Deadline for Shipping Gifts is Fast Approaching

The countdown to Christmas is upon us and it’s time to get those packages in the mail if you want them there in time for Christmas.

The US Postal Service says this year the deadline to mail parcels via retail ground service and First-class mail service is this Saturday, December 17 and the deadline for Priority Mail Service is next Monday, December 19 if you’re mailing to the lower 48.

If you’re running late you can still send your packages as late as December 23 via Priority Mail Express but it will cost more, according to Susie Rowland with the Lavonia Post Office.

Rowland advises checking with your local post office for the deadlines to mail packages to Alaska or Hawaii.

And the deadlines to send any packages overseas is between December 6 and December 20, depending on where it’s going and how you want to mail it.

And when mailing packages,you need to make sure you have a sturdy box and that the box is well taped with sturdy shipping tape, not scotch tape.

Also, Rowland said if you are sending something fragile, you need to let the postal workers know.

And if you’re planning to send those special Christmas cookies you always make to loved ones and friends or some other perishable food items, Rowland said the post office also needs to know that.

To send packages to military and diplomatic addresses abroad, the Postal Service offers a discounted price of $20.95 on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate Box.

The price includes a $1.50 discount per box for mail sent to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) destinations worldwide.

The Postal Service is expecting to process more than 10.1 million pounds of mail for military and diplomatic destinations around the world this holiday season.