LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — If you have a pile of gifts you need to get in the mail, you better hurry up.
Leaders in the shipping industry say not only do you run the risk of an on-time delivery, but also how much you pay.
Len Costanzo is in her 20th holiday shipping season as the owner of The Mail Room in Lexington.
"Last year was probably our busiest year," Costanzo says. "Since people couldn't travel, they did want to send gifts."
This week it's starting to heat up. Costanzo says those deadlines to get things packed and shipped have creeped up on us.
"It never really hits home to people until about the 10th or 12th of December that Christmas is only two weeks away," Costanzo says. "You're going to pay an awful lot of money to have something delivered overnight, especially if it's large. Whereas if you can give us even just two or three days, we can cut your price in half."
For delivery by Christmas Day if you're shipping U.S. Postal Service Ground, get it in by Dec. 15 for U.S. delivery. First Class mail, send it out by the 17th. If you're sending priority mail, get it out by the 18th. The latest you can send, but again, you could pay more, is the 23rd.
"Today I've gotten two calls saying, 'when is the latest I can ship to California' was one, Montana was another," Costanzo says.
If you're sending via UPS Ground, you can check their website. The USPS says it's in a god position to handle the demand this season. It expects to deliver more than 12 billion letters, cards and packages between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
