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Now it’s October it’s officially acceptable to start planning for Christmas.
Given that this year Christmas may be quite different to normal it’s more important than ever to be well prepared, especially when it comes to sending presents in the post.
Normally you might give gifts to friends and family members in person, either before or on Christmas day, but we don’t know what restrictions may be in place by December.
We’ll likely be relying on the postal service more than normal to make sure everyone gets their gifts on time, and so it’s vital to make sure you post presents with plenty of time to spare.
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Thankfully, Royal Mail’s Parcelforce Worldwide has announced its last posting dates for Christmas – the dates by which you must post your parcels to guarantee arrival for Christmas Day.
It does recommend that you send your Christmas presents as early as possible, to get them under the tree in time – but these are the definitive deadlines.
Parcels sent for UK delivery using the two day services may be sent up to Tuesday, December 22 and next day parcels up to Wednesday, December 24.
To send to Ireland you’ll need to get that parcel posted by Thursday, December 17.
For Western Europe if you pick the express option you’ll need to post it by Friday, December 18, while for the value option the deadline is Tuesday, December 8.
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For the USA and Canada you can wait until Friday, December 18 and pick the express service – but for the economy option you better get moving – the deadline is Friday, October 30.
For Eastern Europe and the rest of the world the express post deadline is Friday, December 4, or the value option is Friday, November 27.
These last posting dates are a guide only and are subject to change – you can check here for the latest information.
