An Post has emailed AddressPal customers to say the service’s website will close on 16 October 2026, ending new registrations and online account management for its parcel forwarding service. Existing customers can keep using AddressPal after that date with their existing APW number, but they’ll no longer be able to log in, change their details or update a payment card online.
For anyone who hasn’t used it, AddressPal gives you a UK or US address so you can shop from retailers that won’t ship to Ireland, or that charge silly money to do so. Your parcel arrives at An Post’s facility abroad and is forwarded on to you here. According to An Post’s AddressPal help and support page, UK deliveries currently cost €10 for items up to 20kg, while US deliveries start at €20 and rise with weight, with customs and VAT added where they apply.
I’ve a real soft spot for this one. We covered the launch of AddressPal’s US shipping service back in 2017, and I’ve used it sporadically ever since, most recently this year when I bought myself a t-shirt after seeing Kirk Hammett wearing it. So it’s a genuine pity to see An Post start winding it down. That said, I’m not even sure “winding down” is the right description, because I’ve read the email several times now and it’s one of the most confusing shutdown notices I’ve ever received.
Is AddressPal closing?
Not exactly, or at least not yet. The AddressPal website closes on 16 October 2026, but An Post says the delivery service itself continues for existing customers, who can keep ordering as they do today.
The problem is that the email doesn’t read that way. The subject line demands action before 16 October. It opens by describing what AddressPal was created to do, in the past tense. It talks about how cross-border shipping has been transformed, says the service has been carefully reviewed, and then announces the website won’t be available. Every line of that is the language of a service being switched off.
Only further down does it explain that this is specifically about the website, which handles new sign-ups and account changes, and that technical and operational changes to the systems behind it mean it can’t stay online. It then signs off hoping you’ll keep using the service as normal. Being totally transparent, I had to read it twice to work out whether I’d lost my US address or not. I hadn’t.
What AddressPal customers need to do before 16 October
If you want to keep using AddressPal, log in to your account before 16 October and make a note of your APW number, the unique reference that sits in your UK or US address so the warehouse knows the parcel is yours. Without the website, you won’t be able to look it up again.
While you’re logged in, check your payment card details are current and update any personal information that might change, such as your delivery address or phone number. An Post also recommends saving any account information you might need later.
The blunt gap here is payment cards. If your card expires after 16 October, the email doesn’t spell out how you’ll replace it, beyond pointing customers to addresspalsupport@anpost.ie for queries. If your card is due to expire in the next while, I’d be sorting out a new one on the account before the deadline rather than finding out the hard way with a parcel sitting in a warehouse.
If you’d rather close your AddressPal account, there’s an option at the bottom of the account screen until 16 October. After that, you’ll need to email the support team to do it.
Why An Post is closing the AddressPal website
An Post’s email points to two reasons for the AddressPal changes. More retailers now ship directly to Ireland, and customs processes have made cross-border shipping more complicated than when AddressPal first launched.
AddressPal launched in April 2016 with a UK address, and it took off quickly. An Post said at the time it had signed up more than 100,000 users within seven months, helped by sterling’s drop after the Brexit vote. Brexit itself then did the opposite. Once Britain left the EU, every UK parcel became an import subject to customs checks and VAT, and the service’s whole appeal, cheap shipping on cheap stuff, took a serious knock. Post Office collection for UK items started at €3.50 back then; today UK delivery costs €10.
The latest blow landed in July. Since 1 July 2026, a €3 customs duty on low-value parcels from outside the EU applies to every distinct item in a parcel worth €150 or less, including goods from Great Britain and the US. For a service many people used for small, inexpensive bits, that’s another charge stacked on top of the forwarding fee and VAT.
To be honest, none of that makes the decision surprising. What I’d question is the wording. A service that can no longer sign up customers, and whose existing customers can’t manage their own accounts, doesn’t strike me as one with a long runway, however the email frames it.
What’s next for AddressPal?
An Post says it knows customers value easy ways to shop with retailers that don’t deliver to Ireland, and that it’s exploring future options in this area. There’s no detail yet on what those might be or when they’d arrive.
I’ve contacted An Post’s press office asking whether there’s a planned end date for the AddressPal delivery service, whether it will run as normal through Black Friday and Christmas, what’s driving the decision, whether a replacement service is on the way, and whether any jobs are affected. I’ll update this piece when I hear back.
In the meantime, existing AddressPal customers have until 16 October 2026 to manage their accounts online, after which queries go to addresspalsupport@anpost.ie.
