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Holiday shipping deadlines for UPS, FedEx and major retailers

Get your holiday gifts delivered by Christmas.
Get your holiday gifts delivered by Christmas.

Christmas is a few weeks away, which means holiday shopping is in full swing. Ordering a gift online is more convenient, but it also means that you have to pay close attention to shipping and delivery dates. After all, what good is giving a gift if it arrives three days after Christmas? To prevent this from happening to you, here are the delivery cutoff dates for major retailers and delivery carriers.

Note: If you don’t want to remember all of these dates just remember that Dec.16 is Free Shipping Day. So far, more than 830 online retailers will participate to offer free shipping and delivery by Christmas Eve.

FedEx (FDX)

FedEx predicts it will ship as many as 25 million packages on peak days during the busy shipping season. To ensure your gifts arrive on time, these are the last days to ship so your packages arrive on or before Sunday, Dec. 25.

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Dec. 16 — Last day to ship FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery

Dec. 19 — Last day to ship FedEx Express Saver

Dec. 21 — Last day to ship FedEx 2Day A.M and FedEx 2Day

Dec. 22 — Last day to ship FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx First Overnight.

Dec. 23 — FedEx SameDay City

Dec. 25 — FedEx SameDay and FedEx SameDay City

FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx 2Day will make deliveries on Saturday, Dec. 24. A $16 Saturday delivery fee will apply per package.

USPS

The United States Postal Services predicts it will handle 750 million packages this holiday season, up 12% compared to 2015. The holiday shipping schedule is for domestic services and guarantees delivery by Dec. 25.

Dec. 15 – Last day for USPS Retail Ground. Ground service for less-than-urgent deliveries and oversized packages.

Dec. 20 – First-Class Mail. Service for standard-sized, single-piece envelopes and small packages weighing up to 13 ounces with delivery in 3 business days or less.

Dec. 21 – Priority Mail. Domestic service in 1, 2 or 3 business days based on where the package is mailed and where it’s being sent, variety of flat-rate options.

Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express. Fastest domestic service, guaranteed overnight scheduled delivery to most locations. Some restrictions and exceptions apply.

UPS (UPS)

It’s a big year for shipping, with UPS predicting it will deliver more than 700 million packages between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve – up 14% from last year. The UPS Christmas schedule guarantees delivery before Christmas Eve.

Dec. 19 — Last day to ship via UPS 3 Day Select to be delivered before Christmas Day (delivery on Friday, Dec. 23).

Dec. 21 — This is the last day to ship all UPS 2nd Day Air packages to be delivered before Christmas Day (delivery on Friday, Dec. 23).

Dec. 22 — Last day to ship all UPS Next Day Air packages to be delivered on Friday, Dec. 23 — This is the last day to ship all UPS 2nd Day Air packages to be delivered before Christmas Day (must use the Saturday delivery option for delivery on Saturday, Dec. 24).

Best Buy (BBY)

The following date guarantees delivery by Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Dec. 21 — Get it by Dec. 23 if ordered before 10:30 am CST

Amazon (AMZN)

Amazon deadlines are for the contiguous US and might vary by item and shipping location. For arrival on or before Christmas.

Dec. 16 — Cutoff for free shipping

Dec. 19 — Cutoff for standard shipping

Dec. 22 — Last day for two-day shipping (free with Prime)

Dec. 23 — One-day shipping in select cities (free with Prime)

Dec. 24 — Same day delivery in select cities (free with Prime)

Dec.24 — Two-hour delivery. Cutoff at 9:45 pm (in select cities, free for Prime members).

Walmart (WMT)

Walmart is overing free two-day shipping on more than 1,500 toys from Dec. 14- Dec. 21. For in-store pickup, orders placed online by 6pm on Dec. 23 will be available to pick up before 6pm on Christmas Eve.

Dec. 20 — Last day for standard shipping on Walmart.com orders.

Dec. 22 — The last day to place an order on Walmart.com for rush delivery. Cutoff is noon local time.

Kmart

Dates are Christmas delivery. Kmart offers free standard shipping on orders of $35 or more.

Dec. 22 — Last day for standard shipping. Must be ordered by 4 pm CST.

Dec. 23 — Last day for premium shipping. Must be ordered by 4 pm CST.

JCPenney (JCP)

Shipping deadlines are for arrival on or before Christmas. Those shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands must order by Dec. 10 for Christmas delivery.

Dec. 16 — Last day to have item shipped to local store.

Dec. 18 — Order by this date for items shipped directly from the manufacturer to you.

Dec. 19 — Last day for standard delivery service to arrive by Christmas. Last day to order plastic gift cards.

Dec. 20 — Express 2-day delivery deadline. Orders must be placed before 12:00 am CST.

The following stores have not released their holiday shipping guides. We will update when details are released. In the meantime, here are their standard shipping guidelines.

Macy’s (M)

Standard shipping rules.

Apple (AAPL)

Standard shipping rules.

Target (TGT)

While Target hasn’t released its shipping cut-off date, customers can select a free “Holiday Shipping Delivery” option at checkout to receive their order before the holiday.

Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance.

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