Playing Chicken with Holiday Ship-by Dates

by: AddyUp

Try being over here with Royal Mail striking every few days. To have any hope of making Christmas it's post by the 12th. Even then the backlogs are so great if you're unlucky maybe your parcel with be in the pile outside in the snow because there's no more room inside.

Even if you sent with an alternative courier the knock on effect can add days if not weeks to their usual delivery time. And with eBay's fantasy delivery estimates it's lose lose all round for sellers.

by: Sierra

I keep on selling, or at least I keep my listings active, on both Etsy and eBay. It's looking like my customers are already stocking up for heart day! My theory is that not everyone needs what they order by Christmas. Some people buy for themselves, some are buying for a holiday that's more than 2 months away, and many other reasons. If any shopper ASKS whether they'll receive their purchase by Christmas, I'll let them know when it will ship ... and remind them that delivery is up to the USPS. Happy Holidays y'all!  

by: Snapped

“ The warnings started to stream in early this fall: Shop early or you may not get your gifts on time.

Global supply chain problems that have led to long delays in manufacturing and shipping could ripple outward, slowing package deliveries to millions of Americans in the weeks and days before Christmas, experts warned. The prospect even became a talking point in conservative attacks on President Biden’s policies.

Despite early fears, however, holiday shoppers have received their gifts mostly on time. Many consumers helped themselves by shopping early and in person. Retailers ordered merchandise ahead of time and acted to head off other bottlenecks. And delivery companies planned well, hired enough people and built enough warehouses to avoid being crushed by a deluge of packages at the last minute, as the Postal Service was last year.

The vast majority of packages delivered by UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service this holiday season are gifts destined for residential addresses, according to ShipMatrix, a software company that services the logistics industry. And nearly all have arrived on time or with minimal delays, defined as a few hours late for express packages and no more than a day late for ground shipments. The UPS and the Postal Service delivered about 99 percent of their packages on time by that measure between Nov. 14 and Dec. 11, and FedEx was close behind at 97 percent, according to ShipMatrix.”
- N. Chokshi, New York Times, 22 Dec 2021

A billion holiday season packages.  1% ‘late’ is 10 million-ish.  That covers all parcels though, not just holiday, and data ended before the end of (last year’s) cut off dates so there was still a ‘cushion’ of sorts implied.

Anyway, here’s to hoping your entire Holiday Season isn’t totally ‘ruined beyond reason’ if your oversize sweater from Aunt Bee is delayed over hill dale, and a couple of major rivers and mountain ranges in the middle of winter weather in it’s transit across the Continental US and doesn’t arrive until Dec 26.  

by: Sierra

@Snapped - The article you quoted is a year old. Last year was a hot mess. This year seems better ... so far!  

by: Snapped

A year old, correct, as dated.  Also the ‘most recent’ season, as the current one hasn’t yet ended to analyze.  The OP is also referencing events of five and two years past, respectively.  The thought here is to see all of it representing an improving (or not) process despite any pressing of the envelope, as the saying goes.

And even though the ‘odds’ are good that your beribboned box will drop down your chimney on schedule, (most of even the not insignificant 1% were only ‘statistically’ delayed, by hours to a day or two at most), when it does happen to you, the odds don’t matter.  

But they ARE nevertheless ‘better’ if you be sure to consider heeding the recommended cut-off’s.  They’ve been saying so - we’ve been seeing so - for ‘years’.