UK Shopping Guide for Israel: What to Buy and How to Ship It
UK Shopping Guide for Israel: What to Buy and How to Ship It
TL;DR: Send2Hub gives you a free UK address to shop British retailers from Israel. Keeping a shipment's CIF value under $150 means no import tax at all. Free consolidation cuts shipping costs by 40 to 60 percent.
Israel has one of the most active cross-border shopping markets anywhere, and demand for UK brands runs deep. The challenge is familiar: plenty of British retailers either don't ship to Israel directly, or charge international rates that make small orders impractical. A free Send2Hub forwarding address at our warehouse in Stoke-on-Trent solves that, you shop as if you lived in Britain, and we forward everything on to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa or wherever else you need it. Send2Hub only accepts parcels dispatched from within the UK, so your address needs to be used with retailers shipping domestically within Britain. For the full breakdown of Israeli customs thresholds and VAT, our Israel shipping page covers that in depth, this guide focuses on what's actually worth ordering.
Why Israeli Shoppers Buy from British Retailers
Access
Boots, Primark, Dunelm and Marks and Spencer Food don't ship to Israel directly, so without a forwarding address, ordering from them isn't possible at all.
Price
Sterling pricing on high street and heritage brands is often more competitive than what reaches Israeli shelves through distributors, particularly during sale periods.
Range
Israeli stockists that do carry British brands usually offer a narrow selection. Full ranges and limited editions are typically only available buying directly from a retailer based in Britain.
What to Buy from Britain
Heritage and Outdoor Clothing
Barbour, Hunter, Clarks and Hackett London are consistently popular. John Lewis, Barbour.com and Clarks.co.uk all deliver reliably to your forwarding address.
Fashion
Next, Reiss, Ted Baker and Marks and Spencer see regular demand, particularly M&S formalwear and knitwear. ASOS is a strong option for accessible, trend-led fashion.
Skincare and Beauty
Boots No7 is one of the most requested items, since Boots doesn't ship to Israel and a forwarding address is the only practical way to get it. The Body Shop, Liz Earle, Elemis and Charlotte Tilbury are also popular. Perfumes and aerosol products can't be forwarded through Send2Hub regardless of destination, but non-aerosol skincare like creams, serums and cleansers is fine. Check the prohibited items list before ordering beauty products.
Homeware
Emma Bridgewater, Portmeirion and The White Company appeal to buyers wanting distinctive British homeware not widely stocked locally.
Keeping Shipments Under the Israeli Tax-Free Threshold
Israel exempts personal imports valued up to $150 CIF (goods plus shipping and insurance) from both customs duty and VAT entirely. That makes the value you consolidate into a single shipment genuinely worth planning around, if you're close to that line, it may be worth splitting an order across two separate shipments rather than pushing everything over $150 and triggering VAT on the whole lot. Above $500, full duty applies too, so very large consolidations lose some of their advantage on the tax side, even though they still save on shipping itself.
How to Order and Forward to Israel
Register free at send2hub.com/login, your personalised UK address is ready straight away, with your own unique unit number, no monthly fee on the Individual and Business plans.
Shop from any UK retailer using your Send2Hub address at checkout. Every parcel is photographed, weighed and measured the same day it arrives, with full details in your dashboard immediately.
When everything has arrived, request consolidation, it's free, and combining multiple orders into one shipment typically cuts shipping cost by 40 to 60 percent compared with sending each one separately. If you'd like the original packaging removed as well, that's available as an optional paid add-on. Free storage runs 30 days on Individual, 45 on Business, and 60 on Premium. Learn more on our parcel consolidation page.
If a retailer doesn't accept your Israeli payment card, our Shop & Ship service can purchase items on your behalf.
Compare rates and transit times using the shipping calculator before committing.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Leaving your unique unit number out of the delivery name field is the most frequent issue, it's how incoming parcels get matched to your account. Underdeclaring value on customs paperwork should never be attempted, it's a legal offence and Israeli customs applies real penalties for undervaluation. Assuming splitting an order across many small parcels avoids tax entirely is a mistake too, Israeli customs treats multiple packages from the same sender arriving within 72 hours as a single consignment for threshold purposes. Ordering perfume or scented gift sets without checking first is another easy trap, these can't be forwarded regardless of how the listing is described.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there really no tax below $150?
Correct, personal imports with a CIF value up to $150 are fully exempt from both customs duty and VAT in Israel.
What happens if my order goes just over $150?
Between $150 and $500, customs duty is waived but 18% VAT applies to the full value. Above $500, full duty and VAT apply.
Can I shop UK retailers that don't ship to Israel?
Yes. Your free Send2Hub UK address gives you access to any UK retailer that delivers domestically within Britain. If a retailer doesn't accept your local payment card, our Shop & Ship service can purchase items on your behalf.
Does splitting an order into multiple parcels avoid the threshold?
No. Israeli customs combines packages from the same sender arriving within 72 hours into a single consignment for threshold purposes, so this doesn't work as a workaround.
Can I forward perfume or cosmetics to Israel?
Perfume and aerosol cosmetics can't be forwarded through Send2Hub regardless of destination, since they're classified as flammable liquid. Non-aerosol skincare and cosmetics are fine.