When a tube is the pack
A postal tube is for posters, plans, drawings and other goods that must not be folded or creased. The category describes cardboard tubes with plastic end caps, for sending that kind of item by post or courier, or for storing it. A box or a mailer folds the sheet. A tube does not.
The category says the tubes are industry standard sizes and are held for next working day delivery on orders placed by the cutoff it states. Across the rest of the shop the dispatch rule we publish is 3pm for same-day dispatch.
Royal Mail and rolls
A tube is a roll, so the parcel rules for rolls apply if you are sending it with Royal Mail. Our Royal Mail changes page gives an exception for roll or cylinder parcels that can still go as small parcels: maximum length 450 mm and diameter 80 mm. A longer or wider tube is outside that exception.
Read that page before you pick a length. The square-box maximum of 450 x 350 x 160 mm is a different rule. It does not describe a tube.
End caps and the document
The end caps are part of the pack the category sells. A tube without a secure cap is not a closed parcel. Documents that can travel flat, rather than rolled, may be better in a board-back envelope or a book wrap, which stay in the papers and box ranges.
Document enclosed wallets are for the paperwork on the outside of another pack. They are not a substitute for the tube.
Ordering
Postal tubes are in the postal category, next to mailing bags and postal boxes. Orders placed by 3pm are dispatched the same day. UK delivery is free on orders over £50 ex VAT.