How many is too many?

cmlisenk · January 2013

My fiance and I are registered at Target and Macy's. Not realizing I didn't have our list private, my fiance's dad bought us a couple of things from it for Christmas which was a great surprise because they were things we didn't expect to get. However, after wondering around Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I noticed they had a bit more of our China set available at a better price than at Macy's. My fiance is fine with just sticking with Target and Macy's but I am considering adding BB&B because of the china and such. Is it unnecessary?

SCogs18 · January 2013

I would absolutely add BB&B. They have those awesome 20% off coupons for you and your guests to use, great customer service, and registery completion events where you get 20% off your entire purchase. Their prices are pretty good (and the coupons really help). And if they have more pieces of your china that Macy's doesn't offer...why not? Three registeries isn't uncommon.

Sorry to sound like a BB&B groupie, but we just completed our registery there and it was so painless, plus that is where the vast majority of our guests ended up purchasing.

hoffse · January 2013

BBB is fine - not my favorite place to shop, but that's just a personal preference. Three registries is certainly not too many. We have 3 national ones, and one local shop since none of the national stores are in my hometown where the wedding is (and where a large contingency of the guest list is from).

Personally, though, I would check on a few things before you switch all your china over to BBB. First, BBB's 20% coupons have a lot of exclusions. Some china lines are excluded (kate spade, vera wang), some aren't (lenox generally).

Second, if you have time before invitations go out watch and see what Macy's brings in during January. This is the time when there is a lot of turnover in stock. You might also want to see what Macy's prices are during sales. Very often, Macy's is actually the best price around if you catch them on a one day sale, and those happen most weekends.

Third, it will vary by circle but some people won't buy china at BBB. I have many many friends who register their china at both BBB and Macys or BBB and Belk (southern department store chain) and I usually see it all come from the department store and not a single piece come from BBB. My best guess is that it's because most BBBs don't have china departments. Who knows. In fact, the local china shops down here (every town has at least one) probably sells more china than the BBBs. It's kind of weird. So if it were me, I might keep the list at both places and see where people start to buy from. If your guests are focused on Macy's, keep it there. If they are going for BBB move it over there.

Finally, depending on your credit score you may want to open a Macy's credit card and link it to your registry. All of our "nice" items are at Macy's (except for our silver) because I have a Macy's card and will get 5% back on any purchase guests make off my registry. I also get 10% back on nearly any purchase I make myself with my card. I know I've accumulated at least $100 in gift cards just from the holidays, shopping for birthdays, outfitting myself for a new job, dresses for my parties, etc.

Just my $0.02.