The short answer to when to ship Christmas packages is 8 days before Christmas for USPS Ground Advantage and 3 days before for any 2 day air service.
Overnight services from UPS and FedEx accept packages until 2 days before Christmas in the lower 48 states. Priority Mail Express from the Postal Service accepts packages until 6 days before the holiday.
This guide lists every Christmas deadline from USPS and UPS and FedEx in one place for quick reference. It then shows how a small business plans its boxes and its packing and its order cutoffs around those deadlines.
Key takeaways
- USPS Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail must ship 8 days before Christmas for delivery by Christmas Day.
- UPS and FedEx accept 2 day air packages until 3 days before and overnight packages until 2 days before Christmas.
- Ship ground parcels two to three weeks before Christmas to keep a full week of buffer at the lowest rate.
- Set your store cutoff at the carrier deadline minus your handling time and show it on every page.
- Order custom boxes 20 to 25 business days before you need them in your warehouse.
What Are the Christmas Shipping Deadlines?
The table below shows the last day to ship with each major carrier for delivery by Christmas Day within the contiguous United States.
| Carrier and service | Last day to ship |
|---|---|
| FedEx Ground Economy | 10 days before Christmas |
| USPS Ground Advantage | 8 days before Christmas |
| USPS First-Class Mail | 8 days before Christmas |
| USPS Priority Mail | 7 days before Christmas |
| USPS Priority Mail Express | 6 days before Christmas |
| UPS 3 Day Select and FedEx Express Saver | 4 days before Christmas |
| UPS 2nd Day Air and FedEx 2Day | 3 days before Christmas |
| UPS Next Day Air and FedEx Overnight | 2 days before Christmas |
| FedEx SameDay | Christmas Eve |
The exact calendar day moves by a day or two each year with the weekday that Christmas falls on. Check the carrier pages in early December to confirm the day for your route.
Treat each deadline in the table as the last safe day and not the best day to ship. A single winter storm or one missed scan at a hub pushes a package past the holiday.
The Postal Service sets the earliest deadlines for ground parcels and handles most home deliveries. The next section starts with USPS and walks through its rules for every destination it serves.
When Should You Ship Christmas Packages With USPS?
The official USPS holiday shipping page sets the last day for Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail at about 8 days before Christmas inside the lower 48 states.
| USPS service | Lower 48 states | Alaska, Hawaii and territories | Military APO, FPO and DPO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground Advantage | 8 days before | 10 days or more in transit, ship in early December | About 7 weeks before |
| First-Class Mail | 8 days before | 8 days before | About 16 days before |
| Priority Mail | 7 days before | 7 days before | About 16 days before |
| Priority Mail Express | 6 days before | 6 days before | About 9 days before at selected offices |
Ground Advantage parcels to Alaska and Hawaii travel for 10 days or more from the mainland. Ship those gifts in the first week of December so they arrive with days to spare.
The same 10 day rule for ground parcels covers Puerto Rico and the US territories as well. Priority Mail to all of these places keeps the same deadline as the lower 48 states.
Military mail runs on the longest clock of all the holiday deadlines from the Postal Service. Ground Advantage packages to APO and FPO addresses must leave in the first days of November.
International packages also need early planning because customs checks add days to every route. Priority Mail International needs to leave the post office about 16 days before Christmas.
Christmas cards travel as First-Class Mail and share the 8 day deadline with ground parcels. Mailing them in the first half of December keeps them clear of the parcel rush.
USPS covers the earliest deadlines while UPS and FedEx give you later air options. The deadlines for both private carriers come next with the same Christmas Day target.
When Is the Last Day to Ship With UPS and FedEx for Christmas?
UPS and FedEx both accept 2 day air packages until 3 days before Christmas. Their overnight services accept packages until 2 days before Christmas for delivery on Christmas Eve.
| Service | UPS | FedEx |
|---|---|---|
| Ground | Depends on transit days, check the UPS time calculator | Ship by the number of transit days plus any weekend, from 8 days before for 5 day routes |
| 3 day service | UPS 3 Day Select, 4 days before | FedEx Express Saver, 4 days before |
| 2 day service | UPS 2nd Day Air, 3 days before | FedEx 2Day, 3 days before |
| Overnight | UPS Next Day Air, 2 days before | FedEx Overnight, 2 days before |
| Same day | Not offered | FedEx SameDay on Christmas Eve |
| Ground Economy | Not offered | FedEx Ground Economy, 10 days before |
Ground deadlines with UPS and FedEx depend on the number of transit days between two ZIP codes. The UPS time and cost calculator shows that number for any route in seconds.
UPS delivers all services on Christmas Eve but runs no ground pickups that day. Scheduled air pickups on Christmas Eve need a booking with UPS several days ahead.
Neither UPS nor FedEx picks up or delivers any packages anywhere on Christmas Day. A package that misses Christmas Eve waits until the next business day after the holiday.
Both carriers add peak season surcharges to many business shipments from fall through January. Check the FedEx holiday shipping page and your UPS account before you price December orders.
These deadlines only tell you the last day a package must leave the counter. Shipping a full week earlier protects you from the problems the next section explains.
Why Should You Ship Christmas Packages a Week Early?
Carrier deadlines assume normal weather and normal parcel volume across the whole delivery network. Neither of those holds true in the two weeks before Christmas in most parts of the country.
- Volume peaks in the ten days before Christmas when sorting hubs run at full capacity and delays spread across whole regions
- Weather closes northern routes for a day or more and every lost day comes out of your margin before the holiday
- Price rises as the deadline nears because a 2 day air label costs several times more than ground for the same box
- Damage grows with each extra handling step and a crushed gift has no time left for a replacement
Shipping ground parcels two to three weeks before Christmas gives every package a full week of buffer at the lowest rate. That window is the sweet spot because rates and transit times are still normal.
A week of buffer matters even more for a business that ships dozens of orders a day. Every customer order needs time to be picked and packed and labeled before it reaches the carrier.
When Should a Business Set Its Christmas Order Cutoff?
Set your Christmas order cutoff at the carrier deadline minus your own handling time. Then show that cutoff clearly on every product page and inside your cart and checkout.
| Shipping method you offer | Carrier deadline | Your order cutoff |
|---|---|---|
| Standard shipping by USPS Ground Advantage | 8 days before Christmas | 10 days before Christmas |
| FedEx or UPS ground with 3 day transit | 4 days before Christmas | 8 days before Christmas |
| Expedited 2 day air | 3 days before Christmas | 7 days before Christmas |
| Overnight | 2 days before Christmas | 4 days before Christmas |
Many stores move the standard cutoff even earlier than the table shows to leave room for problems. They then sell expedited shipping as a paid upgrade for late buyers in the final week.
Post your cutoffs in a site banner from Black Friday onward and repeat them in emails. Customers who see a firm cutoff order sooner and send fewer emails about delivery.
Brands that pack orders in printed boxes also need those boxes on the shelf before the rush starts. Our Black Friday packaging boxes deal lands them in time and at a lower price.
The box order is the step most stores forget to plan when they map out December. The next section counts back in business days from the day your boxes need to arrive.
When Should You Order Custom Boxes for Christmas Shipping?
Order custom shipping boxes at least 20 business days before you need them in your warehouse. Allow 25 business days if you want to approve a printed sample before production starts.
| Step | With a plain sample | With a printed sample |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 3 to 5 | 7 to 10 |
| Production after approval | 8 to 10 | 8 to 10 |
| Free shipping across the US | 3 to 5 | 3 to 5 |
| Total | 14 to 20 | 18 to 25 |
Boxes in hand by the first week of December mean ordering in the second week of November with a plain sample. A printed sample adds about a week and moves that order to the start of November.
Our custom holiday mailer boxes ship flat in E flute board to save space in your stockroom. Each one folds into a strong box that travels on its own with no outer carton.
Heavier gift sets and glass travel safer in shipping boxes made from thicker B flute board. Retail gifts look best in custom Christmas boxes that travel packed inside a plain mailer.
Getting the boxes on time solves half of the Christmas shipping job for a growing brand. The other half is packing each one so it survives the busiest shipping week of the year.
Need printed mailers before the Christmas rush?
Send your product size and the exact quantity you need for the December rush. We return a dieline and a price per box, and production starts as soon as you approve it.
How Do You Pack Christmas Packages So They Arrive Safely?
Pack Christmas packages in a box sized to the product plus 6 mm on each side. Add enough cushioning to keep the item away from every wall of the box during transit.
- Use a new box for every gift because a reused carton has lost part of its strength at the folds and corners
- Wrap fragile items one by one and fill every gap so nothing moves when you shake the closed box
- Seal the top and bottom seams with the H method using one strip down the center and one across each edge
- Remove or cover every old label and barcode so the scanner reads only the new shipping label on top
- Place a card with both addresses inside the box so the carrier can still deliver it if the outer label tears
Food gifts need extra care in December because heat and cold both damage them on the road. Our guide on how to package cookies as a gift covers liners and inserts and sealing in detail.
Anyone who has never sized a box before can start with the steps in how to measure a box to get the inside dimensions right.
The right box size also changes how much you pay for every shipping label you print. The next section shows that difference with real numbers from a typical gift order.
How Does Box Size Change Christmas Shipping Costs?
UPS and FedEx both charge for the larger of the actual weight and the dimensional weight. Dimensional weight is the length times the width times the height in inches divided by 139.
| Box size in inches | Volume in cubic inches | Dimensional weight | Billed weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 x 10 x 8 stock carton | 960 | 6.9 lb | 7 lb |
| 10 x 8 x 4 custom mailer | 320 | 2.3 lb | 3 lb |
The right sized mailer cuts the billed weight from 7 lb to 3 lb on every label. That saving adds up fast across hundreds of December orders in a busy online store.
USPS applies dimensional weight only to packages larger than one cubic foot and uses a divisor of 166. Small mailers sent through USPS therefore ship and get billed by their actual weight.
Brands that ship orders all year keep the same savings on custom mailer boxes. One right sized box serves the Christmas rush and every busy season that follows it.
Even with good planning some gifts still miss the shipping cutoff each year for many senders. The last section covers what to do when the shipping deadline has already passed.
What Should You Do If You Miss the Christmas Shipping Deadline?
Switch to an air service the moment you know a gift has missed the ground deadline. Priority Mail Express runs until 6 days before Christmas and UPS Next Day Air runs until 2 days before.
FedEx SameDay is the final option and accepts packages on Christmas Eve in the cities it serves. It costs the most of any service but still beats a gift that arrives after Christmas.
Once every air deadline has passed you can still send a printed card for Christmas Day. The card shows the gift and promises delivery in the first week of January.
Stores can offer local pickup or a digital gift card to late buyers in the final days. Both options keep the sale and avoid a delivery promise that no carrier can keep.
For more ways to wrap and present gifts this season read our Christmas packaging ideas guide that pairs each idea with the right box.
Frequently asked questions
The short version
Ship Christmas packages 8 days before Christmas with USPS Ground Advantage and 3 days before with 2 day air for delivery by Christmas Day. Overnight services from UPS and FedEx accept packages until 2 days before the holiday.
Ship a week earlier than any deadline to stay safe from weather and volume delays. Order your custom boxes 20 to 25 business days before you need them so every order leaves in time.
Plan your December shipping around these deadlines and order your custom boxes early in November. Every gift then leaves on time in a box that fits it and protects it all the way to the door.
Ready to ship Christmas orders in your own boxes?
At The Customized Boxes we print from 100 boxes per size and design with no setup fees. Production takes 8 to 10 business days after dieline approval and shipping is free across the United States.
