2025 Christmas Shipping Deadlines – USPS, Amazon, FedEx, & UPS
Don’t get caught in a holiday shipping snag — check out this year’s Christmas shipping deadlines!
With the Christmas shopping season ramping up earlier and earlier, shipping carriers are already estimating when you need to mail those gifts out!
To avoid delays, it’s best to be aware of the estimated shipping times from popular carriers. To help you prepare for the holiday shipping rush, we’ve created this helpful guide with all of the 2025 shipping deadlines for Amazon, FedEx, USPS, and UPS. We’ve even included gift-acceptance policies for each carrier, too!
Looking to thank a delivery person this holiday season? Check out our fun printable and guide to setting up your very own delivery driver appreciation station!
Amazon’s Christmas Shipping Deadlines
Amazon hasn’t published its Holiday Delivery Calendar for 2025 yet, but we’ve listed last year’s shipping deadlines as a reference point for your convenience. We definitely recommend finalizing your Amazon purchases a little earlier than usual this year, just to be on the safe side. So try to beat last year’s deadlines, if you can!
- December 14 – free shipping on $35 orders
- December 18 – free standard shipping within 3-5 days (free for Prime members)
- December 22 – free two-day shipping for Prime members
- December 23 – free one-day delivery for Prime members
- December 24 – free same-day delivery in select cities for Prime members on $35 orders
🎁 Gift Policy: Amazon uses a wide range of delivery methods, and some delivery workers may not be permitted to receive cash or cash equivalent gifts. A non-monetary gift valued at $20 or less is most likely to be appreciated.
FedEx Christmas Shipping Deadlines
- December 15 – FedEx Ground Economy
- December 17 – FedEx Ground 5-Day Transit, FedEx Home Delivery 5-Day Transit
- December 18 – FedEx Ground 4-Day Transit, FedEx Home Delivery 4-Day Transit
- December 19 – FedEx Ground 3-Day Transit, FedEx Home Delivery 3-Day Transit
- December 20 – FedEx Express Saver
- December 22 – FedEx 2-Day, FedEx 2-Day AM, FedEx Ground 2-Day Transit, FedEx Home Delivery 2-Day Transit
- December 23 – FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx Standard Overnight, Extra Hours, FedEx Ground 1-Day Transit, FedEx Home Delivery 1-Day Transit
- December 24 – FedEx SameDay
🎁 Gift Policy: FedEx employees are not permitted to accept gifts of cash or cash equivalents (such as gift cards and gift certificates). Employees may accept “moderate” gifts like merchandise, food, entertainment tickets, etc.
USPS Christmas Shipping Deadlines
- December 17 – USPS Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail
- December 18 – Priority Mail
- December 20 – Priority Mail Express Service
🎁 Gift Policy: USPS Employees are permitted to accept a gift valued at $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. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period.
UPS Christmas Shipping Deadlines
- December 19 – UPS 3-Day Select, UPS Worldwide Expedited U.S. to Mexico
- December 22 – UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS Worldwide Expedited U.S. to Canada, UPS Worldwide Express U.S. to Mexico
- December 23 – UPS Next Day Air, UPS Worldwide Express U.S. to Canada
🎁 Gift Policy: Rumor has it that UPS encourages its drivers to decline tips, but they’re not expressly prohibited from accepting cash or other monetary gifts.
Comments 0