DHL is a fast premium express courier — ideal for an urgent document or a small parcel, but priced high per kilo. For barrels, boxes, bulk goods, a car or a full house move to Nigeria, a consolidated air-and-sea cargo forwarder like Rolats is far cheaper per kilo: door-to-door from our Dagenham depot, air from £5.90/kg plus £20 handling, sea from £70 per bag.
DHL vs a freight forwarder — they do different jobs
This isn't "DHL bad, us good." DHL is a brilliant express courier: it moves a single envelope or a small box to Lagos in a day or two with tracking at every step. That speed is what you pay for — express couriers price by the kilo at a premium, which is exactly right for urgent paperwork or a phone you need there tomorrow. Where it stops making sense is weight and bulk. The moment you're sending a barrel of food, several boxes of clothes, electronics, furniture, a car, or the contents of a flat, per-kilo express pricing adds up fast. That's the job a freight forwarder is built for.
When DHL is the right call
- A single urgent envelope, passport or legal document.
- A small, high-value parcel you need in Lagos or Abuja in 1–3 days.
- Anything where speed matters more than cost-per-kilo.
For those, use DHL — honestly, it's the better tool. We'd tell you the same on the phone.
When Rolats is far cheaper
- Barrels & boxes of food, clothes and household goods to family.
- Bulk or heavy shipments — the more you send, the bigger the per-kilo saving.
- Cars (UK to Africa) by container or RoRo.
- Personal effects & house removals — flats and full homes.
- Commercial stock for traders and shops.
We consolidate your cargo with other shipments (groupage), so you pay cargo rates, not express rates. Air freight from £5.90/kg plus a flat £20 handling fee; sea cargo from £70 per bag (call or email for a quote); cars and 20ft/40ft containers are POA — call or email and we'll price it. Everything is quoted all-in, in GBP, with no charges billed to your family at the Nigerian end.
When to use DHL vs when to use Rolats
- Urgent envelope or document — use DHL: fastest door-to-door for paper; speed beats cost.
- Small parcel, needed in days — use DHL: the express network shines on small and urgent.
- A barrel or several boxes — use Rolats: the cargo rate per kg is far below express.
- Electronics, appliances, furniture — use Rolats: bulky and heavy, where express pricing punishes weight.
- A car (UK to Nigeria) — use Rolats: container or RoRo; couriers don't ship vehicles.
- Personal effects or a house move — use Rolats: groupage plus door-to-door clearance.
- Commercial stock or pallets — use Rolats: sea or air consolidation, all-in GBP.
We don't quote DHL's prices here because they change and we won't guess — but the rule of thumb holds: the heavier and bulkier the load, the more a forwarder saves you.
The honest bottom line
For a single urgent envelope, use DHL. For a barrel, a stack of boxes, a car or a house move to Nigeria, a forwarder like Rolats is usually far cheaper — and you still get door-to-door delivery and UK-side customs paperwork handled by an HMRC Customs Authorised, EORI-registered company shipping since 2007.