Holiday Shipping Dates and Ideas 2017: Wisconsin USPS

For many of us, holiday shopping is immediately followed by holiday shipping. If you're thinking of procrastinating this year to send those packages in the mail, you might want to plan ahead. You can do just that with the help of Patch.com's holiday shipping deadline guide.

The Postal Service expects to deliver more than 15 billion pieces of mail this holiday season and 850 million packages between Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 23) and New Year's Day. That's up 10 percent from last year so think early if you want your packages and cards to arrive on time.

For holiday procrastinators, the very last day to mail a first class greeting card is Dec. 19. For serious procrastinators, you can hold off another day by using Priority Mail and three more days if you choose Priority Express.

More Delivery Dates

The Postal Service will be expanding its Sunday delivery operations to select locations with high package volumes beginning Nov. 26. The USPS already delivers packages on Sundays in many major cities, and expects to deliver more than 6 million packages on Sundays this December

Need to find your local post office in your Wisconsin Patch community? Check out the USPS online branch locator: Find a Post Office

Here are the 2017 holiday season recommended Postal Service mailing and shipping deadlines:

• Nov. 6 APO/FPO/DPO USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 11 APO/FPO/DPO Priority Mail & First Class Mail
• Dec. 14 USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 15 Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail & amp; First-Class Mail
• Dec. 16 APO/FPO/DPO USPS Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 16 First Class Packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• Dec. 19 First Class Mail (including greeting cards)
• Dec. 20 Priority Mail
• Dec. 20 Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 20 Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail & First-Class Mail
• Dec. 21 Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 22 Priority Mail Express

Mail Carrier Tipping and Gift-Receiving Policy

According to the US Postal Service, under federal regulations, carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas. However, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. In addition, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period.

According to the Huffington Post, here are 5 cool ideas that could warm up your local postal carrier:

1. A gift card to a restaurant that serves hot meals and cold drinks.
2. A Starbucks gift card and cheerful travel mug.
3. A beautiful scarf perfect for this time of year.
4. A mini-valet to stylishly stow away keys.
5. Luxurious hand cream with a holiday candle or a warm pair of gloves. (I have to preface this comment with the fact that I once suggested warm gloves as a good alternative and was inundated with responses from people who said it was a ridiculous gift — but, still, here it is again on a particular mail carriers “wish list”.)

Additional Reporting, by Paul Scicchitano (Patch Staff)

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