There are just two weeks to go until Christmas, which means 14 shopping days left, including Christmas Eve – even fewer if you’re you plan to shop online, as you’ll have to factor in extra time to process and deliver your order. Make sure you don’t miss the last postage dates.
If you’re shopping online, you’ll also have to factor in the added risk – although secure website and payment technology is always improving, hackers and fraudsters are always finding more devious ways to defraud people, and so online fraud is still a massive problem.
So, to help ensure you stay safe as you shop online at Christmas, Sainsbury’s Bank has produced this informative infographic…
Shop safely online this Christmas
Shopping online is infinitely more convenient than heading out to the high street, but you need to take care when it comes to the websites you’re using, and how you choose to pay. So, before you commit to buy, always make sure of the following:
- The site you’re using is genuine
- The site you’re using is secure
- You’re not following a link from an email that could be a fake
- You’re not connected to a pubic wi-fi network.
The infographic below expands on these points, and also offers advice on how to safely shop online using a mobile device, and how to get your money back after a scam (the blog then continues below)
What are the last posting dates before Christmas?
The last Royal Mail posting dates before Christmas are as follows:
- Second class mail – Friday, December 18
- First class mail – Monday, December 21
- Royal Mail Tracked 24 – Tuesday, December 22
- Special delivery – Wednesday, December 23
There will be no delivery and collection service from Christmas Eve through to Boxing day, but normal service will resume on Thursday December 27. There will also be no deliveries or collections on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. In Scotland, January 2 is a bank holiday so there will be no deliveries or collections north of the border.
It’s also worth noting that many online retailers use different delivery services, so always check the delivery dates and postage policy before committing to buy.
Although most delivery dates for International Economy (Surface Mail) and International Standard (Airmail) destinations have already passed, if you get your cards and parcels in the post today, they may still reach the following countries in time:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Luxembourg
- Portugal
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
- Spain
For reference, and to give you an idea of posting times if you’ve missed this year’s cut off dates, here are the last international posting deadlines for International Economy and International Standard.
International Economy
Saturday November 3 for Cyprus, Eastern Europe, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Turkey and Singapore
Saturday November 17 for Western Europe
International Standard
- Cyrpus and Malta – Thursday, December 10
- Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) – Friday, December 11
- Greece, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand – Saturday, December 12
- Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Canada and USA – Saturday, December 12
- Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland and Spain – Wednesday, December 16
- Belgium, France, Ireland and Luxembourg – Friday, December 18
The last dates for International Standard HM Forces Mail for British Forces Post Offices (BFPOs) are Monday, November 30 for operational BFPOs, and Monday, December 7 for static BFPOs.
