Cheapest Way to Ship a Package for the Holidays

With the holiday season in full swing, merchants and online sellers are gearing up for the busiest and most crucial shipping period of the year. 

The weeks between Black Friday and Christmas bring a surge of parcels and gift deliveries, as shoppers across the globe send presents to loved ones and take advantage of special retail offers and discounts.

This seasonal rush, known as "peak season”, occurs in Q4 annually and comes with unique challenges for brands, especially rising shipping costs. For both retailers and customers, finding cost-effective ways to ship Christmas gifts is key to managing budgets and ensuring a smooth holiday experience. While free shipping may seem ideal as it can positively impact sales, it’s often not the most economical option.

In this guide, we’ll break down the holiday shipping landscape—comparing major carriers, highlighting surcharges, and offering tips for packing and sending gifts efficiently. Plus, discover how Easyship’s tools can simplify your logistics, helping you find the best rates and options for hassle-free holiday shipping. It’s going to be a holly, jolly, and helpful good time!

Sign up for a free Easyship account today to save up to 91% on shipping from all the world’s top courier companies.

How to Prepare for the Busiest Mailing and Delivery Days

The United States is expected to see a surge in online shoppers, reaching nearly 285 million by 2025, up from 268 million in 2022.

With so much being spent during the holidays, it’s wise to be prepared and stay ahead when it comes to getting orders shipped out. So, what can merchants and consumers do to prepare for the holiday shipping and shopping season? Here are a few ideas.

Have a Clear Shipping Policy

More sales mean more revenue—but a surge in orders to ship can also potentially lead to more delivery issues or delays. A clear, transparent shipping policy is one of the best tools a retailer can use to prevent misunderstandings. Make sure this policy is easy to find on your website, potentially on the footer or featured more prominently, giving customers clear information upfront.

Here’s what to include in your shipping policy to keep misunderstandings to a minimum:

• Courier Options: Inform customers about the carriers you use for shipping, this builds trust and manages expectations on whether both postal and express delivery services are available
• Service Types: Specify whether you offer same-day, overnight, or international shipping options—this is particularly important during the peak holiday season as people plan gifts and events
• Handling Times: Shipping is more than just transit time. Clarify how long fulfillment and processing take to manage expectations.
• Pricing: Outline shipping rates upfront; transparency here builds trust, even if shipping isn’t free.
• Delivery Timeframes: Set realistic delivery expectations by providing clear timeframes, especially around peak seasons.
• Returns: Include a clear returns policy as part of your shipping information—it’s essential to good customer service.
• International Shipping: Specify the countries you ship to and whether you follow DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) or DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) for international orders.
• Tracking Information: Let customers know how and when they’ll receive tracking details for their orders.
• Holiday Shipping Deadlines: Provide deadlines for holiday orders to help customers plan their purchases in time for seasonal events.

If you need to update your shipping policy ahead of the 2024 holiday season, give this free shipping policy generator a try.

Know Your Shipping Deadlines

One of the most common questions from customers during the holiday season is, “Can you guarantee delivery by Christmas Eve?”. To address this, it's essential to display your regular shipping rates and delivery times on your website, with special updates for the holiday season.

Transparency around courier cut-off dates and your holiday shipping deadlines keeps customers informed and reassured during this busy, high-stress season. It’s a best practice to set your own cut-off dates to ensure orders arrive by December 25th, with an added buffer to account for any unexpected delays.

Below are the estimated 2024 holiday shipping deadlines for major U.S. couriers, based on previous years’ schedules and updates from each carrier:

Plan for Lead Time & Delays

The holiday peak season has a unique way of complicating logistics. While it’s typically a best practice to add an extra day or two to your delivery estimate for flexibility, the holidays often call for an even longer lead time. With everyone shipping gifts simultaneously, it’s essential to account for potential bottlenecks.

Additionally, seasonal roadblocks like stock shortages, winter weather, and supply chain disruptions are more common at this time of year.

Be Prepared for Holiday Surcharges

The holiday season brings a surge in shipping activity as people send gifts and packages ahead of celebrations. To manage the high volume, many couriers implement seasonal surcharges. Check our Holiday Surcharge Guide for detailed information on seasonal fees to help you plan accordingly and avoid unexpected costs.

What’s the Cheapest Way to Ship Christmas Gifts?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for affordable holiday shipping. Factors like package weight and size, delivery speed, and shipping destination all play a role in determining costs. 

For the most budget-friendly option, consider these four key factors:

1. Speed

As instant gratification becomes the norm, customers expect speedy shipping. But that’s a pay-to-play scenario. The faster the delivery speed, the more you will have to pay.

Different courier companies offer various time-sensitive delivery options to cater to your preferred delivery timeframe at a cost. Overnight delivery may cost five times more than ground delivery.

For shipping within two to three days, USPS Priority Mail offers the most competitive rates for packages weighing 10 pounds and below. But UPS and FedEx services offer more enticing rates when shipping packages above 10 pounds within the same delivery window.

2. Distance

Are you shipping gifts domestically or internationally? Down the street or down the coast? Either way, you pay for mileage.

Shipping carriers divide the US into 8 shipping zones based on the distance your package has to travel from the mailing address or zip code. The further the shipping zone from the destination address, the higher the shipping rate will be.

Of course, international shipping comes at a higher price.

3. Weight

How heavy or light your package is will impact its shipping rate. USPS offers the most competitive rates when shipping lightweight packages whereas FedEx and UPS Ground / Home delivery offer the lowest rates for heavy packages within the US.

4. Size

It’s not just a package’s weight on the scale (also known as the dead weight). The volumetric weight also matters, as in how much space a package takes up in the back of the truck. The larger the package, the greater the shipping cost.

Here’s how you calculate volumetric weight: 

Dimensional weight = (L x W x H)/ Divisor.

Other Considerations For Holiday Shipping

It’s not all about the lowest costs. You — and your customers — likely want those nice, add-on services that guarantee an all-around better experience. Sure, they may cost extra, but they’re usually worth it. They include:

• Insurance: Insurance helps to mitigate any risks related to lost or damaged packages — especially high-profile ones, like holiday gifts. When looking into the cheapest way to ship Christmas gifts it’s important to keep in mind that the cheapest option may not include insurance. However, it may be worth it to spring for it.
• Tracking: Tracking is not a bonus these days. It gives consumers peace of mind and builds trust by providing updates on a package’s journey. Be wary of budget shipping with spotty tracking
• Handling Fees: Handling fees are sometimes applied depending on how delicate your shipment is — think ornaments or those super-special, super-fragile Christmas gifts.
• Fuel and residential surcharges: Frequently, inexpensive shipping has hidden costs — like last-mile delivery fees, fuel, or residential surcharges. When making your choice, make sure to check for these additional charges.

Delivery guarantee: It's in your best interest to check whether the cheapest shipping option commits to its delivery timelines so that you don't inconvenience your customers. Customer service is key!

The Best Way to Ship Christmas Gifts

Imagine opening a gift on Christmas morning only to find a delicate, hand-blown ornament broken beyond repair. To help avoid such let-downs, this section covers best practices for packaging fragile items securely.

It’s essential to clearly label fragile or hazardous goods on the exterior of the parcel, but there’s more to proper packing. You’ll need specific materials, such as packing tape, appropriately sized boxes, packing peanuts, and other protective supplies.

Once you have these materials, follow our instructions to safely package and ship your items. For detailed steps on secure shipments, Check out our full guide on safe shipments here.

• Carefully pack the object in a shipping box with enough packing materials to keep it safe.
• Research couriers and choose one based on factors like cost and delivery time.
• Obtain shipping insurance to minimize risks for valuable items like gifts.
• Schedule a pickup for your package or drop it off at the courier location.

Find the Cheapest Way to Ship Your Christmas Packages with Easyship

There’s no one-size-fits-all for shipping solutions. What works best for one parcel or customer may not work for another. Let's look at a cost breakdown for two scenarios with the major couriers to get a sense of prices. We estimated these rates using Easyship’s rates calculator, which provides real-time, real-world rates.

Here are the rates for shipping  within the US for a 6 x 4 x 1 package

Find Fast and Affordable Shipping for the Holidays

This holiday season, let your customers take control. While sticking with the lowest-cost courier may seem like a good way to save money, offering multiple courier options empowers your customers to choose how much they’re willing to pay for the delivery speed they need.

Need help with the logistics? Easyship makes it simple. With over 550 international shipping solutions on our cloud-based platform and discounts up to 91% across multiple carriers, we handle the complexities of fulfillment so you don’t have to.

Easyship offers other shipping tools to help streamline the shipping experience and delight your buyers. They include:

• Comparison Tool: With our courier comparison tool, you can compare the different shipping services offered by each courier, allowing you to choose your cheapest way to ship based on other factors, not just the cost
• Insurance: To help keep your packages safe in transit, Easyship offers you insurance up to $10,000
• Tracking: From custom-branded tracking emails to automatic message alerts, Easyship helps you maintain package visibility with your buyers throughout the delivery process
• Returns Management: Streamline returns with Easyship’s eCommerce software, saving time, reducing costs, and enhancing customer satisfaction with a smooth, hassle-free process.

Sign up for a free Easyship account today to get started!