How to Save Money Shipping Gifts

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By Amy Laine
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Save Money Shipping Gifts

Every year millions of packages are shipped across the country to await Christmas morning. If you are one of the many people that ship gifts and are looking at ways to cut out some costs around the holidays, shipping costs is a good place to start.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

When shopping online look for websites that offer free shipping and ship directly to your recipient. Most sites will let you mark the package as a gift and will only send a gift recipient. If wrapping is important to you look for sites that offer free or cheep wrapping.
Step 2

If shopping for a large group of people or kids that will be given bulky items avoid paying for shipping by shopping locally. Find out what shops are in their area that offer online purchasing and shop to find the right gift. Smaller stores will also offer wrapping and will have the packages ready to be picked up by your recipients. Chain discount stores may offer the lowest prices, but usually do not offer wrapping. If the gift will not be wrapped let the head of the household know so they can make sure it is wrapped before the kids see your presents.
Step 3

Gift cards may seem impersonal but they still go along way. To avoid high shipping costs you may also want to consider family subscription gifts. My favorite is a subscription to movie places that mail you rental movies or allow you to download them from your computer, Blockbuster.
Step 4

When buying gifts you know will be shipped, choose your purchase carefully. You may choose a gift over another because of cost but the cheaper one may be heavier and more expensive to ship.
Step 5

Take into account the wight of the packages you are sending to one house hold. If you are sending all clothes or items that do not need a lot of padding consider not wrapping all items in individual boxes. The boxes themselves can add a lot to the weight of a package.