GUIDES · DATES & DEADLINES
How long is 3–5 business days?
Quick answer
3–5 business days usually means 3 to 7 calendar days. Business days are Monday to Friday, not counting public holidays, and the count starts the day after you order. Order on a Monday and it should arrive between Thursday and the following Monday. Order on a Friday and it’s Wednesday to Friday of the next week. Each public holiday in the way adds a day.
How to count business days
Use this rule and you’ll get the same answer most shops’ delivery estimates use:
- Don’t count the day you order. Business day 1 is the next weekday the business is open. If you order on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, or after the seller’s daily cutoff time, counting starts on the next business day.
- Skip Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. In the US that means federal holidays; in the UK, bank holidays.
- The last day you count is the estimate. “3–5 business days” means it should arrive between the 3rd and the 5th business day.
Check whether the estimate covers processing (packing your order) as well as shipping. A shop that takes 1–2 business days to pack and then ships in 3–5 business days can take up to 7 business days in total.
When 3–5 business days ends, by the day you order
For a week with no holidays:
| You order on | 3–5 business days means | Calendar days |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Thursday to the following Monday | 3–7 days |
| Tuesday | Friday to the following Tuesday | 3–7 days |
| Wednesday | the following Monday to Wednesday | 5–7 days |
| Thursday | the following Tuesday to Thursday | 5–7 days |
| Friday | the following Wednesday to Friday | 5–7 days |
| Saturday | the coming Wednesday to Friday | 4–6 days |
| Sunday | the coming Wednesday to Friday | 3–5 days |
Weekend orders start counting on Monday, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday orders all arrive on the same days. Unless you order on the weekend, a weekend always falls between your order and delivery, which is why 3–5 business days can take a full week.
Count it from your order date
Change the date or the holiday calendar and the table updates. It uses the same holiday lists as our business days calculator. The UK option uses the bank holidays that apply across the whole UK; England, Wales and Northern Ireland also close on Easter Monday and the late-August bank holiday, Northern Ireland also has St Patrick’s Day and 12 July, and Scotland has its own. The US option uses the federal-office list, which also skips the Friday before a Saturday holiday.
Ordered Thursday, November 5, 2026, counted with US federal holidays. Skipped: Wed, Nov 11 (Veterans Day).
| Window | Arrives between | Calendar days |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 business days | Fri, Nov 6 – Tue, Nov 10 | 1–5 days |
| 2–3 business days | Mon, Nov 9 – Tue, Nov 10 | 4–5 days |
| 3–5 business days | Tue, Nov 10 – Fri, Nov 13 | 5–8 days |
| 5–7 business days | Fri, Nov 13 – Tue, Nov 17 | 8–12 days |
| 7–10 business days | Tue, Nov 17 – Fri, Nov 20 | 12–15 days |
Holidays add days: the 2026 shopping season
Every public holiday between the order and the delivery pushes the window back a day. In the US, Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 26, 2026) and Christmas Day (Friday, December 25) are federal holidays; in the UK, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are bank holidays, and because Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday, the bank holiday moves to Monday, December 28.
| You order on | US: 3–5 business days | UK: 3–5 business days |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, Nov 10 | Mon, Nov 16 – Wed, Nov 18 | Fri, Nov 13 – Tue, Nov 17 |
| Wed, Nov 25 | Tue, Dec 1 – Thu, Dec 3 | Mon, Nov 30 – Wed, Dec 2 |
| Fri, Dec 18 | Wed, Dec 23 – Mon, Dec 28 | Wed, Dec 23 – Tue, Dec 29 |
| Wed, Dec 23 | Tue, Dec 29 – Thu, Dec 31 | Wed, Dec 30 – Mon, Jan 4 |
| Tue, Dec 29 | Mon, Jan 4 – Wed, Jan 6 | Mon, Jan 4 – Wed, Jan 6 |
To get a 3–5 business day delivery by Christmas Eve, order by Thursday, December 17 in both the US and the UK. Couriers also publish their own holiday cutoffs, which can be earlier.
Not every business closes on every holiday. Most banks (which follow the Federal Reserve schedule) and the US Postal Service close on federal holidays that fall on a weekday. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, as July 4 does in 2026, they stay open the Friday before, even though federal offices close. Private carriers keep fewer holidays: UPS, for example, delivers on Veterans Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Columbus Day and Juneteenth, but has no pickup or delivery on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas Day, and no Ground delivery on New Year’s Eve (UPS holiday schedule). So a UPS delivery can be a day faster than this table around Veterans Day, and a USPS one can’t.
Other common delivery windows
The same rule works for any estimate. Without holidays:
| Estimate | Calendar days | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 business days | 1–5 days | Order Monday: Tuesday–Thursday |
| 2–3 business days | 2–5 days | Order Monday: Wednesday–Thursday |
| 3–5 business days | 3–7 days | Order Monday: Thursday–next Monday |
| 5–7 business days | 5–11 days | Order Monday: next Monday–next Wednesday |
| 7–10 business days | 9–14 days | Order Monday: next Wednesday–Monday two weeks later |
Roughly, a full working week (5 business days) is 7 calendar days, and 10 business days is two weeks.
Refunds and bank transfers
When a refund or transfer “takes 3–5 business days”, the count runs on banking days: weekends and bank holidays don’t count. The clock usually starts when the seller or bank sends the money, not when you return the item or ask for the refund, so a refund for a parcel you post on Friday may only start counting the next week.
Banks also have daily cutoff times. A payment sent after the cutoff counts from the next business day.
Business days in other countries
Most countries work Monday to Friday, but not all. Saudi Arabia, Israel and several other countries have a Friday–Saturday weekend, so their business days run Sunday to Thursday. The United Arab Emirates moved to a Saturday–Sunday weekend in 2022. When a deadline is in another country, count with that country’s weekend and holidays.
Over a whole year, the US has 250 business days in 2026 and 249 in 2027 (federal holidays removed); the UK has 255 and 255 counting only the bank holidays that apply UK-wide (253 and 253 in England and Wales). See business days by month in the business days calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Does Saturday count as a business day?
No. Business days are Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday don’t count, even if a courier delivers on Saturdays.
Does the day I order count?
No. Business day 1 is the next business day after you order. Orders placed on a weekend, a holiday or after the seller’s cutoff start counting on the next business day.
How long is 1–3 business days?
1 to 5 calendar days. Order on a Monday and it arrives Tuesday to Thursday; order on a Friday and it arrives Monday to Wednesday.
How long is 2–3 business days?
2 to 5 calendar days. Order on a Monday and it arrives Wednesday or Thursday; order on a Friday and it arrives Tuesday or Wednesday.
How long is 5–7 business days?
5 to 11 calendar days: about one to one and a half weeks.
How long is 10 business days?
Two calendar weeks when there are no holidays: order on a Monday and it arrives on the Monday two weeks later.
Do holidays count as business days?
No. Public holidays are skipped like weekends, so each holiday in the window adds a day. In the US that means federal holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; in the UK, bank holidays.
What is 3 business days from today?
Count three business days after today, skipping weekends and holidays. The table in “Count it from your order date” above does it for any date, with US or UK holidays.