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 6. The last mailing date for Christmas greetings sent in the red mailing envelope is on Wednesday, December 11.
Personal, handwritten Christmas greetings are part of the Christmas tradition for millions of Finns. Last Christmas, more than 23 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 1.10).
You can put your Christmas cards in the red mailing envelope and then drop them off in a letterbox or at a Posti outlet. The red mailing envelopes can already be mailed in November, as Posti will start delivering Christmas cards to recipients after 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 11.
Postinen is an advertisement bundle delivered by Posti to Finnish households every Monday and Wednesday. Postinen and the red mailing envelope will not be delivered to households with an advertising ban. However, you can pick up a red mailing envelope at a Posti outlet or from many stamp retailers throughout the country.
Mail your Christmas cards with no-value indicator stamp by December 17 and with no-value indicator stamp and a Plus Sticker by December 19
If your Christmas greetings were not mailed by December 11, you can still send the greetings later with a domestic no-value indicator stamp (value EUR 1.60). These Christmas cards will still make it to the recipients before Christmas, as long as you mail them by Tuesday, December 17. If you add a Plus Sticker next to the domestic no-value indicator stamp, the last mailing date is on Thursday, December 19. The cards should be taken to a Posti outlet or dropped off in a letterbox without the red mailing envelope before the emptying time of the letterbox.
The last mailing dates for Christmas greetings to recipients outside Finland can be found on Posti’s Christmas website at posti.fi/joulu. For example, Priority letters to Europe should be sent by Friday, December 13. The Christmas website also offers information on sending parcels and shares other important tips for the Christmas season.
Christmas stamps available for purchase in over 3,000 postal outlets
On this year’s Christmas stamps, elves celebrate Christmas in the traditional Finnish way, including Christmas sauna and a Christmas concert. The Christmas sauna bathers stamp for more inexpensive Christmas greetings shows an elf family in their bathrobes going to the sauna across a twilit snowy landscape. “The father leads the way carrying a lantern and the mother follows with towels. An elf boy marches enthusiastically in the middle and holds a birch sauna whisk,” describes Virpi Pekkala, designer of the Christmas stamps.
The Christmas stamps will become available on Wednesday, November 6. Christmas stamps can be purchased at over 3,000 Posti outlets. In addition to Posti outlets, Christmas stamps are sold at R-kioskis, Suomalainen kirjakauppa and many other bookstores, gift stores, kiosks and cafes. Christmas stamps can also be purchased at many department stores as well as grocery stores of almost all sizes.
Correct address ensures delivery
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 the postal codes and correct spelling of street names by using the postal code search tool on Posti’s website.
