Ok so I tried searching but going a year back I didn't see anything about this kind of stuff. Please link me if I missed a post like this!
Ladies (or gents!) : tell me what you liked/disliked about where you registered! How many places did you register? How did you decide what to register for where? I feel like you could find at least 90% of what you wanted at one place and have no idea how to split it up! What were your benefits for registering at each place? Did you get a % off anything not fulfilled? How were returns? Any SNAFU's? Do you know if the online version of the store had free shipping over a certain $ amount? Any benefits or issues I haven't thought of?
My situation: this is our first time registering because we had lived together before our wedding and felt really selfish registering! (Plus we had a smaller wedding.) I am almost positive we are going to do Buy Buy Baby over Babies R Us, especially due to the 20% off coupons. I wanted one BABY store (and I know BBB is in the location of both our families, IN and NJ) and haven't heard much good about BRU. I also want a non-baby store for my friends who don't have babies (all of them- I'm the first mostly) if they're weird about going to BBB or BRU. I remember the first time I did and I was OVERWHELMED. I like Amazon for that reason but I have heard HORROR stories about their registries. I like the idea of Amazon but wonder if it would be easier (their website isn't exactly SUPER EASY and I wonder about picking which reseller/retailer/whatever to buy from, what if it sells out, etc?) Not sure if it would be too troublesome or if guests would even use it.
Also, we live in FL but have no family and very few friends here. Both showers I am flying to (NJ and IN) and we are not opening gifts (both will be very casual/co-ed) and will request guests ship gifts as I am flying and cannot bring them back with me. That's why I care about their online shipping options. I know some older relatives though would probably rather go to a store, pick it out, and ship it themselves. We're planning to register next Saturday when DH has a rare Saturday off, so advice is welcome!!!!