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It’s December, which means the holidays are either upon us, or coming up quickly. Whether you’re shopping for yourself, local friends and relatives, or people on around the world, the time to place your order for the best gifts online is right now.
Services and retailers alike have started posting their strict shipping deadlines, which are coming up as soon as next week. This is the most popular time of year to send and receive packages, which means shipping services can get overwhelmed, so we’re here to make sure your package doesn’t arrive too late.
How to Get Your Gift Delivered By Christmas
Below, we’ve found all the hard shipping deadlines you need to know about, plus some tips and tricks to avoid holiday shipping stress altogether.
Find Faster Shipping Options
While many major stores (think Amazon) are offering one or two-day shipping, selecting those options can get pricey fast. Consider signing up for a free Amazon Prime trial to get Prime (two day) shipping at no extra cost.
Consider In-Store Pickup (Curbside)
If you’re shopping at a retailer with brick and mortar stores, and the item you want is in-stock, you may be able to get them the same day by selecting in-store pickup. Most retailers also offer curbside delivery, so you don’t need to go into the physical store to find your items and pick them up.
Ship Gifts Directly To Friends And Family
You can save a lot of time and energy by ordering items online and having them shipped directly to the person you’re shopping for instead of shipping them yourselves. Some retailers offer a gifting option, which includes a gift receipt and gift wrapping, while others don’t. If you want to personalize this option, send out cards that your friends and family can open along with their presents.
Ignore Final Shipping Deadlines And Shop Early
Bad weather or an unexpected surge of online orders may lead to your order being delivered even if it’s supposed to arrive on time. If you see something you’d like to get as a gift, order it now instead of waiting.
Amazon hasn’t officially confirmed this yet, but we can extrapolate from previous seasons that holiday delivery on orders placed by December 23 could arrive on the 24th if you choose one-day shipping at checkout. SHOP NOW.
Adorama offers holiday delivery on orders placed by December 23 at 4PM ET when you choose UPS Next Day shipping at checkout. SHOP NOW.
B&H offers holiday delivery on orders placed by December 16 if you choose 1-Day delivery (price varies) at checkout. SHOP NOW.
Barnes & Noble offers holiday delivery on orders placed by December 21 at 12PM ET. SHOP NOW.
Best Buy offers holiday delivery on in-stock items if you place an order by December 23 and choose Next-Day delivery at checkout. SHOP NOW.
Biolite offers holiday delivery on in-stock items if you place an order by December 22 and choose Two-Day delivery at checkout. SHOP NOW.
Boll & Branch guarauntees (free!) holiday delivery on orders placed by December 14 at 2PM ET. SHOP NOW.
Casper guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 15 at 12PM ET. SHOP NOW.
Coyuchi offers holiday delivery on orders placed by December 20 if you choose express shipping. SHOP NOW.
Cricut guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 15 if you choose express shipping. SHOP NOW.
Hedley & Bennet guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 13 if you choose express shipping. SHOP NOW.
Lovehoney guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 21 before 3PM ET if you choose UPS Next Day Air Weekday Shipping shipping. SHOP NOW.
Macy’s guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 20 at 12PM ET. SHOP NOW.
Microsoft offers holiday delivery with next-day shipping on orders placed by December 23 at 12PM PT. SHOP NOW.
NOMAD offers holiday delivery on orders featuring in-stock items placed by December 18. SHOP NOW.
Nordstrom guarantees holiday delivery on orders featuring in-stock items placed by December 19 at 12PM ET if you choose Free 2-Day Business Shipping at checkout. SHOP NOW.
Ooni guarantees holiday delivery on orders featuring in-stock items placed by December 16 by 12PM ET. SHOP NOW.
Paravel guarantees holiday delivery on non-personalized items by December 12 with Standard Shipping and personalized orders by December 12 with Premium Shipping. SHOP NOW.
Razer offers holiday delivery on orders placed by December 19. SHOP NOW.
Samsung guarantees holiday delivery on orders featuring in-stock items placed by December 15 at 11:59PM ET. SHOP NOW.
Target guarantees holiday delivery on orders featuring select items placed by December 20 on orders over $35. Just you choose free two-day delivery at checkout. You can pick up an order in store until December 24. SHOP NOW.
The Home Depot guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 23 if you choose to schedule a delivery ($8.99). You can pick up an order in store until December 24. SHOP NOW.
Tuft & Needle guarantees holiday delivery on orders featuring select items placed by December 14. SHOP NOW.
Walmart guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 20 at 2PM ET if you select two-day delivery and December 21 at 2PM ET if you select Next-Day delivery at check out. You can also pick up orders in-store through December 24. SHOP NOW.
Wayfair guarantees holiday delivery via UPS Ground on orders placed by December 18. You can shop as late as December 22 if you use next day delivery. SHOP NOW.
Williams Sonoma guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 20 by 2AM ET if you select next-day shipping at checkout. SHOP NOW.
ZAGG guarantees holiday delivery on orders placed by December 20 if you select next-day shipping at checkout. SHOP NOW.
FedEx Holiday Shipping 2023 Deadlines
Since Christmas is on a Monday this year, overnight delivery from FedEx won’t get it there in time for Christmas Eve. Instead, you’ll have to ship FedEx SameDay on Friday, December 22 to get your gift there before Christmas.
Shipping deadlines from options like FedEx Express Saver, 2Day and 3Day deadlines are all the week before Christmas, and the FedEx Ground deadline is on December 15.
UPS Holiday Shipping 2023 Deadlines
Same as with FedEx, the UPS shipping deadlines will be a day earlier than normal. Make sure to send your final packages by December 21 to make sure they arrive by December 25.
USPS Holiday Shipping 2023 Deadlines
The US Postal Service deadlines for shipping gifts will also be able a day earlier than last year. Mark your calendars for December 20 if you want your packages to arrive before December 25 with Priority Mail Express, including for Alaska and Hawaii. The regular ground shipping deadline will be December 16 this year.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
