USPS recommends shipping gifts early this Christmas season
Dec 13, 2024, 6:00 PM
(Canva)
(Canva)
SALT LAKE CITY — Still haven’t sent out your Christmas gifts? USPS is encouraging people to ship early and recommends using their shipping tips.
Utah’s USPS Spokesperson John Hyatt said all of their employees are working hard to get packages processed and delivered in a timely manner.
The job is especially busy this time of year but even more so this year. With Thanksgiving being so late, the season for mailing has been shortened.
Hyatt said they recommend shipping early to ensure packages get to their destinations on time.
“Dec. 18 is our recommended mailing date for USPS Ground and First-Class Mail. If you’re a little bit later on that, [you can ship by] Dec. 19 for our Priority Mail, and what’s cool about Priority Mail … is you can get a box and put as much in it [for] up to 70 pounds,” said Hyatt.
But if you’ve procrastinated on this, don’t worry. There’s another option, but it’s not going to be cheap.
“You can do Priority Mail Express on the 21st, but that’s going to cost you a lot. So we’re really saying, ship it early.”
Related: Struggling to afford holiday gifts? A Utah financial expert has some tips
Other shipping tips
For those concerned about the safety of the items they are shipping, Hyatt recommended adding some padding.
“You can use the clothing to pad around there or bubble wrap or any kind of a crumpled paper.”
He also recommended saving reusable padding from your past online orders.
And when selecting a box, he said to make sure that it’s not too small or too big. Overstuffing a box could put a lot of wear on the cardboard.
Hyatt also said make sure you are using packing tape to secure your boxes. Masking tape or blue painter’s tape will peel right off.
Lastly, Hyatt’s highly encouraged tip is to put a card inside with the delivery address and a return address.
“If that label comes off or gets marked over and it can’t be seen on the outside, we can at least look inside and see where it needs to go or how to get it back to you.”
