy from American, German or Japanese sites it saves signing up somewhere else. Bringbox is UK only, deliberately.
They let you pick from several couriers per shipment, so you can take a slower, cheaper option when you are not in a hurry. Bringbox ships one way, with DHL, because it is the fastest and it keeps the pricing simple.
Which one suits you
forward2me is the better choice for one-off parcels, for anyone shopping several countries rather than just the UK, and for anyone who wants to pick a cheaper carrier and wait a bit longer.
Bringbox is the better choice if your shopping lands days apart. Nothing is metered, repacking is included rather than charged per parcel, everything ends up in one box, and you see a photograph of every item without asking for it.
The honest test: if you know what you are ordering and you will ship it within the month, either service works, and forward2me may well be cheaper. If your shopping trickles in and you want it all in one box with no time limit, that is what we built.
Sources and honesty. Everything attributed to forward2me above is quoted from its own published material: its services page, its combine and repack page, and its customer support articles on storage. All checked on 9 August 2026. We have not tested their service and we make no claim about how well they run it. They are well reviewed.
Fees change. Every figure above is quoted verbatim from forward2me's own consolidation and services pages as published on 9 August 2026, and we have not converted, calculated or compared them against our own rates. Check their site for current figures. If anything here no longer matches what they publish, tell us at hello@bringbox.com and we will correct it. For their shipping rates, use their own calculator rather than anything we say.
Questions, answered plainly.
What is the difference between Bringbox and forward2me?
Both are UK forwarding addresses that are free to join and hold parcels for you. The differences are in the terms: forward2me publishes free storage for 30 days per package followed by a daily fee, offers combining as two separate services with only the packaging-removing one charged per package, and caps a multi-piece shipment at 15 packages. Bringbox has no storage time limit, repacks everything into one box by hand at no extra cost, has no cap, and photographs every parcel without being asked.
Does forward2me charge for storage?
It publishes free storage for up to 30 days per package, after which it publishes an additional £0.50 per day. It also states that the period starts when your first parcel arrives and that adding a package to a combined shipment does not reset the timer. Bringbox has no storage countdown and no storage fee at all.
Will my things arrive in one box?
With Bringbox, yes, always. Everything is unpacked and repacked by hand into a single box as standard, with nothing to select and no extra fee. forward2me publishes two different services here: a free consolidation, which puts your parcels on one airway bill but leaves them in their original packaging and does not necessarily put them in one box, and a separate combine and repack service, which does remove the packaging and is published at £3 per package in the UK. Six orders would mean six of those charges.
What is the difference between consolidation and repacking?
Consolidation combines parcels into one shipment. Repacking takes the items out of their original boxes and packs them into one. Only the second removes the shoeboxes and cartons that are mostly air, which is what drops an order into a smaller and cheaper box. Bringbox always does the second. Where they are offered as two options, check which one you are actually buying.
Is Bringbox good for one small item?
Honestly, no. A Bringbox is priced by box size, so the smallest box costs the same whether it holds a pair of contact lenses or nine kilograms of shopping. For a single light parcel with nothing else coming, a service that charges by weight will be cheaper and you should use one.
Which is cheaper?
It depends entirely on what you are sending and how quickly. For one parcel shipped promptly, forward2me is very likely cheaper. For several orders gathered over weeks into one repacked box, the extras matter more than the headline rate. Compare both against what you are actually sending.