This time period can vary a lot, and it mostly has to do with current temperatures. As far as growing, the pods are maturing faster during the summer and will go bad faster. Pods I'm picking now are taking three times longer to mature. This is actually helpful because fully colored up pods will sit on the plant for a few weeks and still be good, where they may last a week in August. During this time of year though, you can pick half colored up pods and they will still turn color, so picking almost ready, but not totally ready pods will give you extra days. In shipping, it makes a big difference on the temperatures the boxes are being subjected to,so there again, they go bad faster in summer. As others have mentioned, just sitting on the counter, in your air conditioning, they will stay god for weeks. In the fridge, twice that long, but I wouldn't want to take them out of the fridge and mail them. They would break down real fast after that. I too, try to ship on either Monday or Tuesday, but this time of year, I can send them out any day of the week. Tom