Elgin Post Office offers final holiday tips Dec. 22

Time is running out. Will you be able to mail out that holiday package before it's too late? Need some last-minute help? Don't have time to stand in line?

Then come by the Elgin Post Office, 66 Grove Court, on Wednesday, Dec. 22, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Postal representatives will demonstrate how easy it is to mail or ship letters and packages by using usps.com or the Automated Postal Center located in the outer lobby.

“We know this is a busy time of year for our customers,” said Elgin Postmaster Susan Meathe. “But there's still time to send out cards, letters, and packages – and we want to help make it easy.”

Using the Postal Service's website, usps.com, customers can ship packages from the comfort and convenience of their home or office. With a computer and Internet access to usps.com, there's a Post Office at your fingertips — one that's open 24/7, 365 days a year. The Postal Service even offers free package pickup from your address the next business day.

The APC is an ATM-like kiosk that accepts credit or debit cards and can handle 80 percent of retail counter transactions – like buying stamps, weighing packages and buying postage for Express and Priority Mail shipments, and First-Class and Parcel Post mailings.

Americans will mail close to 16 billion cards, letter and packages this holiday season. The Postal Service will also see a dramatic increase in traffic to its website, usps.com. Visits each day to the website are expected to grow to 1.7 million, up from the usual 1.3 million.

Recommended mail-by dates:

Dec. 21 – Priority Mail

Dec. 22 – Express Mail

For more information about Postal Service products and services, visit www.usps.com.