What should I do with the order deadlines?

Holiday order deadlines, also known as order-by dates, are suggested dates by which you should place orders for the best possibility to receive them in time for the holidays. Be transparent about order deadlines with your customers, and you’ll improve your overall customer loyalty because they’ll know what to expect. After the set order deadline, it’s unlikely that your customer will receive the order in time for the holiday, so keep your customers informed before it’s too late. Also, make sure that your products match our content guidelines . Here’s how you can share order deadlines: 1. Take a look at the order-by dates and see which apply to the products you’re selling 2. Make a marketing plan to determine when you should promote specific products with the shortest deadlines 3. Go over our holiday order deadlines guide to get ideas for marketing 4. Post the order deadlines in each product description

Will the deadlines change, and what happens if they do?

We can’t promise that our holiday order deadlines won’t change, but we’ll work our hardest to ensure the deadlines stay the same. We may recalculate the deadlines for the following reasons: If our fulfillment times fall behind or are faster than we estimated If fulfillment is affected by unexpected events like severe weather If some of our carriers change their projections or experience delays In case our deadlines get updated, you’ll see a red badge next to the dates you'll receive an email, so make sure your email notifications are on.

How can I encourage last-minute shopping?

If you want to extend your sales period to draw in last-minute holiday shoppers, here’s how you can do it: 1. Offer and promote express shipping when it’s no longer possible to get products in time with standard shipping. Express shipping is available for stores with live rates , but you can place your orders manually and access this shipping method during checkout. If you ship your products with Express shipping, consider raising the shipping costs on your storefront. 2. See which products have the furthest order-by dates and consider selling them as last-minute holiday gifts. 3. Pre-order your best-selling products in bulk and store them in Printful’s warehouses. Warehoused Printful products have order-by dates closer to the holidays as orders get shipped out as fast as in one day .

What should I do if my customers are unhappy with their orders?

There might be cases where you have to troubleshoot delays or issues with orders. It’s best if you: 1. Fill out a problem report if you have any concerns about your order. Note that for all orders placed between November 1 and December 31, 2021, problem reports can be submitted until January 31, 2022 . In case you run into any issues, please reach out to our team via chat or send an email to support@printful.com . 2. Go over our Return Policy to learn more about returned orders. 3. Read Printful Policies Your Store Should Copy blog to get free policy templates and talking points to use with your customers.

Why are order deadlines different in each region?

Our order deadlines differ by region because of local carrier delivery estimates, our product availability, and stock levels at the nearest fulfillment centers. Cut-off dates can also vary based on product category fulfillment estimates. For example, it usually takes longer to create apparel products. On the other hand, warehoused products have deadlines later in the month because we don’t have to factor in fulfillment time—they’re ready to ship at any moment.

Holiday Order Deadlines

Check every once in a while

We work our hardest to support your business, but know that our fulfillment times and carrier shipping estimates can change based on various factors, such as shipping delays, unexpected technical difficulties, or harsh weather.

Temporary shipping surcharges

It’s common practice for shipping carriers to increase their prices during the holiday season. This year, due to inflation, we’ve had to adapt by applying a peak-season surcharge to all orders to the US.

From Oct 3 to Jan 22, a $0.25 or $0.50 surcharge will be added to all orders with the destination address in the US. The surcharge amount will depend on the product category. If you have US-based customers, we suggest that you add the surcharge to your shipping or product prices.

How we get our order deadlines

Analyze fulfillment data

We take a look at data from previous years

Get carrier cut-off dates

Add our carrier estimated order-by dates

Add pre-holiday prep time

We factor in any pre-holiday preparations, like hiring employees

Final order deadlines

Add estimated fulfillment times with carrier order-by dates to get our order deadlines

How we prepare for each important holiday

Getting organized to take in a large volume of orders

Staying on top of the game

We’ll keep you in the loop if unexpected events like snowstorms, postal service disruptions, or fulfillment delays affect order-by dates

Supporting you along the way

To help you at any time of the day, we’re growing our customer support and fulfillment teams

Keeping stock levels high

To avoid running out-of-stock as much as possible we’re actively communicating with our suppliers and stocking our most popular products

Expanding production capacity

So your products can reach various locations even faster, each year we’re expanding our operations to new locations

How can you boost your orders through the roof?

Make your online store irresistible by following these product and marketing recommendations

Holiday order deadlines

Take note of our cut-off dates to get your orders in time for the holidays

Temporary shipping surcharges

How we get our order deadlines

How we prepare for each important holiday

Getting organized to take in a large volume of orders

Staying on top of the game

Supporting you along the way

Keeping stock levels high

Expanding production capacity

How can you boost your orders through the roof?

Holiday order deadlines guide

Custom gifts

Guide on shop gamification

Common questions about holiday order deadlines

Make the most of each holiday

How does Printful shipping work?

Learn about shipping and tracking with YouTuber RJ Martinez