How long to peppers stay fresh?

It's still a ways off for me, but if I were to mail out peppers to friends & family, how long do the pods stay fresh? 
 
Quick google search revealed 7-10 days for bell peppers, but I have a feeling that's store bought shelf life, which is not the same thing as straight out of the garden. 

You're right. They often treat produce in the stores with chemicals to make them last longer. No bueno. That's why I eat and grow organic!

I've had peppers sit out on my counter for at least a month and still be fine. In the fridge they'll last even longer.
 
It makes me wonder what the hell they do to the ones I see in stores.

From what I have seen alot of vendors that send out fresh pods will send them out on a Monday. This way they are not sitting in a warehouse over the weekend. Obviously holidays will interupt this too.  If you send out on Mondays I'm sure you will be good.  But if at all questioning there is always second and next day air mail.

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

When I get orders shipped to me I keep them in the cardboard shipping boxes because I've noticed if i put them into plastic bags they get to humid and mold or rot. I'd suggest when you ship them not to ship them in plastic bags or air tight containers. And as tom said they go bad faster in the heat. I ordered towards the beginning of the harvest season when it was still warm out and my peppers arrived a little bit soggy but still good. I blame the hot temperatures they were exposed to during shipping.