When to order Halloween costumes (2026)
Halloween lands on a Saturday this year. To wear your costume that night, it has to arrive by Friday, October 30. Every store has a different last-safe day to order. Here's each one, with a buffer built in so you're ordering a touch early on purpose.
| Store | Order by — to be safe | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Etsy — custom / handmade | Mid-September The earliest deadline | Made-to-order pieces add make-time on top of shipping. That makes Etsy the longest wait on the calendar. Message the shop for its real lead time before you buy. Early October is last-call, and only for the simplest custom orders. |
| Amazon — standard | Oct 19 | Free standard (non-Prime) shipping runs 5 to 8 business days. This date counts back from the slow end. |
| HalloweenCostumes.com | Oct 20 | Standard shipping runs 4 to 6 business days. October volume slows processing on top of that. The date clears both. |
| Disney Store | Oct 20 Personalized: by early October | Standard shipping runs 3 to 5 business days. Personalized items take 1 to 3 weeks. Order those by early October. |
| Target | Oct 22 | Standard shipping runs 3 to 5 business days with quick handling. |
| Walmart | Oct 22 | Standard shipping runs 3 to 5 business days. Marketplace sellers set their own handling pace. This date carries extra buffer for that. |
| Spirit Halloween | Oct 22 | Shipping runs about 3 business days. October is the Halloween specialist’s busiest month by far. The date leaves headroom for the peak. |
| Amazon — Prime | Oct 27 The latest safe order | Prime delivers in 1 to 2 days. This is the latest safe order on the calendar. Order early in the day so a late-night click doesn’t slip to the next business day. |
| eBay | Varies by seller | Every seller sets its own handling and shipping. Check the listing’s stated times and count back from October 30. |
Order early in the day. A late-night order often counts as the next business day. Every date here assumes a morning order.
How we set these dates
These are conservative estimates, not store-published cutoffs. Most stores don’t post their real Halloween order-by dates until September, so we built each one from the store’s standard shipping and handling, counted back from October 30, then added about two business days of buffer (more for the October-surge specialists). The error runs in your favor: the worst case is you ordered a little early.
We re-check these against each store’s live cutoff pages in season, around September, and send the confirmed dates to everyone on the list.
Dates last reviewed June 27, 2026. Stores set their own shipping and may change it; we re-check in season.
Still deciding what to be? See our costume guides and easy DIY costumes.