baby registry....

[polarbearfans]

I want some advice from moms who have been there/done that. I am drawn to babies r us because of the 10% of purchases back on a giftcard thing, but i HATE their setup! Both in store and online. It is a mess. I like the organization of Buy Buy Baby better, and they carry all the I guess more "luxury" brands lol I have been looking at Buy Buy Baby because I wanted to test drive the strollers, and it is just easier to shop. I am registering at both stores because my husband already told people that is where we are registering (this is not what I told him, so really I should make him do these registries), but is it weird if I mostly do the items on the Babies R Us for the giftcard? Is it worth it for the gift card? I loved the giftcard we got from Macy's from our wedding registry expecially paired with our completion discount. Both stores are in the area of our families. I had only mentioned Buy Buy Baby because babies r us doesn't carry Cybex or UPPAbaby in our area or online and I wanted to see those items. My husband took that to mean that is where we are registering :/

I think we have decided on the Chicco Keyfit 30 over the Cybex Aton 2. Mainly because we like the Chicco Liteway Plus a lot. I really love that stroller. Super cute and easy to drive, feels great. We are also thinking of getting a City Mini GT as a larger but still compact stroller to deal with Ohio winters. I like the UPPAbaby Vista and Cruz, but the handles have a slight pull back from how they are adjustable and that would drive me crazy. So, Babies r us does carry the big items we want.

Which store is the best to register at? Factoring in completion discounts and overall benefits.
babies r us
buy buy baby
target

[rbp]

BBB or BRU, whichever is more convenient. Target has a limited selection in-store and their website sucks.

People convinced me that BBB was so much better than BRU that it was worth registering there despite the fact that it is 30 miles from my house, and I drive by a BRU every day on the way to work. So it was a huge ordeal to get out to BBB to make returns. We didn't even bother with the completion discount because Amazon has better prices on most things and delivers to my front door. (I also registered on Amazon, but old people don't like to shop online.)

[Deleted]

I like BBB's products better but there are so many more BRU in our area, and especially in the area where most of my family lives. The closest BBB to where my family lives is ~35 minutes away vs. 15-20 for BRU. Since that was the majority of my shower's guest list, that's where we registered.

[gerberdaisy]

We did BRU because it was much closer, but the website is absolutely horrible. As far as the 10% back thing, at least for me it ended up being rather confusing and I never got the money back, it was weird. T I wish my city would get a BBB.

[mannah]

Amazon!

Jinx @this

[bowies]

SS: Register on Amazon and at BRU or BBB. You get a completion discount at Amazon too if it's sold directly from Amazon, plus better prices. I don't see the benefit of registering at two physical stores. BBB's shipping is highway robbery so I liked having the online option of Amazon.

I hate BRU and yet we're there all the time because they have such a monopoly in our area. You will likely have to fight for your completion discount - customer service had to call corporate to "authorize" it since it never showed up in the mail when they said it would. Then, six months after my due date, there it was in the mailbox.

[djc315]

Also coming in to recommend Amazon, plus BBB.

[simpsongal]

I got nothing from BRU - they stunk and their return policies, helpfulness, etc. were worse.

[Deleted]

My people sucked at buying anything off my registry, so it did not matter. At all.

[polarbearfans]

Thanks for the feedback! Amazon may be a good option too since we have a lot of family out of state that would want to send something. I cannot believe I didn't think about that option! I agree it seems silly to do two physical stores. Babies r us will be more popular with my family since it is closer and more familiar, buy buy baby more popular with my husbands family and our friends if given the option. I am grateful people want to get us anything at all for the baby, but I am already getting so much pressure to have a registry set up like last week. I am barely pregnant and want to research! I also had a very generous offer from a family member for the items she used for her kids, and I want to check out those items to see what we would like and what we would still need. She offered everything from furniture to bedding to play houses and kitchens.

[ewall]

We don't have a BBB locally so I went with BRU. I had no issues with my registry or returns. The 10% back gift card ended up being $200 which I used on a convertible car seat. One thing I did not know: BRU will price match items in-store. So even if they seem more expensive, you can pull up the item on your phone (Target, BBB, Walmart, Amazon, etc) and they will adjust the price.

[Deleted]

BRU is kind of a disaster. I have had a ridiculous situation of trying to get a chair there that I still don't have (started the week before Thanksgiving). And I never got any points/rewards for it like I was supposed to. Their computer system seems to be a mess.

BBB has been really easy to work with, but not many people bought from there. There is one very convenient to me and a lot of my friends.

Target usually doesn't have much in stock in store and is really frustrating as a buyer. I actually haven't had problems with their online lately and really like their baby selection, so I have bought a number of things for my baby myself there.

Amazon was the easiest. That's also what the most people used for my shower. Prices were sometimes good, sometime Target or BBB was cheaper. I just tried to balance my two registries, BBB and Amazon with who had better deals on what (also knowing most of my friends would use coupons who shop at BBB)

[Deleted]

I did Amazon and BRU. We did BRU because that is the most convenient and widely available for anyone in my family spread across the country that wants to buy in store. We did Amazon for everyone else and ourselves for the completion discount. Most people used our Amazon one.

Confession, I made another secret Amazon one for the girls. We never made it public but just used it so we could get the discount.

[halfpint]

I actually did Target and BBB - BBB had the better selection, but Target was more accessible for most of my friends and family (and I have friends who work for Target, so they got a discount). Also, with the Red Card I had 5%, then another 5% pharmacy rewards, plus the completion discount...Target ended up being a really good deal for most of the things I needed.

I tried to split the registry between who had the better price/selection on certain items. Then I registered for a bunch of stuff on Amazon - completion discount, plus there were online shoppers I had a spreadsheet by category, all based on Lucie's List and Baby Bargains, and researched each item for price. I enjoyed the research and registry process a little too much. 

[waterchurch]

After a terrible experience registering at target for our wedding, I avoided them for our baby registry. I didn't register with BBB personally because there weren't any local to me. But I would choose that over BRU, no question. My main registry was on Amazon.

[hbomdiggity]

Still expecting but my first shower is this weekend. I did target, Amazon and BRU.

While I also much preferred BBB and the brands, there is not one within 1.5 hrs of my family, so it was out. Target is the closest in store and even though it's selection is small I did find some stuff and it's been used well.

Amazon has been a total surprise. We use it daily so I mainly did it to track stuff for myself and for the completion discount (15%). I didn't think my family was computer savvy enough but apparently they are. Especially the last few days it's been hit hard.

BRU is a 30 min drive from fam and the least used. I felt like I needed a true "baby" place so I did it anyway.

[satsuma]

We did Amazon because we have a lot of out of state relatives and they have better shipping policies. The one thing I did not like about Amazon is that sometimes they would run out of stock on an item and it would temporarily be offered by a more expensive third party seller. That could be a problem if people don't check the price history on something (I had a relative spend double the normal price - I returned it) or if you want to use your completion discount but it's not being sold through Amazon at the time you want to do so.