It’s the most wonderful time of the year — unless that package you order or gift you send goes missing.
The United States Postal Service expects to deliver about 800 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day this year. Considering nearly 50 million people in America had a package stolen over last year — one in every six people — there’s a good chance you or someone you know could suffer a package casualty or two without some basic protection.
We use a slew of simple tech tools to keep the thousands of gadgets and electronics we get delivered each year for review safe, so we went straight to the source—Amazon—for advice.
Be sure to drop us a line in our socials and let us know what you think or ask any questions you might have. And don’t forget to thank your mail and package delivery folks this holiday season! They do some pretty epic things and go way above and beyond just making sure we get our stuff on time. Cheers to them!
Here are a few of our favorites:
THE RING BATTERY DOORBELL PLUS
One of Amazon’s simplest and most affordable tools is this Ring Battery Doorbell Plus. It’s kind of like a high-tech watchdog — letting you keep an eye on your packages and front porch through their app from anywhere you happen to be in the world. The Ring App sends you a notification when someone comes to your door … or the camera sees a package sitting there. You really can see more — even right underneath the camera — with that clear head-to-toe HD+ video. You can also answer the doorbell with a pre-recorded message — with Two-Way Talk live as it’s happening from that app.Sale
Price: $119 ($60 off normal retail price)
AMAZON KEY IN-GARAGE DELIVERY
For an extra layer of security, try Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery. It’s a great way to protect expensive or fragile orders like jewelry or electronics.
What’s so cool about it? Your package *is* the key that opens your garage door. When delivery drivers scan your package for your address, they get one-time, verified access to deliver inside your garage. There’s no sharing of codes or keys required.
Here’s how it works:
Pair your smart garage door with Amazon Key in the Amazon app.
Turn on > In-Garage Delivery.
Add items to your cart, and select > In-Garage Delivery at checkout.
With the service, you get real-time notifications, and you can add an optional Ring camera to watch deliveries live. The service is available to all Prime members in eligible zip codes and works with most smart garages. It’s incredibly convenient because it allows you to receive your packages whether home or away, and you don’t have to schedule your day around deliveries!
THE AMAZON RING ALARM
It used to be a sort of “lifestyle of the rich and famous” to have a custom security system in your home. They were once so expensive, time-consuming, and nearly impossible to set up on your own. Now? It’s easy to set up your own home security system with a handful of customizable, DIY options like Amazon Ring Alarm. These are inexpensive and easy to install. It only takes about 20 minutes. They really give you peace of mind when you travel during the holidays too. They don’t require hardwiring. You just need to connect it to Wi-Fi through an app on your mobile device.
You can also get professional 24/7 monitoring. The price without a contract is $20/month or $200/year.
You can add more layers of protection too. We love the glass break sensors and flood freeze sensors to detect water leaks or when temperatures inside drop below 40°F. We’ve written more about them both here. (Frozen pipes are a HUGE pain to deal with.)
Price: $199
THE RING STICK-UP CAM PRO
You can also monitor everything in and around your home with the all-new indoor/outdoor Ring Stick Up Cam Pro. It’s a flexible, weather-resistant camera with more advanced features like 3D Motion Detection. It uses radar technology and a “Birds Eye View” feature to see visitors’ paths, ensuring you know where packages, people, and more are on your property at any time.
Its wire-free design lets you place it on a flat surface for flexibility or mount it on the wall or ceiling for a more permanent solution. The Ring Stick Up Cam Pro pairs really well with Amazon Key in-garage deliveries too.
Price: $179.99
Whether you are just buying replacement lightbulbs or something special for a loved one, package and delivery theft can feel totally demoralizing. But, these gadgets can help give you a little piece of mind and more freedom to go about your day without constantly worrying about when is that thing arriving.
And remember! Stay tuned to Techish.com for more on DIY security and great gift ideas for the coming holidays.
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Read Jennifer’s latest columns at USAToday.com/tech or follow her @JennJolly on Instagram.