Ugh, one of granddaughter’s gifts was ordered on the 1st - plenty of time to receive, wrap, and send out with the rest of the loot.
But it didn’t get shipped to the 8th, with a delivery date of the 13th, so still OK.
Then I got notice it will arrive on the 14th, so that will delay my sending till Monday.
But this morning FedEx updated to delivery on the 18th.
This is the last item for the gift box; trying to decide if I wait to send it all on the 19th in a Flat Rate box, or ship the rest of it earlier in case there’s another delay.
I don’t believe it’s lost. It was scanned again this morning. It just spent a looong time in Ohio.
Can’t make it the PO for today’s hours, but I’ll prep everything for Monday, and hope the last item’s can do a quick turnaround to arrive in time.
Many reasons:
I like to wrap my gifts.
I was ordering multiples for great niece and nephew, who I will see on Christmas.
And I had other things I picked up for the family that I was including.
The original delivery date of 12/13 afforded me plenty of time.
I was just thinking this morning how crazy it is that some items seem to arrive the day after ordered (not just Amazon) and some things seem like they take a cross country tour to get to me! I too am waiting on a couple things that I ordered just after Thanksgiving.
For things being shipped afar, we either ship to the parents (who will wrap), or we have the gifts wrapped by the vendor. I know…not too personal, but they go directly there.
I think you can wait until Monday…but it will be tight. We mailed our packages yesterday, and one isn’t projected to get there until next Wednesday or Thursday. The other, maybe Tuesday. And that’s hoping the USPS guesstimate is on time!
This year, I had seller (Costco) ship to families and told the adult it was holiday gift for little ones. I let adult decide whether to wrap or leave in box under tree. The adults all said they wanted to be there when kids opened box. All the stuff I sent was received except for some things for my stocking so I’m happy.
Last year, I had seller on ebay ship my gifts. The price with shipping was a fraction of the price if I had bought from the company that made the items. Since I bought & shipped, she gave me a discount as well. I was happy and didn’t deal much with post office. One package never arrived to SF, so she made a claim on insurance and re-shipped.
I despise when it’s handed off to USPS. It’s always a good two days after I would’ve received it from Amazon or UPS. Then, if it can possibly be squished beyond identity, the mail person shoves it in my standard size box. Sometimes I have to get vice grips to remove it.
I really, really wish sellers would label when it will involve USPS. I’d pick a different item.
I had an order package shipped to me. It started in Mississippi, then went to Atlanta where it sat. Then it went back to Mississippi, then back to Atlanta, then to a town about 20 minutes from where I live. Then to another town in my state about an hour from where I live.
Sometimes it can be OK for gifts to arrive late, stretch out the gift opening.
When I was a kid, we had “little Christmas” a few days after the holiday with gifts from my father’s parents. It’s a fun story. On our rural street near Kingston NY there were a few houses that wer used as weekend/vacation (and then retirement) bungalows for NYC families. Mrs B, the wife of one of the couples, coincidentally rode the same bus as my grandfather, and they waited at the same bus stop. Over time, they got to chatting and learned of the incredible coincidence. So began the annual tradition of a box of presents from Nanny and Pop coming up with Mr and Mrs B after they had celebrated Christmas at home. Footnote - Since Nanny had 10 grandchildren, I am amazed at all the cute small gifs she collected for me and sis, each wrapped in Sunday comics paper.
Thanks for this! You are right, extending the gifting can be a fun surprise.
You reminded me of when I was young, my father’s uncle and aunt would visit between Christmas ans New Year’s and bring us each a craft kit - mosaic tile dish, potholders, aint on velvet, etc.
I sent a couple of cute dresses as a birthday gift. One was delivered by USPS ahead of schedule, and the other is sitting somewhere in the OnTrac black hole.
I have been pleased with how fast most things I ordered and/or mailed arrived. I’m only waiting for a very few things that are not time critical. If the arrive early enough, they can be stocking stuffers. If not, they will be presents when they arrive.
Part of the current USPS administration policy was to deliberately slow delivery on handoffs. The business concept (such as it was) was : it was going to make people ship from USPS to start with, instead of FedEx or UPS (who have always subcontracted the USPS for rural delivery – and rural seems to mean just about anywhere)
The incoming WH admin has said they would like to privatize the entire postal system. Theoretically that reduces prices; in actual practice it cuts services to underserved areas and increases prices (because business will always increase prices if they can)
I had a first last week with a delivery. The item was sent UPS to be handed off to USPS; I had a tracking number for both. As I was tracking, I see a notification from UPS that they will be in the area so they will be delivering the package instead of handing off to USPS.
Now, UPS delivers to my mother’s building daily, so I found it interesting that they chose to go ahead with the delivery instead of the hand off for this package, but not others. I am sure there is a reason, and having the package delivered a couple of days earlier was a perk.