Experts offer tips on registry shopping
Registering for wedding, baby shower or housewarming gifts is so much fun because it’s essentially shopping without spending a dime.
But it’s also tricky because you have to choose which stores to add to your registry, and they offer different perks.
Planning a wedding, having a baby or moving to a new house is hard enough without reading all the fine registry print. So we had the experts do it for you, and they provided some tips:
Ask about the completion discount: Stores usually offer a completion discount, which is a percentage off if your nearest and dearest don’t purchase everything on your list, said Nancy Lee, New Jersey-based president of Myregistry.com, a universal online gift registry that allows couples to add items from numerous stores onto one registry. For example, Bed Bath & Beyond, Babies R Us, Crate & Barrel and Amazon all offer a 10 per cent completion discount, while Target offers a 15 per cent completion discount.
Look at shipping costs: This may factor into the amount that your guests are willing to spend, and they vary greatly from store to store, said Kathy Cheng, founder of Thankful Registry, a universal registry service. “Amazon.com just raised their free shipping threshold from $35 US to $49, and Crate & Barrel doesn’t even offer free shipping at all,” Cheng said.
Check out the goody bags: As an extra incentive to register, some stores give away pricey goody bags, said Julia Wang, site director at The Bump, a website for all things baby. Buy Buy Baby’s bag contains product samples and coupons, and if you register in-store, you get complimentary announcement cards. Register for a baby shower at Target and you’ll get a gift with about $60 worth of product samples and coupons, Wang said. Bloomingdale’s gives a rotating gift to couples registering for their weddings, ranging from wine glasses to fancy wedding stationery, Lee said.
Find out the return policy: Your tastes may have changed, or you simply may have gotten more than you expected.
“Rarely do stores let you return gifts without a receipt for cash,” Cheng said.
And it’s unethical to register for gifts that you plan to return, re-gift or otherwise not use as intended, said Lizzie Post, Burlington, Vermont-based author and spokeswoman for The Emily Post Institute and cohost of the Awesome Etiquette podcast. “It’s pretty low to register for these things and then to return them or not to use them for what you say you’re using them.”
However, mistakes happen, so you’re bound to want to return a few things. Target is one of the best stores for returns, as it offers exchanges for up to a year following the event, Lee said. Bed Bath & Beyond is another store that is flexible about giving store credit for registry returns.