Drawbacks to online registering

kbunkwedding

I just thought I'd pass this on....
My sister-in-law used myregistry.com. We'd already registered but we thought it was a great idea and second-guessed if we'd done it right. We did Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy's and Crate and Barrel.
Well her shower showed us this may not be ideal for everyone. If you have a family of people who are all online and savvy to it great. But in our case people were confused. Many are online people but not everyone was. And it surprised me that some younger people were the most clueless.
They called our family members all week to ask where to get things. Others bought things on the registry from other places. While they could update the registry they didn't understand. 
People bought duplicated presents. We had to return a blender that we bought online and pay for shipping for the return. And we did it right.
Just thought you'd want to know.
Also, I'm referring to places with no physical store like myregistry.com.

SirJuliusVonHaast

Personally, I was soured to that site a few months ago when they kept making fake user names and posting on the boards.

JuneMaggie

That is why we didn't use that site- but I still think an online registry is ok (we have one at www.uponourstar.com) but you still have to have some B&M stores for your diversified guests!  I know my grandma will never figure it out.   

We wanted our wish registry for furniture and other house remodeling type things- it was the best fit for us- but I have a few other places as well- I think you can find a way to have a little of online and brick/morter! 

MyNameIsNot

Yeah, pretty much anything that relies on your guests to take the extra step to mark the item as purchased is going to make problems.  And honestly, I'm not a fan of companies like this that don't actually sell the item.  If you're going to include BB&B and Macy's, why not just register there?  Just so that this company can take another cut?  I don't think so.  

If you want to go with an online option, something like Amazon.com is a great choice.  They have everything, and they manage your registry, just like a traditional store would.  Plus, they are well established and reputable, so people will be more comfortable using them.  

Conventional wisdom is that if you go with an online registry, you should still have a brick and mortar one.  Even for people like me that are totally comfortable shopping online, people often don't think ahead, and will want to have the option to swing by the store on the way to the shower.