Our annual guide for holiday shipping deadlines is out, with important dates, packing tips, historical tidbits, trivia and more. Here’s what to know for the 2022 holidays.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – If you procrastinate holiday-gift buying, that means you also are putting off mailing packages. And that adds to postal backlogs, which leads to more stress – for workers, as well as your own. Cnc Cardboard Cutting Machine
Moral of the story: Don’t delay.
Here are our annual holiday-mailing deadlines, packing tips, helpful hints and historical nuggets. We also offer trivia about holiday cards, prices to know and more. Happy mailing!
Think the holidays are far away? Guess again. They will be here before you know it..AP
USPS deadlines to arrive by Christmas Day:
Priority Mail Express: Friday, Dec. 23.
Christmas Eve is Saturday, Dec. 24.
Christmas Day is Sunday, Dec. 25.
Service: USPS offices and most services will not be open Dec. 25, Dec. 26 (Christmas holiday observed), Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 (New Year’s Day observed). USPS Priority Mail will be delivered, though.
More deadlines: Additional USPS deadlines for overseas and military shipping can be found online. Deadlines for private companies like DHL, Fed Ex and UPS also are online. Also, dealhack.com – which focuses on store discounts and promo codes – also lists shipping deadlines.
Related coverage: For DHL’s Middleburg Heights facility, year’s busiest time comes now (video, photos)
The week of Dec. 12-17 is expected to be the busiest of the year for the Postal Service.AP
Busiest time of the year for the Postal Service is the week of Dec. 12-17, when a “high volume” of mail is expected, USPS spokeswoman Naddia Dhalai said. The Postal Service has installed 137 additional machines throughout the United States to increase processing capacity to 60 million packages a day. More people ordering online, Dhalai said, means increased package volume. The Postal Service even has an online counter so you see how many packages are being delivered; go to https://about.usps.com/holidaynews/.
• Consider holding mail. Go to your local post office, fill out a form and include dates you will be gone. Delivery should resume on the date you specify.
• Informed Delivery offers a chance to see a photo of what is headed to your home. “Everything that comes to the mail every day, they’ll get a picture of it. So they’ll know what’s coming to their mailbox,” Dhalai said. Usually the email with photo will be sent in the morning. So if you are going to be out and you are anticipating an important package, you can have a neighbor or friend be on the lookout.
First-Class stamps cost 60 cents. Post-card stamps are 44 cents.
Holiday cards date to the 1840s.AP
• Holiday cards go back to 1843 in England. The first one in the United States dates to 1875.
• By the late 1920s, the holiday-card industry employed more than 5,000 American workers according to JSTOR, the digital library for scholars, researchers and students.
A recent survey – and granted, it’s from Cleveland-based American Greetings - offers these findings from a recent survey of Americans:
• For the 2021 holiday season, 73% of Americans reported sending holiday cards.
• 60% say they send holiday cards annually.
• 33% begin planning holiday cards two to three months ahead.
• 9% send holiday cards the week of Christmas.
• 40% send holiday cards two to three weeks before the holidays.
• 2% send holiday cards after the holiday.
• The company’s research also shows nearly a 50-50 split between people preferring to receive mailed holiday cards vs. digital ones. If given the option, 80% of respondents would like a card that could be created and sent digitally – but also printed.
Not the best examples of good boxes to use.AP
• Boxes should be double corrugated. New is preferred. If you are recycling a box, examine it to ensure it is in good shape. Don’t try to salvage flimsy ones. Break it down and recycle.
• Don’t overpack. If the box bulges, that is not good.
• If an item rattles in the box, it’s not packed well. I once had a six-pack of bottles mailed to me – through legal channels – that had little cushioning. Needless to say, it turned into a three-pack.
• Wrap items separately. And always wrap glass separately, no matter how large or small the item. That picture of Piper your beloved cat should be wrapped separately from the frame.
• If you use popcorn as packing material, make it air popped – no oil. But with bubble wrap, newspaper, packing peanuts, air packs, crinkled butcher paper and shredded paper available, popcorn might be better served while watching a movie. Also: You should allow at least a 2-inch space around items for packing / cushioning materials.
• Do you shred documents? The strands make good packing fodder.
• If shipping clothes, papers or anything that could be ruined by moisture, place the items in heavy-duty plastic, or at least double bags. Use softer items as protection for more delicate things.
• Put addressee’s name and address inside the package. If you are printing a mailing label, you can print a duplicate, or jot the info.
• If you are mailing via USPS boxes, make sure your item will fit into the slot. They should weigh no more than 10 ounces and be a half-inch thick or less. For more box restrictions, go online.
• If your item is breakable, write “fragile.” But don’t doodle cute pictures all over the box. Make it clean so postal workers can read it quickly.
• Non-lithium batteries should be left in original packaging. Do not put them in devices like toys before mailing. A device could turn on in transit, causing security concerns. Batteries in any item should be removed and sent separately.
Deadlines are coming for mailing packages in time to arrive by Christmas.AP
• Consider media mail (cheaper but slower), but know restrictions. It’s limited to books, sound recordings (CDs, DVDs), manuscripts, play scripts, printed music, some films, loose-leaf pages and binders with medical information and more. Advertising, video games and comic books are among the restricted items. Check online for complete list.
• Two-inch wide tape is best. Do not use masking, cellophane or duct tape. Tape side seams first, then across the top. Reinforce bottom flaps.
• If a box has tape, make sure its adhesive sticks. Strands sticking out can be accidentally ripped off and take cardboard with them, leaving a hole or weaking a side.
• Never use brown paper as a mailing wrapper. Labels can be torn, paper can rip. And no string, rope, cord or twine, which can muck up postal machinery. It makes for an old-fashioned look – but impractical.
• Write neatly or print labels with clean fonts, nothing fancy. Remember: It’s a package, not a formal invitation. Consider proper fonts. American Typewriter makes for a good look.
• Remove previous labels. Black out notations, names, codes or addresses with magic marker.
• Do not write “to” and “from” all over your box. Use one side only.
• Edit your label. Did you leave off a zip code, a return address, apartment number?
• Know zip codes. Look them up. If you know the +4 code, use it. No zip is better than a wrong one. (Cleveland alone has 58 zip codes.)
• If you are using self-serve USPS kiosks, make extra sure the address is correct. A clerk will look, but at the kiosk it’s on you.
• Consider Click-N-Ship to pay for and print postage at home. You leave the package for your carrier and don’t have to leave the house. With Covid, traffic and weather, it’s not a bad option. Note: 70-pound box limits. Free priority boxes – if it fits, it ships – incur flat-rate postage. Or you can fill, wrap, measure and weigh your own box, then enter the specifications online. Required postage amount will be given.
Want to write Santa Claus? There are a few tips to know.AP
Want to write Santa Claus? Deadline to receive a USPS North Pole postmark is to mail by Monday, Dec. 12.
• Have the child write to Santa. Put the note in an envelope addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole.
• Without the little one noticing, write a personalized response. Sign it, “From Santa.”
• Insert both letters into an envelope addressed to the child.
• Add the return address - Santa, North Pole - to the envelope.
• Put First Class Mail stamp on the envelope.
• Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope, with appropriate postage. Send to North Pole Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr., Anchorage AK 99530-9998.
• Santa-letter tips: Write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter so your little one can recall what he or she wrote. When responding as Santa, make the note personal: Highlight your child’s accomplishments and activities over the year. Remember: Disguise your handwriting.
Buy 'Forever' stamps, and be nice to carriers.AP
• ‘Forever’ stamps remain valid at the price you paid. So if you purchase them a couple of years ago at 55 cents, you’re OK to use them now, even though the price is 60 cents.
• Consider buying cards immediately after Christmas for the following holiday. Upside: At this time, prices often plummet. Downside: Pickings are slim.
• Holidays can be stressful. Supply-chain issues, financial challenges and other issues can crop up. Don’t take it out on your local carrier or clerk. Be nice. And keep the area near your mailbox clear.
I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.
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