Wednesday is Deadline For Christmas Delivery, Amidst the Busiest Mail Week of the Year

DELMARVA - It's crunch time, not just for shoppers to avoid having to to give gift cards this year, but for mail and package carriers to get your holiday deliveries to your doorstep by Christmas Eve. The deadline to order online or mail a gift is Wednesday, December 15 for every major shipping service. 

This week is the busiest for mailing and shipping of the year. USPS alone will handle nearly 2.3 billion pieces of mail this week. While they, as well as UPS and Amazon, say they aren't experiencing any delays, it's a good idea to adhere to Wednesday's deadline so your package doesn't get lost in the last-minute shuffle. 

If you need to procrastinate a little longer, you can pay extra to have your packages shipped quicker.

Amazon Prime is a good option for procrastinators, but don't assume everything on your wish list will arrive in two days . Delivery dates vary depending on the item and seller, so be sure to check now if it would arrive on time. Plus, certain items are selling fast and you'll want to get your hands on them sooner rather than later.

"People are starting to host again, so some of our hot-selling items this year are things for kitchens and hosting. People are sprucing up their wardrobes because they're starting to see people in person more again, so clothing from Amazon Fashion things like that we're seeing high demand for," said Amazon Spokesperson, Steve Kelly.

Both USPS and Amazon tell WRDE they've stepped up their game and hired lots of extra help to make sure they don't see the delays experienced across the board last year.

"We have 112 new machines - one of them in Delaware, by the way - that processes packages 12 times faster than the manual sortation we did last year," said USPS spokesperson, Paul Smith.

Wednesday's deadline may not be universal for all companies you're ordering from. Some have different deadlines, so it's best to go by the retailer's estimated delivery dates. 

More specific information on deadlines for each shipping service:

Amazon - Check amazon.com/holidaydelivery

Fed-Ex

Ground - December 15

Freight - December 15

Express - 12/21-12/24 (depending on selection)

UPS

Ground: Check ups.com/ctc

3-Day Select - 12/21

2nd-Day Air - 12/22

Next-Day Air - 12/23  

USPS

Retail Ground - 12/15

First-Class Mail - 12/17

Priority Mail - 12/18

Priority Express - 12/23