Your experience w/ online registries?

krissymac

Hi, I don't know if this is an appropriate board to post this on, but I'm struggling with where to register for a baby shower my SIL is throwing for me in May. The only stores that carry baby items in my town are Walmart & a smaller than normal Target. I have to rule out Walmart - DH and I have refused to shop there for the last 5 years. Our Target barely has anything in stock in the baby dept usually. BRU is 90 min away, Buy Buy Baby is almost 3 hours away.

I have a baby wish list started on Amazon - has anyone had an Amazon registry or known someone who just registered online? What was the outcome? Did guests purchase items online, or just purchase what they thought you or whoever needed?

sblack4222011

I usually do not purchase off of online registries.  I would rather go to the store.  In my experience, usually people do not purchase registry gifts online.

Corts

I did register at Amazon because their prices are so much better than anywhere else. And the selection is huge. It is also free shipping if the total purchase is over $25.00. I haven't had a shower yet so I don't know about anything else. But they give you a 10% completion coupon a month before your due date.

gemini2005

I registered on Amazon and love it so far. Prices are sometimes much cheaper and they have the universal registry feature. I also registered at Babies R Us so people can always buy stuff there if they don't want to shop online. So far, a lot of my Amazon stuff has been purchased already so I'd say go for it!

alm0309

Are most of your guests local?  If so, I would assume that shopping online would be more convenient than a 90 minute drive to BRU.  I would look onto what online registries have free shipping.

northtamarack

I am doing a Amazon registry.  I think it is more of a generational thing.  Both my mom and MIL freaked out, but I have some friends who are very savy and I know that they will get how it works. 

Temp38995750004016

I have one at diapers.com and really like it. Free shipping for people buying from my registry, and there are usually 10-15% off codes, too. About half the people at my first shower shopped from there (I also had a BRU in store registry) and 5 or 6 things have been purchased by other people (I'm having additional showers).

cozylittlecave

I'm registering at Amazon, but I do NOT expect most shower gifts (if any) to come from that registry (we're also doing BRU). I DO plan on telling my mother to spread the news to the family that my fav things are on amazon. My family has no problem buying things online, and they prefer to buy the biggest or my 'favorite' things, so it's info they'd want to know. (We're also very close/open with them, so no worries about them being 'offended' since they'd probably flat out ask my mom what I want most). 

I might mention it to a few other friends very casually that my fav things are on Amazon, but ONLY if they ask about the registries.  

You might try asking this about wedding showers too- I had a friend who registered for the wedding @ Amazon, but I don't know how well it went over (I did a painting for them, otherwise I'd have bought their gift through amazon). 

numeria11

I had an Amazon registry, a BBB registry, a BRUS registry and a Target Registry (because unfortunatly I had some faimly who were only near a Target).  Of the 4 my most used was my Target registry, the BRUS then Amazon, then BBB.  As someone else mentioned it tended to be that people 35 and under went to Amazon to buy stuff and people who were older tended to go do the in person shopping thing.  I loved my Amazon registry though because it gave me a much broader selection and I liked that I could add stuff from other websites (Land of Nod) that I wanted thru the Universal Registry button.  We got probably about 30 things off of Amazon from friends and family so it definitly got used still.  Unfortunatly for the people who wait til the last minute to buy a gift it doesnt work so well so it is good to have an actual store option for them to shop at as well.

 

mammcg88

I also live in a small town and didn't have ANY place other than Wal-Mart to register. Once I got online and looked at their items though, I was pleasantly surprised. They have a really good selection of items and a lot of them ship to your local Wal-Mart for free. If you haven't, I'd take a look at it before you rule it out. 

backinpgh

I honestly only tend to use other people's online registries if I'm not actually attending the event. For parties I'm GOING to, I'm a last minute shopper (usually grabbing the gift the morning of the event...ooops! lol) so online stuff doesn't work.

Really unless everyone on your guest list is really young and tech savvy, people will probably ignore the online registry.

ericav1011

pook:

I have one at diapers.com and really like it. Free shipping for people buying from my registry, and there are usually 10-15% off codes, too. About half the people at my first shower shopped from there (I also had a BRU in store registry) and 5 or 6 things have been purchased by other people (I'm having additional showers).

 

 I second diapers.com. You can't beat the free shipping for all registry items and the convenience. There happened to have been a store front near me (NJ) called The Baby Registry by Diapers.com and I couldn't be happier to have found this place. So, BRU and diapers.com I think really gives people options and they'll appreciate that :-). 

MsManners

As a guest, I wouldn't mind buying from Amazon. I usually end up buying from the BRU website if someone has a registry there anyway because the one near us never seems to have what our friends register for.

TaraandRichforever

I registered on amazon and also at Babies r Us and nothing was purchased off of my amazon registry.

virginiagirl11

I went way outside the norm and not only registered on Amazon.com but also on www.DepositAGift.com, which is a deposit-only registry.  Both got used.

I will say that the DAG registry made me a bit nervous because no one touched it until a couple of days before my first shower (and then the morning of the shower we got like 8 gifts).  Only our tech-savvy friends under 35 used this registry and there were a couple of questions about how exactly it worked.  It was a risk but fortunately it worked out.

I used the Amazon registry for my work shower and received gifts off of it from coworkers of all ages.  The rest of them simply purchased what they wanted to purchase on their own (and a couple bought registry items off-registry).

Personally, I loved registering with Amazon, but then I am also someone who does more shopping online than in person.  I don't step foot in Walmart if I can help it and Target has limited inventory and often higher prices than Amazon so I wasn't very interested in registering there.  Our nearest BRU is 45 min. away and I have often found their prices and shipping to be more expensive than Amazon.  Plus, as PP's have said, you get a 10% discount from Amazon 30 days out from your due date.  Ten days until we get ours!

 

SandK042

I'm in the same boat - we have a Target and a Wal-Mart (and I don't do Wal-Mart either).  BRU is an hour away, so totally not convenient for me.  I'm going to register there anyway... figure that if I get a lot of stuff I want to return, I'll do it in one shot, get a big refund, and buy a big ticket item I didn't get with my completion coupon.  No way would most of my relatives buy off a website.

Other thought:  If a lot of your shower guests are from out of town, where there are bigger Target stores, register at Target using online registry.  A lot of the items will be available in other locations, even if it's not in yours (the website will warn if it's "online only").  As long as it comes off your registry, the Target near you will accept returns, and give you a gift card which you can use on their website to get items that aren't in their store.

SSILVEIRA

I registered on Amazon and BRU.  I compared the prices and Amazon blows BRU away, I know I would shop on Amazon and I think my guests would appreciate a less expensive option  (they have free shipping on Prime items too).  So far I have have had 8 items purchased on my Amazon Reg (bassinet, swing, monitor, mobile, sound machines, nightlights, toys, etc.), and 11 off my BRU reg. 

Go for Amazon and do one at BRU so if people want to go into a store last minute they can!  I recommend checking prices at both and which ever one has the cheapest add it to that registry.

LaRue86

I say go for it. I am registered on Amazaon, BBB, and BRU.  So far 20+ items have been purchased off of my Amazon Registry, and 1 items off of the others. You really have to think about who you are inviting and how they will be using it. We have a ton of family out of town that have asked where we are registered and I always say Amazon because of the free shipping. The items are also less expensive, which is a plus. (The baby towels I registered for on Amazon for $12 are $30 at BRU