How to slash the cost of sending gifts overseas – is it cheaper to send directly from retailers?

However you send, be sure to check the final dates you can post your goodies by to arrive on time. For example, for Royal Mail international standard delivery, it's Friday 4 December for Australia, Wednesday 9 December for Africa and Saturday 12 December for Poland. See its full list.

When it comes to retailers, John Lewis, for example, says delivery to Poland can take up to six days, Canada up to nine and Australia up to 10.

That said, it's worth adding a few extra days to these dates this year. Some countries are quarantining goods for certain periods due to the pandemic – typically for two or three days.

Of course, couriers and retailers may have different dates, so it's important to check these. Also bear in mind if you're buying a gift online and sending it on yourself, you'll need to factor in time for it to get to you, and then go through the delivery system after you've sent it.

A word about customs – if you're sending items from the UK to EU countries this Christmas, the recipient won't pay any customs duty. However, some other countries charge import duty on items worth over a certain amount (the recipient pays this).

In some countries, gifts sent directly from one private person to another can have a higher customs duty threshold than gifts sent from a retailer. For example, in Canada you can import up to $20 from a shop before paying duty, but $60 if it's a gift.

However, sometimes it's the other way around. In the USA, people can usually receive gifts worth up to $100 before paying duty, but orders from retailers worth up to $200.

This is a complex area, so it's worth chatting to family and friends about how it works in their locale, as well as checking the local government's sites. As a rule of thumb, a small toy's much more likely to get through than a pricey camera.

Look for the best deal overall, and not just the cheapest postage on offer. In the same time it takes to search one department store, comparison sites whizz through scores of internet retailers. We find Google Shopping is the most consistent at tracking down the cheapest price. See our Cheap Online Shopping guide for full tips.

Be aware that not every product's available to send everywhere. Size, customs or product licencing issues can mean retailers won't ship certain things. The retailer should flag this up when you put in the delivery address.

If you're a keen present wrapper, some companies will gift-wrap presents for you at an extra charge. Many retailers let you include a gift note for free – it's worth looking for these options at the checkout.

If you need to, you'll often have the option of paying extra on top of the standard delivery cost to have your item sent quicker. The extra cost will vary depending on who's sending it, so it's worth comparing the costs and factoring this in.

M&S and Next work a little differently. You can send their products abroad, but you have to buy via that country's site, eg, Australia, Canada, Israel and New Zealand. See a full list of M&S and Next sites.

You pay in the local currency, so use a Top Overseas Card if doing this (see pay the right way below). Also, do the maths and compare the product prices with those on their UK sites.

Certain M&S and Next international sites include local customs duty, eg, for M&S, customs duty is included in Australia, the USA and Canada. However, some don't. For M&S, to establish if duty's included, go to that country's page, scroll to the bottom, click on 'Ordering and delivery' and see 'Do I have to pay any customs?'.

For Next, scroll to the bottom of the page, then 'Shipping information', then 'Will I be charged customs fees?'.

While goods are often pricey, Selfridges offers unlimited international deliveries when you buy a Selfridges+ Pass. It's like a delivery season ticket and costs £10/year for deliveries within the UK/EU (no minimum spend) and £40/yr worldwide (£40 min spend on each order).

For example, delivery to Poland normally costs £15 with Selfridges, so if you sent to Poland just once, the pass would win (Royal Mail charges £9.40 to deliver a 1kg parcel to Poland). Delivery to Pakistan is normally £25 with Selfridges, so if you sent more than one gift a year it would win (though Royal Mail charges £16.55 for a 1kg parcel).

On the downside, Selfridges is not known for being a bargain basement. When we checked, it was selling a Playmobil Back to the Future car set for £50, but the next cheapest we could find online was £40.50 (including delivery). A Jellycat toy dragon was £20, but the next cheapest elsewhere was £18.44 (including delivery).

So while you can usually find the products cheaper elsewhere, we're including this here, as it might be useful for some.

Selfridges says the majority of products are included with the pass, but certain brands are excluded. These include The Real Flower Company, Tumi, Astley Clarke and Bang & Olufsen. See full terms.

A few pointers on packing your festive parcels:

- Nab free cardboard boxes from supermarkets and pad with screwed-up newspaper.- Always weigh and measure accurately. Don't be tempted to shave a bit off – you could be hit by excess charges.- Include a return address on your parcel, so it can get back if it can't be delivered.