The season for sending Christmas greetings begins when the red mailing envelope for mailing Christmas cards is delivered to Finnish homes inside Postinen on Wednesday, November 14.
Personal, handwritten Christmas greetings are part of the Christmas tradition for millions of Finns. Last Christmas, more than 26 million Christmas cards were sent in Finland. With the red mailing envelope, Finns can send their domestic Christmas mail more inexpensively, as the red mailing envelopes are meant for Christmas greetings that are sent with a Christmas no-value indicator stamp (EUR 1.05).
You can put your Christmas cards in the red mailing envelope that you can then drop off in a mailbox or at a Posti outlet. The red mailing envelopes can already be mailed in November, as Posti will start delivering Christmas cards to recipients only after the Finnish Independence Day (December 6). If you would like to send your Christmas mail using the more inexpensive Christmas stamp, you should mail your items by Wednesday, December 12.
Postinen is an advertisement bundle delivered by Posti that drops through the mail slot of Finnish households every Monday and Wednesday. If your household has an advertising ban, it will not receive Postinen. However, you can pick up a red mailing envelope at a Posti outlet or from many stamp retailers throughout the country.
If your Christmas greetings were not mailed by December 12, you can still send the greetings later with a domestic no-value indicator stamp (value EUR 1.50). These Christmas cards will still make it to the recipients before Christmas, as long as you mail them by Wednesday, December 19. The cards should be dropped off in a mailbox without the red mailing envelope before the mailbox’s emptying time.
The last mailing dates for Christmas greetings to recipients outside Finland can be found on Posti’s Christmas website at www.posti.fi/joulu. For example, Priority letters to Europe should be sent by Friday, December 14. The Christmas website also offers information on sending parcels and shares other important tips for the Christmas season.
This year’s Christmas stamps depict familiar scenes from Finnish Christmas celebrations. The Christmastime no-value indicator stamp for more inexpensive Christmas greetings shows a red Christmas ball ornament hanging from the branch of a Christmas tree. “The side of the ball ornament can reflect people coming together, sounds and songs. On the other hand, the reflection can also capture a happy moment of solitude, reading a book and spending some me-time”, says Marjo Nygård, designer of the Christmas stamps.
Christmas stamps became available in stores, kiosks and Posti outlets at the beginning of November. Stamps can also be ordered from Posti’s online shop at www.posti.fi/ostoksille.
If you want to be sure that your important Christmas greeting will reach its recipient, it is a good idea to check that the Christmas greeting has the following information: the first and last name of the recipient, street address and building number, stairway and apartment number, postal code and the name of the city/municipality in capital letters. You can check postal codes and the correct spelling of street names by using the postal code search tool on Posti’s website.
