Last date for delivery before Christmas: Royal Mail, Amazon, Evri

Still need to send letters or parcels to loved ones for Christmas? Want to place a last-minute order to add one more present beneath the Christmas tree?

You’ll need to act fast. That’s because the deadline for Royal Mail to guarantee delivery of first-class post in time for Christmas is today (Friday December 16, 2022). The deadline is much earlier than previous years due to the impact of strike action from Royal Mail workers, which has caused huge delays in the system nationwide.

Royal Mail has been forced to bring forward the last postage date by five days because of the industrial action.

Second-class post is unlikely to arrive before Christmas, Royal Mail has confirmed. Letters already in the system should arrive soon, but anything sent today will most likely be delivered later this month. First-class post sent today – December 16 – should still be delivered well in advance of Christmas.

From tomorrow, Royal Mail will no longer be able to guarantee that your letter or parcel will be delivered before December 25th, so you’ll need to act quickly!

If you need to send an item next week there are still two ways to ensure delivery before Christmas with Royal Mail. Special delivery guaranteed – sometimes referred to as next-day delivery – can be sent until Wednesday December 21, 2022 and still arrive before the 25th.

Parcelforce Express 24, available at Post Office branches, can still be posted on December 22 to be delivered before Christmas.

If you’re ordering presents from Amazon, you’ve got a little more time for your online shopping – and still take delivery of your item before Christmas Day! Amazon has confirmed that anyone using its FREE Standard Shipping option will need to place their order by Monday December 19, 2022.

This option is reserved for those without an Amazon Prime membership. If you want to avoid paying for postage, you’ll need to place an order that includes £10 of more of eligible books (these are clearly marked on the product listings) or £20 or more of items from almost any product category. Once you’ve reached the threshold, delivery costs will be removed during the checkout process.

Amazon’s FREE Standard Shipping takes between 3-5 days after the order has been dispatched from the warehouse. Parcels to residential addresses may be delivered on a Sunday, Amazon warns customers.

Priority Delivery carries an extra charge of 99p per order for all non-Prime members. This speeds up delivery to two days after dispatch – perfect for those who are running short on time and don’t mind adding an extra 99p to their order after qualifying for free delivery. Parcels are delivered on Saturday and Sundays, but not on public holiday using this method, Amazon warns.

One-Day Delivery and Premium Delivery are considerably faster, with items usually arriving at your door just one-day after dispatch. For those without a Prime membership, Amazon charges between £3.95 to £4.99 per delivery. The costs vary depending on the item and size of the parcel, with books, music, DVDs, and video games at the most affordable end of the scale.

If that’s a little steep, you can save yourself some change by getting your One-Day Delivery and Premium Delivery orders sent to an Amazon Hub Locker or valid Pickup Location for just £2.99 for all non-Prime members. The deadline to receive your parcel when paying for One-Day Delivery and Premium Delivery will be December 23, 2022.

And finally, as the name suggests, Same-Day Delivery means you can get your item before 10pm on the same evening that you added the item to your basket. This option isn’t available on every item from Amazon UK. Same-Day (Evening Delivery) deadline are delivered the same day, between 6pm and 10pm.

For those without a Prime membership, this option costs £5.99 per delivery. The deadline is December 24, 2022.

You’ll notice that everything listed above is specifically for non-Prime members.

That’s because the hugely-popular membership scheme unlocks next-day delivery (and same-day delivery to eligible postcodes) at no extra cost. There’s no minimum spend in your basket to qualify, and your orders will automatically be sent at the same speed as Amazon’s One-Day Delivery option (saving you between £3.95 to £4.99 per delivery).

Prime membership costs £95 per year or £8.99 per month.

However, Amazon offers a 30-day trial of the service for free. If you sign-up, you’ll be able to dramatically extend your shopping period. During the 30-days, you’ll be able to take advantage of all of the perks of Prime membership, including unlimited next-day and same-day delivery on hundreds of thousands of eligible items at no extra cost.

You’ll also be able to access exclusive boxsets, blockbusters and Premier League sports fixtures on Prime Video, store an unlimited number of photos in the cloud with Prime Photos, free PC games to download via Prime Gaming, and a slew of other perks, like an upgrade to Deliveroo Plus for one-year.

Even if you’ve taken part in an Amazon Prime trial before, it’s possible that your account is eligible for another tester. Amazon usually allows customers to take-out a 30-day Prime trial every year or so. You can check whether your account has become eligible again by visiting this page.

Cancel anytime during the 30-day trial period and you won’t be charged for the month-long Amazon Prime experience.

Evri has confirmed the last postage dates for customers hoping to guarantee delivery before Christmas Day. If you’re looking to send your own parcel, with collection from your home address, you’ll need to arrange pick-up by Saturday December 17, 2022 to guarantee delivery before the 25th.

For standard delivery, the last day is December 18 before 11am. And for next-day delivery, you’ll need to send your items by December 19 before 11am.

Evri is one of the biggest delivery firms operating in the UK, with around 700 million packages delivered each year. The company was previously known as Hermes, but rebranded when the results of an investigation by The Times into the firm revealed widespread mishandling of parcels.