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2018 Holiday Shipping Schedule
During the holiday season, there is a huge uplift in the number of packages being sent in the USA and overseas. People start shipping not only seasonal gifts but retailers and marketplace sellers both big and small, are shipping all kinds of goods. Whether it is for the Black Friday, Thanksgiving or Christmas, our customers are looking for reliable and affordable shipping services.
By using our simple shipping calculator, you will be able to compare various courier companies and the prices they have to offer, as well as choose to book an express shipping service or something more economical. The couriers almost double their volume in November and December so be prepared if you are shipping over the holidays and post your packages as early as you can!
Holiday Shipping Dates 2018
We can provide a rough guide to last posting dates for some of the couriers available to book using our shipping calculator, but these deadlines are an estimate. We advise shipping your packages early at the peak time of year.
Thanksgiving on November 22nd will see all shipping companies closed for business with no collections or deliveries being made.
USA Domestic Shipping for Christmas
We offer a range of domestic shipping services ranging from ground to overnight shipping and these are operated by FedEx, plus we offer some other services such as USPS. We have collated some of the last posting dates for our most popular domestic services.
| Domestic Service | Mail-By Date |
|---|---|
| Ground Drop Off / Pickup (FedEx) |
Dec 17 |
| Overnight (FedEx) | Dec 21 |
| USPS Priority Domestic | Dec 20 |
| USPS Priority Express | Dec 21 |
Express International Shipping
The Parcel Monkey shipping calculator allows you to get shipping rates to over 200 destinations around the globe. We also provide any Customs Documents for you to print and attach to the outside of your package and we request that you provide a local contact number for the recipient in case Customs or the courier needs to make contact regarding the delivery.
Express shipping from the USA via our shipping calculator is provided mainly by FedEx and DHL. To ensure international delivery is made in time for Christmas we advise that packages should be sent no later than Friday 14th December as transit times are estimated to be 2-5 business days to major destinations such as Europe. However, in order to allow as much time for Customs clearance and any other issues, we advise posting as early as possible especially to Africa and the Middle East.
For the fastest international shipping, we advise using our FedEx services, International Drop Off or International Pickup or the highly reliable DHL Express International.
We also offer USPS shipping rates via our shipping calculator and they have published the last posting dates for their services.
| USPS Service | Mail-By Date |
|---|---|
| Priority Mail International |
Dec 1 |
| First Class Package International | Dec 1 |
| Priority Mail Express | Dec 8 |
International Economy Shipping
DHL eCommerce is a tracked mail service so transit times are slower than express couriers taking up to 16 business days to deliver so we would advise to Drop Off any DHL eCommerce packages before 3rd December 2018.
TrakPak is also a tracked mail service and should be booked in for a collection no later than 3rd December 2018.
Any economy shipping services should be sent by the start of December in order to give the couriers plenty of time to handle the delivery.
For further information learn more directly on the courier websites and remember you can enjoy cheaper rates by booking online with Parcel Monkey
Create your holiday shipment.
You can find a great deal on holiday shipping, no matter where you are shipping to or from with Parcel Monkey. Just add your package details to the shipping calculator and discover the best courier services for packages of all shapes and size. All of our services come with tracking so that you can sit back and track the goods until they safely arrive with the recipient.
We now offer bulk shipping tools for those who sell on eBay and Shopify over the holiday period to make getting shipping quotes nice and easy.