I started this long post about Christmas and which gifts for the girls were big hits this year. I decided not to post that one, at least not yet, because, well, it hasn’t even been a week since Christmas. So, how can we even really know which gifts are true hits or misses yet? So, that remains a post for another time.
This year, we did most of our Christmas shopping online. I’d say that about 90% of the shopping was done online and about 90% of that was via Amazon. There are two big reasons that I tend to hit Amazon first when I’m shopping online – one is their incredible selection and the other is Amazon Prime.
If you have ever shopped Amazon before, you know that they sell almost anything and everything you can imagine. Books? Of course. Music? Naturally. Toys? Oh yes. LOTS! Shoes? Coffee? Sports equipment? Jewelry? YES! All over the place…YES! There are very few things that I’ve ever searched to buy online that I couldn’t find with Amazon. And, frankly, that’s impressive. That makes my Christmas shopping very easy. I’m a shopper by nature, but I tend to avoid busy shops during the holidays. I completely appreciate that I can sit down at my computer, click on Amazon and find gifts for basically everyone on my list. That saves me a lot of time, needless to say. It also saves me the stress of dealing with the craziness of retail places during peak shopping season. I like to shop, but I prefer to avoid bumper-to-bumper traffic and chaos in stores. My first online stop is almost always Amazon. If I shop anywhere else online, I try to go through eBates and that is another post for another day.
If you haven’t heard of Amazon Prime, let me introduce you to this great program. For $79/year, you get free second day shipping on all Prime-eligible products AND you get other great benefits like $3.99 overnight shipping on Prime-eligible items, online streaming and Kindle loaning. Check out their site for more details. This is something we’ve subscribed to for a number of years and it just makes sense for our family. We have family members in various locations around the country, so we do a lot of shipping for birthdays, holidays, etc. Amazon makes it easy. With free second day shipping on Prime items, we are set! It’s also nice to have Prime for Christmas shopping because I can depend on packages arriving here at our home or wherever we ship them on time. You simply cannot beat $79/year for shipping when you use Amazon as much as we do. To date, our biggest Prime shipping item was a new basketball goal. That thing weighed nearly 100 pounds and it shipped second day for FREE. Our UPS driver wasn’t thrilled with us, but it just goes to show that Amazon carries almost everything and you can really get your money’s worth from Prime.
I am completely spoiled to Amazon shopping. When I have anything to buy, it’s most often the first place I check. I’m not endorsed by Amazon in any way – I’m not an affiliate, nor have they asked me to blog about their site or service. I just like it all THAT much. And, I felt like sharing. 🙂
Happy shopping!