Free shipping is a big advantage for many online shoppers this season. The deadline for many deals, including free shipping, ends on Thursday, December 17 for many big name retailers. Amazon, Sears, Kmart and many other popular online retailers are ending their free shipping offers and the price for shipping is about to get costly for procrastinators.
Shoppers who haven't taken advantage of some of the discounts online may not get their gift in time if they don't pay extra to have their items shipped via expedited methods. According to freeshipping.info, 52 percent of the top 500 online retailers say they will end their free shipping offers on or before December 18, but many more are stopping this perk on December 17.
According to UPS ground deadline was officially December 16th, but using the delivery estimation application on the UPS site, most domestic deliveries shipped by the 17th will still make it in time for the 25th.
The Fed Ex Ground shipping cutoff is December 17th in order to get a package by the 24th of December. After the 17th, expedited services from UPS and FedEx escalate costs quickly.
The USPS version of ground shipping, Parcel Post, has already passed. The cut off for Priority mail is December 21st, although it's only a few dollars more than Parcel Post.
Walmart shoppers can still take advantage of their ship to store service, which is typically free. Order online and pick it up at a local Walmart store in about 2-5 days. This may help ease the panic of shipping.
If you haven't shopped yet, get it done by Thursday if you plan to do any shopping online or you may be paying hefty shipping charges or, even worse, not get your gifts on time.
Written by Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com
sources: GMA, USPS, UPS, Freeshippinginfo.com
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