Q. I'm a procrastinator when it comes to shipping Christmas gifts to the Mainland. What options do I have that won't cost much money?

A. If you haven't purchased your gifts already you might consider buying online and having the merchant gift-wrap and ship the presents for you. Amazon.com is guaranteeing delivery before Christmas of gifts ordered using its Super-Saver shipping program if you order by tomorrow evening.

You can write a note of up to 240 characters long that will be included with the gift. Money you save on shipping can be put toward gift wrapping, which ranges from $1.99 for a CD to $5.99 for large items.

Other similar offers can be found on the Web. Department store site Macys.com charges $5 for a cream-colored box wrapped up with cream-colored silky bow. Its free-shipping offer, good on orders costing $100 or more, ends Saturday. Nordstrom.com offers similar services and free shipping.

If you've already bought the gift, you might consider one of the newer options available, flat-rate boxes from the U.S. Postal Service. There are two types: a 12-by-3 1/2-by-14-inch box, which is large enough to hold a laptop computer, and a deeper 11-by-8 1/2-by-5 1/2 size, that can hold several boxes of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. The cost to ship each box is $7.70. The weight limit is 70 pounds. The boxes are available for free at post offices.

The Postal Service reports some local shoppers even carry the flat-rate boxes with them when they hit the malls, a phenomenon they've dubbed "buying for the box." The flat-rate boxes are shipped via Priority Mail and should be posted by tomorrow evening to make sure they arrive.

If all else fails and you have the person's e-mail address, you can always opt for a gift card on a Web site. For really late shoppers, the cards can be purchased Christmas Day and still arrive on time. That's because some online stores such as Buy.com will zip the recipient an e-mail informing them of the gift.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.