Inflation increasing difficulty to mail gifts

Inflation is not only affecting how people shop for gifts this holiday season it’s also affecting how they get those gifts to loved ones.

Canada Post’s fuel surcharge has surged over the last months, with last week’s surcharge for domestic parcels coming in at a whopping 39.5 per cent — nearly double what it was at this time last year.

The added charge is causing consumers to pause when considering their holiday shipping.

“for a basic 10-inch box, that’s 8 to 10 pounds, it’s going to cost almost 70 dollars,” said Tara Jones. “If you are someone who lives far away from family members, and you have two or three or four gifts, you’re talking about almost 3 or 4 hundred dollars, just in shipping.”

With items already costing more than in previous years, added costs with Canada Post leave many searching for other more affordable and more convenient options.

“It’s really hard to compete with something like Amazon, which has very quick shipping and is usually free. It’s really too bad, I really like personalizing gifts. I like shopping locally,” said Jones.

For those sending holiday greetings with Canada Post, the deadline to ship in time for Christmas is fast approaching: letters to Santa must be sent by Friday, along with a number of international destinations.

Most packages sent within Canada have a regular parcel cut-off of December 20, to avoid the price tag of a priority package.