Earlier this week, one of my colleagues in Texas told me about a shipping problem she had recently, and asked me to warn others so it doesn't happen to them as they send out packages this holiday season.

My colleague's salsa company, Spirit of Texas Salsa, had shipped several boxes to Georgia and Arizona, only to find out that along the way someone had removed the salsa from them and in one box even replaced a case of mild salsa with old car parts!

Diabolical! But there's a simple solution: If you're shipping gifts or anything this holiday season, add a sticker to the bottom of your package. Assuming you've already covered one of your package's seams with the shipping label, covering the nether seam is an easy way to deter tampering. Security tape is the best option, although an expensive one. I've found that any old sticker does the job, giving thieves pause.

In this case the thief had cut the bottom of the packages open, leaving the UPS label, which covered the top flaps, undisturbed. This let the package complete its journey without raising suspicions, making it harder to track down who swiped the salsa. While UPS is investigating the problem and should be covering the loss, her small business's reputation has already been tarnished.

Can you imagine the reactions on Christmas morning if someone had replaced your nephew's present with a bunch of old oil filters during its shipment across the country? You wouldn't want to let a shipping problem like that tarnish your reputation as the "Cool Aunt," so put all those leftover campaign bumper stickers to good use this year and cover that package. Taking just a minute to make it easier to tell if your package has been tampered with is all it takes to make this holiday season a happy one for everyone you care about.

If you haven't already started your online Christmas shopping this year, have no fear. WalletPop has already covered the deadline for sending packages to our troops overseas, as well as the dates for many retailers. We've also looked at the ins and outs behind Free Shipping Day, a day of guaranteed by Christmas free shipping, which takes place on December 18th.

In case you're too busy to order on these shipping dates, Dan de Grandpre and Dealnews.com has compiled a list of order deadlines on Last-Minute Tuesday for over 60 retailers.

Deadlines for Christmas Eve include:

• Apple -- Dec. 23 (11am PT)
• Best Buy -- Dec. 23 (11am ET)
• Discovery Channel Store -- Dec. 23 (2pm ET)
• Hammacher Schlemmer -- Dec. 23 (3pm ET)
• NBA Shop, NFL Store and Shop MLB -- Dec. 23 (11:59am ET)
• Newegg -- Dec. 23 (12:30pm PT)
• Victoria's Secret -- Dec. 23 (1pm ET)
• And many more!
  

These are great dates to keep in mind, but you can easily get by without them. Simply place your online gift orders right now.

Many retailers are already offering free shipping on minimum orders and for most items the prices won't drop low enough in the next two weeks to justify paying for overnight shipping on the 23rd. One of the only categories that may prove worth the wait are technology-related items such as HDTVs and netbooks. If your recipient is lucky enough to get one of these I'm sure they'll be willing to wait until you find the best deal; even if it doesn't come until after the holidays.

FedEx has just announced a new round of rate hikes, but they won't be in effect until after the holiday peak shipping season. The company plans to increase shipping rates on its Ground and Home Delivery services by an average of 5.9% in 2009. FedEx Express services are expected to increase by 6.9% next year, according to a previous projection from the company.

These increases may come as a surprise to consumers, who have seen fuel prices plunge over the past few weeks, and might have been hoping for lower shipping prices in turn. The problem is that FedEx hasn't been increasing its prices in pace with the higher fuel prices before the drop, and diesel prices haven't dropped as much as regular gasoline. Most FedEx vehicles require diesel fuel. FedEx says that its price increases will be somewhat offset by a new formula for fuel surcharges, which should reduce these charges by about 2%.

It hasn't been long since FedEx competitor DHL announced that it would cut its entire Express service in the United States, a move that could give FedEx a huge boost right at its busiest time of year. Will it be enough for the shipping giant to back off on some of its price hikes? Probably not at first, anyhow, because DHL is in negotiations with UPS to contract out some of its services. Still, this isn't exactly bad news for FedEx. Once the dust settles from DHL's American dissolution, maybe FedEx will be in better shape, and we can always hope the shipping rates get cheaper...

Again, the new rates don't take effect until next year, so you'll still be able to get all your online holiday orders and gift mailing done at the current prices.

When it's backed into a financial corner, what's an airline to do? Gas prices are saner now, but they won't give our money back for the fuel surcharges because now they're using that cash to plug mortal wounds. Americans have grudgingly accepted the implementation of luggage fees, too. As consumers, we've all been led down the primrose path with the airlines, and they're finding that we're actually pretty compliant when it comes to these extra charges.

So why not try out a hefty optional one? United Airlines has partnered with FedEx to sell passengers door-to-door overnight delivery of your luggage. FedEx retrieves your luggage from your house, preferably the day before your flight, and you pick it up the next day at your destination, such as a hotel or at a specified address. The one-way price deviates from the usual FedEx rate scheme: $149 for flights under 1,000 miles and $179 for longer flights. As always, without this splurge fee, your stuff can travel in the cargo hold just below your feet for $15 each way for the first bag and $50 each way for each second bag.

Marketing-wise, I'm not sure what the message is here. With this new optional charge, United seems to be tacitly acknowledging that you might be better off entrusting your valuables to someone else. Is United admitting that paying ten times the usual price is the only way to make sure your bag actually makes it to your destination? Like the cruise lines' efforts to offer premium restaurants on its ships, United seems to be saying that its usual service isn't good enough. And it's not like the lack of a bag will speed your passage through security in any meaningful way, because you can only move through it as quickly as the person in front of you.

Does this picture look homey to you? Travelodge, one of Britain's primary hotel chains, has just opened a property in Uxbridge, in far west London, that's made almost entirely out of 86 shipping containers. Each room was pre-fabricated in China (where else?) with a built-in bathroom, shipped to England, and then stacked, as a BBC video story puts it, like "a giant Lego set."

The 120-room property, banged up in a scant 20 days, was then smoothed over to give it a unified look, much like your aunt might frost a layer cake. The trick works so well that the company is slapping up another one, this one more than twice as big, near London's Heathrow Airport, and about half of its future properties will be pressed from the same cookie-cutter mold.

I wouldn't say the place's industrial provenance is being sold as a gimmick or painted with the worn-out "green" brush. In fact, you'd never know you were sleeping in a former cargo hold, mostly because the hotel chain's rooms have never been very showy. Its battery-hen rooms are short on luxuries (plasma TV, yes; phone, no) and iffy on size (beds are king-size), but they're always defined by a dignified crispness. The pricing system is also simple: The more rooms that are available, they cheaper they are. If you book far enough in advance, rooms can be insanely affordable. For January, rooms can cost just £29 right now. That's about $50 a night.

Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

I don't know of any other freebie that is as universal as a free overnight shipping envelope. This freebie from DHL is a great way to ship your next eBay sale, mail a care package to your son at school this fall or even surprise a loved one across the country. Getting the free overnight shipping envelope from DHL is as easy as filling out a quick survey about your shipping needs.

When you fill out the survey don't forget to use your real address so you can actually get the free mailer and make sure that the rest of your information is true or at least plausible since DHL will deny any submissions that appear to be fraudulent. As with all deals this good you better sign up for this one quick because I'm sure it won't last long.

I was FLORed. (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.) Late last night I placed an order for a few dozen FLOR carpet tiles for my living room, the 'Morning Coffee' pattern in 'Decaf' (reddish orange) and 'Espresso' (dark dark brown). The shipping cost, via UPS Ground, from the Georgia warehouse to my home in Portland, Oregon was painful, though, $39 for my order; I would have ordered a few extra tiles in some other colors and textures, but that would have tacked another $13 on my order. I shivered, and pressed "buy."

This morning, bright and early before the sun was up here on the West Coast, I got my shipping confirmation. Speedy! I thought. Then around 9 a.m. I got another email, this a promotional offer. "Free Shipping for a Limited Time!" the subject read. Ohhh... ouch!

I spent several minutes feeling peeved, and then I thought: why not just call? I dialed the customer service line and was connected to a friendly representative who happily processed a refund for my shipping. Giving me plenty of time to enjoy my morning coffee.

If you, too, are in the market for some FLOR tiles, now's the time! The free shipping code is BP887W, and the email didn't say when the promotion would end.