Green Monday will have holiday shoppers racing against shipping deadlines

Holiday shoppers could see challenging 2021 season

Retail experts say the best thing for holiday shoppers is to start buying early before items are out-of-stock.

There’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday and then comes Green Monday.

According to Investopedia, Green Monday is "one of the retail industry's busiest shopping days, occurring on the second Monday in December."

eBay claimed to have coined the term in 2007. "‘Green Monday’ continues to be a big online shopping day and has consistently ranked as one of eBay’s top five sales days of the year," the e-commerce company said on its website. "In fact, in 2017 it ranked as eBay’s third-highest sales day during the holidays."

However, holiday shopping on Green Monday this year may not guarantee your gift still comes on time given widespread supply chain issues and the fact that some shipping deadlines have already passed.

FedEx shipping deadlines extend from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, depending on which shipping options customers choose.

FedEx driver gifts boy with new hoop, basketball

A FedEx driver gifted an Ohio family she saw on her route often with a new basketball and basketball hoop in a random act of kindness.

"The busiest time of the season for the Postal Service begins two weeks before Christmas," USPS said in a statement. "It’s expected that customer traffic at all Post Office locations will steadily increase beginning the week of Dec. 6, with the week of Dec. 13-18 anticipated to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week of the season."

However, FedEx is warning that customers could see delays in their holiday shipments after severe weather ripped through at least five states, leaving widespread devastation Friday.

"FedEx Express experienced substantial disruptions at the Memphis hub last [Friday} night due to severe thunderstorms," the company said on its website. "Potential delays are possible for package deliveries across the U.S. with a delivery commitment of December 11, 2021."

UPS is urging customers to ship their packages now, with Dec. 23 being the last day for on-time deliveries with "UPS Next Day Air."

The U.S. Postal Service shipping deadlines range between Dec. 15 and Dec. 23 depending on the shipping option.

Below is a complete list of shipping deadlines:

FedEx Express

FedEx 1 Day Freight — Tues., Dec. 21
FedEx 2 Day Freight — Weds., Dec. 22
FedEx 3 Day Freight — Tues., Dec. 21
Express Saver — Tues., Dec. 21
2Day & 2Day AM — Weds., Dec. 22
Overnight Services — Thurs., Dec. 23
FedEx Same Day — Fri., Dec. 24

FedEx Ground

FedEx Ground Economy — Thurs., Dec. 9
FedEx Ground and Home Delivery — Weds., Dec. 15

FedEx Freight

FedEx Freight Economy — Thurs., Dec. 9
FedEx Freight Priority — Weds., Dec. 15
FedEx Freight Direct — Weds., Dec. 15

UPS

UPS Ground shipping and Standard Services — Check the website for a quote
UPS 3-Day Select and Worldwide Expedited — Tues., Dec. 21
UPS second-day air services and UPS Worldwide Express Services (U.S. to Mexico) — Weds., Dec. 22
UPS next-day air services and UPS Worldwide Express Services (U.S. to Canada) — Thurs., Dec. 23
No pickup service, UPS holiday — Fri., Dec. 25

UPS' service guarantee remains suspended for most services due to COVID-19