I can hardly believe it is that time of year.
I don't really like putting this out early, but we are closing an extra day this year the day before Thanksgiving. Orders in by 5 am Tuesday 21 will ship out before Thanksgiving - after that orders will not ship out until Tuesday, November 28.
I (the Alchemist) will not be answering any emails November 22-26. It’s family time. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
The last day we will be shipping is Friday December 22. And hopefully if you need anything by that Monday (December 25 – Christmas) you will have ordered well in advance.
It would of course be in your best interest to have your last orders in Tuesday December 12. That will allow us processing and packing time to get it out by standard delivery and have it to you by Christmas (really December 22 for UPS and December 23 for USPS).
December 14 is the last day to order for Standard UPS Ground and USPS Priority Mail. They will ship out Friday December 15.
We will do our complete best to get any order out on Tuesday December 19 if you have your order in by midnight the day before (Monday the 18th). No standard Ground shipments (USPS Priority or UPS Ground) are guaranteed to arrive before Christmas if shipped the week of 18-22 although some if shipped to WA, OR or CA may arrive. Anything shipped this week requires UPS 3 Day or better. And you will note a 2 day padding. 1 day to process. 1 day because UPS demands it. See below. All dates are ORDER dates, not ship dates.
To summarize:
December 12 – recommended ‘polite’ last order date for standard shipping by UPS or USPS
December 14 – Last day for UPS Ground and USPS Priority for east coast delivery.
December 17 – Last day we will guarantee shipping before closing if you pick UPS 3 day select
December 18 – Last day we will guarantee shipping before closing if you pick UPS 2 Day Air. USPS Priority going to Oregon, Washington and some of California may arrive in time for Christmas.
December 19 – Last day we will guarantee shipping before closing if you pick UPS Next Day Air.
December 20-21. Your order will go out before we close but will not arrive before Christmas.
December 22 – Last day of shipping – Will not arrive before Christmas. Orders received this day will most likely not ship until 2018.
December 23 – January 2 – Closed for holidays – no orders will ship out but the online stores will remain active.
IMPORTANT – When you are choosing your shipping method for the holidays, it is best to add in 2 WORKING days for processing, packing and general mayhem. I’ve tried to account for them above.
So if your estimated transit time is 5-7 days (sorry, my software won’t tell you this, you will need to look it up on either UPS or USPS), then you would be well advised to order 10 days before you need it. i.e. December 14-15 for delivery by Christmas if you live across the country (we are in Oregon).
It is also worth noting that USPS as various options for Priority mail labeled “2 Day Priority” or “3 Day Priority”. These are estimates only. I’m going to repeat that. Those names are USPS trademarked names and not shipping guarantees. They are still Priority mail and no different than the various Priority Flat rate options. I’m not offering any USPS Express this year. It had too many issues in previous years.