An Post tracking status
An Post “Your item is being sorted for delivery”: what it means
The short answer
Keep an eye on itAn Post has your parcel and is routing it towards your local delivery office, but it is not out for delivery yet. An Post's text may say the next working day. In busy seasons An Post asks you to allow up to 5 working days.
When to act: If it still shows being sorted 5 working days after the scan, file a complaint and we send it to An Post.
Also shown as: “Your item has been sorted” · “Your delivery has been sorted” · “Your delivery has been sorted [place]” · “We have your item and will process it for delivery” · “We have your post and are getting it ready for delivery” · “We have received your item” · “We have your post in [place]” · “We have your item in [place]” · “Sorting” · “Your delivery was received by An Post” · “Your item has been handed to An Post”
What to do now
- 1
Find the date and time of the sorting line in the item history and count 5 working days from there.
- 2
If the parcel came from outside the EU, check your post, texts and emails for a customs charge. An unpaid charge stops delivery even after a sort scan.
- 3
Sign up or log in at An Post with the email address and mobile number you use for shopping, so parcels matched to you are listed and you can set a safe spot.
- 4
Check the delivery date the seller gave you and the address on your order, including your Eircode.
- 5
Screenshot the tracking with its dates, ready for your complaint.
- 6
Still not sorted? File your complaint here. We write it with you and send it to An Post, so you do not have to chase it yourself.
What does “Your item is being sorted for delivery” mean?
The usual order in recent histories is 'Your item has been handed to An Post', 'We have received your item', 'We have your item and will process it for delivery', 'Your item is being sorted for delivery', 'Your item is out for delivery' and 'Your item has been delivered'. An Post does not define these lines, and its app can group this stage under the word Sorting. Older histories say 'Your delivery has been sorted' and name the place, such as Dublin Parcel Hub, Portlaoise Mail Centre or a local D.S.U., and people have noticed that the place names have mostly gone.
The sorting line stays until the next scan, which is usually at your Delivery Service Unit as the parcel goes out. So a long wait here does not show whether the parcel is still at a hub or already in your local office. For a parcel from outside the EU, a sort scan can also come before the customs charge is settled, so this line does not prove customs is finished.
Why does An Post show it?
- Normal sorting between the parcel hub, a mail centre and your delivery office
- Busy periods such as Christmas and the weeks after it
- The parcel went to the wrong delivery office and is being sorted again
- A customs charge or a customs data problem on a parcel from outside the EU
- A backlog at the local delivery office, as people report in shared histories
How long does it last?
The next line should be 'Your item is out for delivery'. One person's history shows 15 deliveries arriving the next working day after sorting, then one that took 10 days. An Post asks for up to 5 working days after a hub scan in busy seasons.
Other An Post statuses
- A customs charge has been appliedTake action
- Customs charges have been paidKeep an eye on it
- Parcel delayedKeep an eye on it
- Tracking not updatingKeep an eye on it
- Delivered but not receivedTake action
- We tried to deliver your itemKeep an eye on it
- Your delivery is in D.S.U.Take action
- We could not deliver your itemTake action
- We have received information about your incoming item from the senderNormal
Who is responsible for a late or missing parcel from An Post?
A parcel bought online from a business is usually the seller's to sort out until it reaches you. The Consumer Rights Act (section 35) leaves goods at the seller's risk until you, or a person you nominated, physically have them. The exception is a carrier you booked yourself and the seller did not propose. Section 36 requires delivery without undue delay and no later than 30 days after the contract was made, unless you and the seller agreed otherwise. Customs charges are different: An Post's customs terms make the person receiving the parcel liable for them.
When you sent the parcel yourself, you are An Post's customer and the terms of the service you bought apply. For Standard Post, compensation generally covers no more than postage and directly associated costs, often in stamps. For Express it may equal the postage, and Express with Signature is limited to the lower of the item's proven cost and €350. Registered Post is limited to the value you declared (€25 if you declared none), up to €350 plus charges within Ireland and less for places abroad.
Questions about “Your item is being sorted for delivery”
What does 'Your item is being sorted for delivery' mean on An Post?
An Post does not define it. It appears after An Post has received the parcel and before it goes out for delivery, so the parcel is in An Post's network but not yet with your postal operative.
How long does An Post take after 'being sorted for delivery'?
An Post's text often says the next working day, and one person counted 15 deliveries that did arrive then. Others report no delivery on that day. An Post asks you to allow up to 5 working days for processing in busy seasons. In histories people share from the weeks after Christmas, the wait reached 8 to 10 days.
My An Post parcel has been sorting for a week. Is it lost?
Not necessarily. Waits of this length appear in shared histories, and parcels then arrived. Once you are past 5 working days, file a complaint here so it gets looked at.
What does 'Your item has been handed to An Post' mean?
An Post does not define it. In histories people share it is the first line, before the parcel reaches a hub. One poster says a parcel is normally scanned at the Dublin Parcel Hub within a day or two, and the next line is usually 'We have received your item'.
Why did An Post tracking stop showing the location?
People have noticed that recent histories no longer name the hub or delivery office. We found no explanation from An Post. The order of the lines is still the best guide to where the parcel is.
Based on
- An Post: Track and Trace help (updates through the day, up to 5 working days after a hub scan)
- boards.ie: An Post Delays thread, full history with 10 days on the sorting line
- boards.ie: An Post Delays thread, 8 days on the sorting line
- boards.ie: An Post thread, history with the first three lines
- boards.ie: An Post thread, 'Your item has been handed to An Post'
- boards.ie: An Post thread, place names removed from tracking
- boards.ie: older history with hub and D.S.U. names, sort scan before customs payment
- boards.ie: An Post thread, text saying the next working day
- boards.ie: An Post thread, tracking showing 'sorting' for a week
- Trustpilot review: next working day message, no delivery
- Trustpilot review: history pasted with the Sorting label
- Irish Statute Book: Consumer Rights Act, section 35 (passing of risk)
- Irish Statute Book: Consumer Rights Act, section 36 (delivery of goods, 30 days)
- An Post: Terms and Conditions for all services (Standard and Registered Post compensation)
- An Post: Express Terms and Conditions, single piece mail
- An Post: Customs Terms and Conditions (who is liable for customs charges)