Should you pay for priority shipping?
Time is running out to take advantage of free delivery deals.
If you haven’t completed your online holiday shopping by now, you’re probably beginning to worry whether the orders you place within the next few days will arrive in the St. Nick of time. You have a little breathing room, but only a bit.
The deadline for free shipping offers from major retailers expires soon. December 17 or 18 is pretty much your last chance. Standard shipping remains an option with many merchants through the 19th, but you’re cutting it close. (For some, the game is already over; Buy.com's deadline for free shipping was Wednesday, and the company's cut-off for standard shipping is tomorrow.)
Order later than that and plan on digging deep into your pockets for one-day service, which can add $20 or more to the bill. Most stores will let you order through December 21 for guaranteed Christmas arrival (to all but a few states), though several chains such as Nordstrom, JC Penney, and Victoria’s Secret have extended the ordering deadline until the 22nd. By contrast, Toys R’ Us has a cutoff of December 20 for holiday delivery. Be aware, however, that you don’t have the entire day to place those last-minute orders. Deadlines vary by merchant; most of the sites we checked require you to act by early afternoon on either the 21st or 22nd.
Just because you pay for expedited delivery doesn’t guarantee you’ll get your package within 24 hours of clicking the “place order” button. You’ve got to factor in processing time, which can add two or three days to the timetable. The estimated arrival date is calculated from the moment the package is shipped from the warehouse. Also keep in mind that packages aren’t usually delivered on weekends, and Christmas falls on a Monday this year. That helps explain why Thursday December 21 is the drop-dead date for placing most orders (one exception: some members of Amazon.com's premium Amazon Prime service, who can order some products on the 22nd for delivery on Saturday, December 23).
If you’re a serious procrastinator who can’t make up your mind even at this late date, we have one final alternative to the dreaded Christmas Eve trip to the mall: An e-mail gift card. Many retailers will let you purchase a gift card online and have it e-mailed directly to the recipient. That way, you don’t have to show up at the in-laws empty-handed, so to speak. Just don’t tell anyone you heard this one from us.
On Monday, we'll share some details about our recent informal shipping experiments with Amazon.com. But don't wait until then to order your gifts. Today is the last day Amazon will guarantee delivery by the 22nd if you use the site's free "super saver" shipping. And Monday is the deadline for Christmas deliveries for orders with standard shipping.
Posted by: Lloyd Walker | Jan 23, 2007 6:59:51 PM
As the owner of a small business and online shopper it's tough to always know what shipping to go with. There are a few tools online that I've noticed have made it easier. The main one I use is located at www.shippingsidekick.com. It really helps me compare the prices as well as the time it will arrive. I can pretty much pick when the package will get to the customer or myself if im trying to decide which service to go with. It really simplifies things and makes shipping a lot easier.