Shipping Deadlines for the Holiday Shopper

[MomInVegas]

Mark your calendars: A list of shipping deadlines for the holiday shopper

Vanessa Richardson
Nov 8th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Shopping, Technology

I wish everyone I sent Christmas presents to celebrated Boxing Day or Kwanzaa instead. That's because most of the time my presents truly do arrive a day too late, on December 26.

But now deadlines keep rolling in on when packages need to be mailed in order to get to their destinations on time. The latest one is the U.S. Postal Services deadline for mailing packages to troops overseas, which is Thursday, Nov. 13.

For shipments to folks in the U.S., the deadlines are a little bit more in the future. That helps me, because I usually I go online to order in mid-December, see that the standard delivery deadline has passed, then have to spend more bucks for the expedited or fastest delivery route. And you know how it is with the Postal Service -- two-day delivery service means jack during the holidays.

Procrastinating shoppers like me have no excuse this year for shipping late. Dealhack has released a list of 130 Internet retailers and their online-purchase shipping deadlines, from Amazon to Wine.com. Each retailer has announced their Standard delivery service deadline, and Dealhack has guesstimated the Expedited and Fastest order-by dates.

The standard delivery dates are spread throughout mid-December, although computer makers err on the early side (Dell's deadline is December 9, while Lenovo's is December 2) and office goods companies creep close to Christmas Day (Office Depot and Staples promises December 23 is just fine for standard shipping).

On a side note: Shop.org, a unit of the National Retail Federation, announced that while many online retailers plan to offer free shipping, 21% of the ones they surveyed said they would raise the minimum purchase requirement this year.

But with all the forecasts of this being the slowest holiday-shopping season in years, maybe the line at the post office won't be so long, and I can wait a few days to mull my purchase over before I click "Send."

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