Anyone use Amazon for their registry?

Luna C

I've been using Amazon as our main registry for convenience and because I buy from there a lot anyway. I have a few other things on BRU that I couldn't find on Amazon. 

But now I'm wondering about two things:

1. I know that not everyone is comfortable online shopping. Am I going to inadvertently annoy people if they have to order online and can't go to the store to pick up stuff?

2. When completion discount time comes. I'm picturing placing that final order for an assortment of toys/decor/etc. and just being inundated with boxes for the next week. 

Would it be better to move some of the items to the BRU registry and just leave on Amazon whatever I want that they don't have at BRU?

I've never done a registry of any sort before, so forgive me if I'm overlooking something obvious or just totally overthinking things. 

slwprincess

Yes, I think you will annoy some folks (particularly older generation) by not offering an in-store registry as well. Does that mean that you MUST register at a brick and mortar store? No. It's probably going to depend on your set of family/friends. But if you already have one set up at BRU, I would just add to that. There is no reason that you can't put the same items on the BRU registry as the Amazon one and just monitor them both. When you see that an item has been purchased from one registry, remove it from the other to avoid duplicates. If you still end up with duplicate items (and you probably will) it shouldn't be too hard for you to return the BRU item for store credit which you can always use for diapers/wipes, baby clothes, toys, etc.

As for being inundated with boxes from Amazon... I can't help there. I'm a total Amazon junkie and get at least 2-3 boxes a week. Not to mention a HUGE subscribe and save order each month that probably makes the UPS man despise me ;-) There is nothing more gratifying than a front porch full of Amazon boxes that mean I can avoid the grocery store for another week!

slwprincess

Oh and if you haven't already, make sure to sign up for Amazon Moms. You can combine that discount with Subscribe & Save and get diapers/wipes for super cheap. I usually get a huge box of diapers/wipes each month for 40%+ off.

Luna C

I didn't say NO in-store registry, I said a smaller one. 

LadyMacaron

I have 2 registries, one on Amazon and one at a local store. I just duplicated the list at both retailers, and will manually adjust anything if it's bought and one place vs the other. I think most people are happy to get stuff off of Amazon, because it's usually WAY cheaper than BRU anyway, but it doesn't hurt to cover your bases at both stores just in case.

As far as the box issue, I do not know what you mean, because It's my birthday every time I get an Amazon box. If I had a shipment every day I would be in heaven. Lol.

Luna C

The thing with Amazon and the # of boxes is this: I have Prime, which is awesome in general. But I've noticed that if I order three small items, (let's say three tubes of different lotions and shampoos) they often come in three different boxes, all within 18 hours of each other. 

If I end up buying 20 "completion" items off my registry, I'm picturing a mountain of boxes piling up when I'm big as a house OR have just given birth and have no desire to deal with all that crap. (Although I suppose that's what DH is for. :-)

FmrAFBrat

You do get a bunch of boxes off prime although sometimes they send the dog food & diapers together. Not always. The UPS man is at out house at least twice a week.

I didn't do an amazon registry with ODS, but with YDS we did one for us to get the discount on big things we had to buy for 2U2, as well as things like sheets, swaddle blankets, bottles, & Aquaphor for the new baby. The little stuff came in one box, so it wasn't too bad. But I think it depends what they have at what Amazon warehouse.

FWIW with ODS we had a lot of gifts ordered online & I registered with BBB and Walmart. I registered at Walmart bc I have family members that live in small towns nowhere near a BRU & BBB (or Target) and I was shocked when they ordered everything online. These were people I pegged as non online shoppers...including my grandma. So you will get packages on your door regardless or where you register. I also had people get things I registered for at the other stores on Amazon....so I had to edit my registries a few time.

I'd just put what you need on both & edit as you go.

laurel22

My friend and I both did on-line registries at Amazon and registries at BRU.  Both of us found that almost nothing was purchased off of the Amazon registry.  For some reason, I think people like to shop for baby showers in person (and not just older people).  Maybe it's because it's easy to add on a cutesy little gift like clothing, etc. if they go to an actual store.  Personally, I also prefer to shop for baby showers at an actual store for this reason.  My advice is to register for as much as you can on both registries and just monitor them as you go along.

saraemathis

I registered with Amazon.   You receive the completion discount 30 days before your due date.

I decided to register at Amazon, Babies R Us, and with Babyli.st.   The reasons I did this is because if you change your mind, you can easily return the item to Babies R Us if you had a registry there whether the people bought it there or not.  This way you don't have to chase the person down and ask for an order number to return to Amazon if needed.

I also recommend babyli.st.  It's an online registry that you can add items from any store (much like amazon) and people can reserve the item.  They can choose to go to their local store to pick the item or they can follow a link to buy the item online. People have been really receptive about it.  The only downside....is there is no completion discount which why I did a quick amazon registry.

I hope this helps!

EmeraldCity84

Not sure what dictates how things ship, but I just did my completion package from amazon last week and bought about 18 items.  All but 2 shipped in 1 big box.  So I got 3 boxes altogether, that arrived on the same day/time.

olga1311

I only did amazon registry and 90%?of ppl shopped there.

Luna C

Thanks ladies --lots of food for thought here. Much appreciated!

whoberry

You could also do a registry at My Registry instead.  It combines your registries from all the places you've registered so you don't get duplicate gifts.  I went to a baby shower where the mom registered there.  It is probably too confusing for the older non-tech friendly set though.  https://www.myregistry.com/  Also if you go to this page https://www.myregistry.com/babygiftideas/ You can see what other people are registering for (for fun) and its set up like pinterest.

FWIW Amazon was one of the places I registered for my wedding and bridal showers and I did get a lot of people ordering from there, probably because it's usually the cheapest.

Robi1

I did only Amazon and had no problems. People who didn't want to use it just got something else. Most people used it, though. I did this for my wedding too. 

I DO recommend making other registries and keeping them private or using a false name just to get the completion discounts! I did this at Target and BRU. You can add stuff as late as you want, even the day you shop, even after baby's born. Most of the stuff I registered for on Amazon was from third party sellers or universal items from other sites, so there wasn't much left to use the completion on. 

Kermie53

Don't forget that you can add items from any store, even Etsy, to your Amazon registry.  You just add the "Add to Wish List" button to your toolbar and it will add whatever page you're on to your registry.  Then, when people shop through your Amazon registry, they claim that item but it takes them to the actual website.  I found this good for people that wanted to shop in actual stores...they could claim it on the Amazon registry, but then go to Target or wherever and see it in person.

The only problem I had with the Amazon registry is that sometimes their sellers switch, so something that was previously Prime eligible switched to a third party shipper and now has astronomical shipping.  I just tried to stay on top of that and find a similar item (sometimes even just a color change) to make it Prime eligible or free shipping.

iqwedding3

I feel your pain.  I prefer not to visit a physical store, it's so much easier to have stuff shipped to the person directly!  Also stuff on Amazon tends to be cheaper than physical stores, and it seems wrong to make people pay more just so they can go to a physical store.  I set up both, and picked items that were more store friendly or not available on Amazon from BabysRUs.  Hopefully it'll work out!

iqwedding3

Oh and as for being inundated with boxes, yeah, I had that after our wedding.  Not much you can do about it, I don't think!  Our recycling for a couple of weeks was huge.

Peanutz21

i'm doing both amazon and babies r us. i know there are still some folks out there that are super cautious with internet shopping (i.e. my MIL - paranoid as heck her identity will get stolen ...)

i personally would prefer purchasing off amazon for shower gifts as amazon is much cheaper than BRU (most of the time).