This page is the master index of BuyHolidayStamps.com. Every guide on the site belongs to one of eight content centers below; each center has its own hub page with an introduction and its articles organized by subtopic. If you already know your question, go straight to the center that owns it — if not, the starting points at the bottom of this page cover the most common situations. Buy Holiday Stamps is edited from Atlanta, Georgia — this index is maintained there — but every guide in it is written for mailers anywhere in the United States.
How to use it: the centers are arranged in roughly the order a mailing comes together — plan the mailing, sort out the postage, write the cards, mind the etiquette and the rules, and pick the stamp design last. Most readers only need one or two centers per mailing. If you are starting from zero, the Holiday Mailing Guides center holds the complete overview; if you have one specific question (a deadline, a stamp count, a wording problem), the quick questions at the bottom link straight to the answer.
The Eight Content Centers
Holiday Mailing Guides
End-to-end help with holiday cards and letters: the complete overview, preparation, a mailing checklist, and tips written for families. This is the center to live in during November and December if you send a household’s worth of cards. Key guide: The Complete Guide to Holiday Mailing in the USA. Work through the batch with the Christmas Card Mailing Checklist, and see Holiday Mailing Tips for Families for the version tuned to households with kids, photos, and long lists.
Postage & Stamp Guides
How postage works and how to get it right: Forever Stamps, stamp counts for letters and cards, First-Class Mail, and using older stamps. Most postage mistakes are cheap to prevent, so this center rewards a five-minute read before you stamp a batch. Key guide: What Is a Forever Stamp? A Complete Guide. Count a specific envelope with How Many Stamps Do I Need for a Letter?, and check the drawer before buying more — Can You Use Old Forever Stamps? explains why the answer is almost always yes. For buying channels, see the Stamp Buying Guide.
Greeting Card & Letter Writing
The words inside the envelope: how to write a Christmas card, message collections for different relationships, thank-you letters, and correct addressing. Come here when the cards are bought and the blank inside cover is the problem — the message collections are organized by relationship, so the wording for a grandmother, a coworker, and a client never gets mixed up. These guides are also collected in the Letter Writing Library.
Business Mailing
Holiday mail for companies and organizations: the complete business workflow, when to send, mailing to customers, and planning bulk campaigns. Written for owners, office managers, and anyone handed the company card list in October — including the parts households never face, like approval chains, address data, and print deadlines. Key guide: A Complete Guide to Business Holiday Mailing. Set the schedule with When Should Businesses Send Christmas Cards? and the customer-facing etiquette with How to Send Holiday Cards to Customers.
Mailing Timeline & Planning
Dates, deadlines, and pacing for the season: mailing calendars, Christmas card timing, and how early to send. This center separates official USPS recommended dates from this site’s planning advice, so you always know which kind of date you are looking at. The standing, year-round version is the Holiday Mailing Calendar; the season-specific one is the 2026 Holiday Mailing Calendar, and How Early Should You Send Holiday Cards? turns the dates into a personal schedule.
Holiday Etiquette
Customs and judgment calls: Christmas card etiquette, who receives a card, and how to handle late, returned, or workplace cards gracefully. None of these questions has a postal regulation behind it — they are about not giving offense and not causing yourself stress, which is why the answers here are practical rather than prim. Start with Christmas Card Etiquette: What to Know Before Sending, which covers lists, greetings, signatures, and the edge cases like divorces, losses, and the office group card.
USPS Mailing Rules
The official framework, explained plainly: letter size and weight requirements, envelope addressing, extra-postage situations, and postage for large envelopes. This is the center for the envelope on your desk that does not look standard — square, thick, rigid, oversized, or heavy. Facts here trace back to USPS sources listed on Sources & References. The three checks that settle most questions: USPS Letter Size and Weight Requirements, Do Greeting Cards Need Extra Postage?, and How to Calculate Postage for Large Envelopes.
Holiday Stamp Designs
Choosing the right design for the card and the recipient, and understanding the role stamp selection plays in how a mailing looks and feels. The stamp is the first thing a recipient sees, and USPS issues traditional, contemporary, faith-specific, and winter designs each season — this center explains the lineup and gives a simple framework for matching designs to recipient groups. Start with Choosing Christmas Stamp Designs for Different Occasions and How to Choose the Right Stamps for Holiday Cards.
Start With the Most Common Questions
- “When should I mail my Christmas cards?” — When Should You Mail Christmas Cards in 2026?
- “How many stamps does this card need?” — How Many Stamps Do Christmas Cards Need?
- “What do I write in a card to a customer?” — Professional Christmas Card Messages for Customers
- “How do I address the envelope correctly?” — How to Address an Envelope in the USA
- “Where should I buy stamps?” — Stamp Buying Guide
- “I am organizing my company’s holiday mailing.” — Planning a Bulk Holiday Mailing Campaign
- “Someone gave us a gift — how do I thank them properly?” — How to Write a Holiday Thank-You Letter
- “Which stamp design should go on which card?” — Choosing Christmas Stamp Designs for Different Occasions
- “My card is square / thick / unusual — will it mail normally?” — Do Greeting Cards Need Extra Postage?
About the Information Here
BuyHolidayStamps.com is an independent informational site, not affiliated with USPS. How content is researched and maintained is described in the Editorial Policy and Content Updates Policy. If you cannot find a guide for your situation, contact us — reader questions shape what gets written next.