2012 holiday shipping dates and other important stuff

It's that time of year when everything picks up and gets uber hectic. For those shopping handmade during the holidays, I've posted mailing deadlines for Christmas delivery from the USPS website:

Domestic Mail
First Class Mail–Dec. 20th
Priority Mail–Dec. 21st
Express Mail*–Dec. 22nd
Parcel Post–Dec. 14th
Destination Network Distribution Center (DNDC) Drop Ship–Dec. 19th
Destination Delivery Unit (DDU) Drop Ship–Dec. 21st
* Some Express Mail destinations may have extended service commitments.

International Mail
First Class Mail:
-Africa, Central/South America–Dec. 3rd
-Asia/Pac. Rim, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, Middle East–Dec. 10th

Priority Mail:
-Africa, Central/South America–Dec. 3rd <--- 1st="1st" as="as" class="class" don="don" it="it" know="know" p="p" s="s" same="same" t="t" the="the" why="why">-Asia/Pac. Rim, Australia/New Zealand, Mexico–Dec. 10th
-Canada, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East–Dec. 13th

Express Mail:
-Africa, Central/South America–Dec. 11th
-Asia/Pac. Rim, Australia/New Zealand, Caribbean, Mexico, Mexico, Europe, Middle East–Dec. 15th
-Canada–Dec. 17th

Global Express Guaranteed*:
-Asia/Pac. Rim, Australia/New Zealand–Dec. 18th
-Africa, Caribbean, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, Middle East–Dec. 19th
-Canada, Mexico–Dec. 20th
* GXG® Notes:

1. Cutoff date does not take into account time needed for customs clearance.
2. Should allocate extra transit day(s) for delivery outside major cities.
3. Last date to ship to Afghanistan is December 18. Last date to ship to Iraq is December 17. GXG does not deliver to APO and FPO addresses.

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CUSTOM T-SHIRT ORDERS:
Due to the fact that the American Apparel factory is located on the opposite end of the country and that shipped blanks can take a while for arrival, I'm advising all of my lovely customers to place their custom t-shirt orders in advance if you wish to have them arrive in time for Christmas. Below are the deadlines for getting your orders in:

United States–Dec. 7th
Africa, Central/South America– Nov. 23rd
Asia/Pac. Rim, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, Middle East–Nov. 27th

This is for orders that are being shipped First Class only! Expedited orders will incur extra shipping charges for the buyer.

Please understand that I cannot give a 100% guarantee for Christmas delivery due to potential delays from bad weather, possible defects in merchandise, and/or human error. Many thanks for your patience!

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Running short on time? I can ship directly to the gift recipient AND I also offer gift wrapping and handwritten note services at no extra charge! Simply mention that the order is a gift in "Note to Seller" box and enter said recipient's name/address in the shipping address fields. You can also request the free gift wrapping/handwritten note in said "Note to Seller," and indicate what you'd like written in note. Copy of invoice will NOT be included in package, of course.