If you've been procrastinating a bit and haven't sent — or worse, haven't bought — your Christmas gifts yet, you're not going to like this news.
Today, Dec. 15, is expected to be the busiest day of the year for the United States Postal Service with more than 640 million cards, letters and packages to be processed. In case you haven't figured it out yet, many of the people who sent those hundreds of millions of pieces of mail are hoping to get them to their recipients by Christmas. That's apparently even up from last year's 607 million pieces of mail. It's also going to be a big day for FedEx, which is predicting that more than 22 million packages will be processed.
But don't be sad, procrastinators of the world. You didn't ruin Christmas yet. There's still time to get your gifts and cards where they need to be by Dec. 25. Here's how to do it.
1. Know the shipping deadlines
Probably one of the main reasons why Dec. 15 is so busy for the U.S. Postal Service is because it's the last day to send packages by standard parcel post, which is the cheapest mailing option. However, you can still get your packages in by Christmas... for a price. All you have to do is make sure you send your packages by these deadlines for the U.S. Postal Service, UPS or FedEx, which can be found here. The price level will partly depend on how long before Christmas you send the package. The last day to send packages via the U.S. Postal Service and UPS is Dec. 23 and as late as Dec. 25 for same-day delivery via FedEx. Now that's not so bad.
2. Take advantage of Free Shipping Day
If you've still got holiday shopping to do in addition to having to figure out how to get your mail in by Christmas, Free Shipping Day is for you. Free Shipping Day will occur on Dec. 18 this year, and on this day, hundreds of online retailers will offer free shipping with no minimum purchase for one day only and guarantee that your package arrives by Christmas Eve. So far, 952 retailers will be participating this year, including Zappos, Lord & Taylor and Sports Authority. There are also going to be some special online shopping offers announced on Free Shipping Day's website on Dec. 18.
3. Go mobile
During the holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service's official app is going to be your friend. Through the app, you can find the nearest post office, calculate how much your holiday shipping is going to cost and keep tabs on all of your packages. For those traveling this holiday season, you can also use the app to put your mail on hold so your mailbox isn't overflowing with junk upon your return home. The app is available for free for iOS and Android devices.
4. Don't wait for delivery
You can save time by picking up your package instead of waiting for it to be delivered, but then of course you don't get the luxury of having it arrive right to your door. Still, this can save a few hours' time and can also be a good strategy to prevent anyone from taking a package sitting out in the open on your doorstep.
5. Let someone else do all the work for you
Don't forget to think outside of the box, er, your traditional delivery services. Obviously, the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx are the most common forms of delivery, but there are a few new shipping services that are really catering to today's appetite for instant gratification. One of them is Shyp, which is kind of like the Uber of shipping. You take a photo of the items you want to ship, enter the destination and request a pick-up through the mobile app. Then, someone will come by, pack your items and ship them off where they need to go. There's another online service called Shutl, which lets you request same-day, even same-hour, delivery from participating online retailers or local shops.
6. Keep up with the weather
We just started the time of year when snow and other nasty weather can really put a damper on things, one of which is screwing up the delivery date of your package. You might want to check the weather and make sure a bad storm isn't coming through your area before you place your order so your package delivery isn't delayed. You can also sign up for winter weather alerts in your area from FedEx so you can see if an order you already placed will be affected by the weather.
