Shipping Tips and Tricks General shipping tips Think about where you are shipping to. Planning on sending something that could melt, or doesn’t do well if rained on? A box full of artisan chocolates might not fare too well if it’s sitting on your giftee’s doorstep for 12 hours in over 100-degree heat. Make the recipient address very clear. When you retrieve your match on redditgifts’ website, below the address, there are links to print a couple different options for address labels. Hand written contents are great, but having the postal service wonder if that “S” is a “S” or a “5” might cause delivery issues. Keep a receipt or some form of proof of shipping. Hanging onto the receipt ensures that if there are any issues with delivery, you have proof, and somewhere to start in tracking it down. For many places, it is illegal to ship alcohol across state/provincial/federal borders.Enough said. You are not required to tell your giftee who you are, but you should include a return address. If, for some reason, your gift can not be delivered to your giftee, you don’t want it disappearing on the return to you. Pack your gifts as if it will be dropped at some point in its travels. I make no accusations, just stating a possibility. Check the delivery cut off dates for your carrier of choice. Keep in mind those dates are a guaranteed to arrive by Christmas date. It is possible to ship after that date and still have it arrive on time. I know that leaves some tight timelines if you want to guarantee delivery by Christmas, but everything is so late this year. If you can’t get your gifts shipped by those deadlines, that’s fine—we only require you to have the package in the mail by EOD on the 19th—this is just a friendly reminder since many people want their match to be able to receive their gift by Christmas. “Tracking” is not always tracking. Some services are not required to scan the package unless signature for delivery is requested. That means that if you check tracking, it might stick in a “tracking number issued” state, even well after the gift is delivered. Addendums for international shipping International shipping has a few gotchas; we’ve listed a few of the most common below. After getting your giftee, but before shopping, check postal rates. The size of the box or just a few extra ounces can add big dollar signs to international shipping. If you know you’re trying to keep the shipping costs in an acceptable range for you, knowing the size and weight limitations before shopping will help greatly. Customs forms numbers are tracking numbers. If you are not given an explicit tracking number for international shipping, try using the number from the customs form. Fill out your customs form honestly and within reason. Claiming a 10-lb box has one pair of socks worth 2$ is going to raise flags, and will probably result in your giftee paying steeper charges than if the form was honest and said “2x books @ $10, 4x Candy @ $5, or 1x board games @ $30” Mark your parcel as a gift. We can not prepay customs and duties, nor can you guess what customs is going to be. redditgifts sent gifts to all of our wonderful moderators, and although 5 were international (2 even going to the same country) only one of our mods was hit with customs charges. If you are buying straight from a retailer international to the recipient, they usually do not mark it as a gift. Which means your giftee will have a higher chance of paying customs fees. Drop shipping, aka buying online and shipping straight to your gift You are more than welcome to buy your gift from an online retailer. If you do, a few things to remember: Some places do not include gift messages when they ship an order. If you are not prompted to provide a gift message, you might want to drop your giftee a note letting them know it’s coming. You wouldn’t want the box sitting on their table for a few days while they scratch their head, wondering where it came from. If the retailer is in a different country than your giftee, your giftee might have to pay customs fees. Many retailers can not mark the contents as a gift, even if it is a gift. Some people appreciate a personal touch. If you’re shipping straight from the retailer to your giftee, consider sending them a card or something small to give that personal touch. At the very least, if the retailer provides an option, include a gift message to let your match know it’s from their Secret Santa and why you picked it out for them. Check for online stores in your giftee’s country. Chances are you can find the same or similar items in online stores based out of their country.

How to Guarantee your Package’s Safe Transit Get It There in One Piece Last week we published a comparison of FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service, based on the wear and tear experienced by a test package we rigged with a clandestine data logger. Among other things, our findings proved that expedited shipping is a technological marvel. A number of times, in fact, our package arrived at its destination earlier than expected. Also, the box really got pounded. We would be tempted to chalk those dings and dents up to the “industrial” nature of the shipping industry, as one carrier’s spokesman described it to us—if not for the strangely mesmerizing videos popping up on the Internet that show handlers flat abusing the parcels in their care.Granted, those three companies employ approximately 1.3 million people combined—so it’s hardly a surprise that a few workers might not always adhere to company standards. Nonetheless, one never knows if the person handling your mail is poised to become a viral video star. So in advance of the gift-giving season, here’s a packaging primer to make sure your shipments arrive in one piece. Single- or Double-Ply? UPS credits the engineers at its Package Design and Test Lab with creating extensive “Box Strength Guidelines” to “ensure your package is of adequate strength to provide sufficient protection.” The basic rule of thumb: Add the length, width and depth of your box, in inches. If that number is 75 inches or less, it should hold no more than 30 pounds. Heavy-duty double-walled boxes can handle twice the load. (UPS’s complete chart can be found here.) All three companies recommend using fresh boxes whenever possible. “The more times a box is used, the more it loses its original protective qualities,” according to UPS, “so a previously used box may not adequately protect your shipment.” Especially if it’s being kicked. Cushion the Blow Inside the box, items should be wrapped individually with a minimum 2 in. of cushioning (3 in. is even better) on all sides—and placed at least 2 in. from the walls of the box. Fill any voids with even more cushioning—and pack the padding all the way to the edges of the box. USPS recommends [http://www.usps.com/send/preparemailandpackages/preparingpackages.htm] that you, “close and shake the box to see whether you have enough cushioning. Add more newspaper, styrofoam,

Shipping Tips and Tricks General shipping tips Think about where you are shipping to. Planning on sending something that could melt, or doesn’t do well if rained on? A box full of artisan chocolates might not fare too well if it’s sitting on your giftee’s doorstep for 12 hours in over 100-degree heat. Make the recipient address very clear. When you retrieve your match on redditgifts’ website, below the address, there are links to print a couple different options for address labels. Hand written contents are great, but having the postal service wonder if that “S” is a “S” or a “5” might cause delivery issues. Keep a receipt or some form of proof of shipping. Hanging onto the receipt ensures that if there are any issues with delivery, you have proof, and somewhere to start in tracking it down. For many places, it is illegal to ship alcohol across state/provincial/federal borders.Enough said. You are not required to tell your giftee who you are, but you should include a return address. If, for some reason, your gift can not be delivered to your giftee, you don’t want it disappearing on the return to you. Pack your gifts as if it will be dropped at some point in its travels. I make no accusations, just stating a possibility. Check the delivery cut off dates for your carrier of choice. Keep in mind those dates are a guaranteed to arrive by Christmas date. It is possible to ship after that date and still have it arrive on time. I know that leaves some tight timelines if you want to guarantee delivery by Christmas, but everything is so late this year. If you can’t get your gifts shipped by those deadlines, that’s fine—we only require you to have the package in the mail by EOD on the 19th—this is just a friendly reminder since many people want their match to be able to receive their gift by Christmas. “Tracking” is not always tracking. Some services are not required to scan the package unless signature for delivery is requested. That means that if you check tracking, it might stick in a “tracking number issued” state, even well after the gift is delivered. Addendums for international shipping International shipping has a few gotchas; we’ve listed a few of the most common below. After getting your giftee, but before shopping, check postal rates. The size of the box or just a few extra ounces can add big dollar signs to international shipping. If you know you’re trying to keep the shipping costs in an acceptable range for you, knowing the size and weight limitations before shopping will help greatly. Customs forms numbers are tracking numbers. If you are not given an explicit tracking number for international shipping, try using the number from the customs form. Fill out your customs form honestly and within reason. Claiming a 10-lb box has one pair of socks worth 2$ is going to raise flags, and will probably result in your giftee paying steeper charges than if the form was honest and said “2x books @ $10, 4x Candy @ $5, or 1x board games @ $30” Mark your parcel as a gift. We can not prepay customs and duties, nor can you guess what customs is going to be. redditgifts sent gifts to all of our wonderful moderators, and although 5 were international (2 even going to the same country) only one of our mods was hit with customs charges. If you are buying straight from a retailer international to the recipient, they usually do not mark it as a gift. Which means your giftee will have a higher chance of paying customs fees. Drop shipping, aka buying online and shipping straight to your gift You are more than welcome to buy your gift from an online retailer. If you do, a few things to remember: Some places do not include gift messages when they ship an order. If you are not prompted to provide a gift message, you might want to drop your giftee a note letting them know it’s coming. You wouldn’t want the box sitting on their table for a few days while they scratch their head, wondering where it came from. If the retailer is in a different country than your giftee, your giftee might have to pay customs fees. Many retailers can not mark the contents as a gift, even if it is a gift. Some people appreciate a personal touch. If you’re shipping straight from the retailer to your giftee, consider sending them a card or something small to give that personal touch. At the very least, if the retailer provides an option, include a gift message to let your match know it’s from their Secret Santa and why you picked it out for them. Check for online stores in your giftee’s country. Chances are you can find the same or similar items in online stores based out of their country.