BabyCenter Store

Full review
I needed a second stroller for travel and after searching around the internet, I found that the Baby Center Store had the best price on the stroller I wanted.

MERCHANDISE

This is another site that carries tons of baby gear and baby items. There are lots of sites that carry similar merchandise. I always use the shopping search engines to find the best prices on baby gear. A Graco Metrolite stroller is generally the same no matter who you buy it from. The only difference I have seen between merchants is that some merchants have their own unique fabric on higher end brands. However, if minor details like fabric design don't impact your buying decision, or if you are like me, and price is one of the most important factors in your buying decision, you might as well get the best price as long as you are reasonably sure your item will show up in one piece. And that is the long-winded explanation of how I ended up at the Baby Center Store.

BIG BROTHER?

When I visited the site, a small sign popped up greeting me and stating that my baby was 3 months old. I found this rather creepy and clear evidence they were collecting information on me. I must have plugged in my information while using the site's other resources (which are many and helpful).

SHOPPING

I didn't really shop the site much since I knew what I wanted. The site was painfully slow even with my high speed internet connection. The thing that struck me first is that I couldn't find the search box to enter the name of the item I wanted. I ended up clicking on "strollers" and up popped my item. However, it seemed more like luck than anything else. The site does have a very good description of items but it only had one picture. I would have liked multiple pictures from different views. There are also independent consumer reports but most seemed short and consistently upbeat so they weren't particularly helpful.

ORDERING

The ordering process wasn't tough. Getting the deals was a bit more of a pain but I will describe that below. I input my name and address. The site asked me for a password - which I had no idea of - but there was an option to proceed without the password. This was greatly appreciated. There were a couple of screens to go through but overall the ordering process was easier than many other sites.

STEALS AND DEALS

This is one of those complicated sites with lots of deals and coupon codes. The first thing to do is check out the rebate sites such as Upromise and Ebates. I got a 6% rebate through Ebates but of course these things change all the time so check for yourself.

The site itself had two applicable codes for my purchase. I found the codes on the site itself. I didn't have to search around the internet for them. One code was for free shipping and one code was for 10% off my purchase. You couldn't combine codes so you had to pick one. The problem is that the site didn't calculate shipping until the very last screen so you had to guess which code gave you the better deal. If you guessed wrong, you had to start again in the checkout process. The other mildly annoying thing is that the codes were seven digit numbers so you had to have a pen and paper handy to write them down. It would have been easier if they used words that were easy to remember.

Lastly, you can get a membership to the site for $25. The membership includes a subscription to either Parents or Child magazine. The membership also entitles you to free shipping. It seemed that this free shipping offer could be combined with the 10% off offer but I didn't try it. The site has a lot of merchandise but we have pretty much stocked up on gear. I don't know when I will be back to shop again so I didn't make the investment.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I got an email when my order was received. I did not get an email when my order shipped.

PACKAGING

I ordered a Graco stroller. The stroller was shipped in its box with no extra padding or packaging. It arrived in good condition but I usually like to see more padding on a purchase that could be damaged.

SHIPPING

I had to pay a $8 charge to ship a bulky item. I chose the free shipping option for my sales code. Otherwise, the site had a special of $5.95 shipping for any order.

The best thing about this site is that I ordered my stroller on a Friday afternoon. It arrived the following Tuesday. While not a land speed record, this was quite fast for a bulky item and I was pleased with the timing.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

I liked the basics of this site. It was a little tough to find the item I wanted but everything after that was easy. Ordering was easy. The price was good. Shipping costs were reasonable. The best part is that my order arrived quickly in good condition. I recommend this site.







DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP ON THE INTERNET? HERE ARE SOME MORE REVIEWS OF WEB STORES:

Clothing and Accessories: Talbots; The Gap; CWD Kids; Hanna Andersson; J. Jill; Tote Le Monde ; Blu Pyxie ; Miniboden; One Hanes Place; Nordstrom; Gymboree; Simple Shoes; Sierra Blue; Ebags.

Clothing and Home Goods: Lands End; Bluefly; Soft Surroundings; Garnet Hill; Sundance; L.L. Bean.

Home and Garden: Smith & Noble; Restoration Hardware; Gardeners Supply Company; Unicahome; Homeclick; FaucetDirect; Gardens Alive; West Elm; Crate & Barrel; MyKnobs; CB2.

Books and Magazines: Amazon.com; ValueMags; Magazine Values; Dover Publications.

Office Supplies, Furniture and Services: Staples; Officemax; Topdeq; Efax.

Electronics: HP Shopping; Buy.com.

Travel: Amtrak; Hotwire; Orbitz; Hotels.com.

Discount: Overstock.com; Target.

Photo Developing: Shutterfly; Snapfish.

Baby Stuff: Babystyle; Babys Here Birth Announcements; Baby Universe; SoZo.

Miscellaneous: 1-800 contacts; Movie Tickets.com; Drugstore.com.

Rebate Sites: Upromise; Ebates.