Another Q: Separate ship addresses & SuperSaver Ship + gift wrap

[bostonsmama]

One more question. Can you ship to 2 separate addresses (as gifts) and still qualify for super saver shipping from amazon.com as long as the total order is over $25? I see that it's an option, but I don't want to have to enter my cc info to have to find out pos or neg...or whether there's a trick to doing it?

Original Question: I've decided to order some books as gifts online and have them shipped directly to a recipient's house b/c the shipping rates at the post office were outrageous. My purchases qualify for Super Saver Shipping at amazon.com and $25+ Free shipping at Barnes and Noble.com, but I don't just want a box sent to their house. Do either of these companies offer gift wrap services? I can't find anything about it on their websites. Also, will it slow shipping down or cost too much?

Also, if one company is "better" than the other (ie. faster delivery, failure to notify if not in stock, etc), I'd love to know.
TIA!

Larissa
who's gettin in the holiday mood

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." -
James Baldwin

[Smiles81]

Amazon definitly has gift wrap, I think its like $3.00. I don't know if B&N does, though it probably does. I have sent gifts from amazon, and we buy from amazon all the time and have no complaints.
Have fun shopping!
Reena
Mom to Dovi 3/16/04

[jenmcadams]

I like Amazon's gift wrap and I think it's normally pretty reasonable. You should be able to use Free Super Saver Shipping as long as the whole order is going to one address.

HTH

[chlobo]

Larissa,

Right now Amazon is offering a free 2-month trial membership to their Prime Shipping - where you get free 2 day shipping. If you are interested, PM me and I'll dig up the details.

[bostonsmama]

Thanks for the offer, but I wound up just shipping it w/ Super Saver Shipping to the same address-my SIL will make sure my other BIL & kids get their gift (yuck...the stuff won't arrive for two weeks!!) but at least it was in time for Christmas.

I've heard there's a glitch in the Prime Shipping program. On fatwallet.com there was a post about what a rip off the Prime Shipping is b/c so many items don't "qualify" for it and then you're locked into paying for 2-day priority shipping on everything else that doesn't qualify on amazon.com...and you NO LONGER qualify for Super Saver Shipping at all through that registered account until your Prime Shipping membership expires. Even calls into customer service got iffy replies (shrugs of the shoulders) saying that there were some "issues" to work out in the system. So I say buyer beware! But that's just me.

Thanks anyways...I appreciate the time you took to look into it.


Larissa
who's gettin in the holiday mood

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." -
James Baldwin

[chlobo]

Hmm. Thanks for the info. It looks like everything I bought qualified and the membership was free for 2 months so I don't feel like I've lost out on anything. I can also "opt out" of the trial membership at any time, should I encounter any problems.

[missiethegal]

Yes, I am in the same boat as you... I have the 3 month trial and haven't noticed any issues with things not qualifying for free shipping. And I have been doing lots of Christmas shopping and browsing on there lately. Maybe they've fixed the glitches by now.

I sure think Prime is a great service!! I hated having to find fillers to get to $25. I'm sure they've gotten more sales due to this, and it will pay off for them in the end!!

[jenmcadams]

I think the big thing with Prime is realizing that only Amazon.com direct items qualify -- i.e. if you order a shirt from Eddie Bauer through Amazon it doesn't qualify. Amazon has thousands of other merchants who sell through their site and some of the big categories (like Toys, Babies) are basically all other merchants. But if you order a lot of books, music, electronics, household goods, etc., Prime can be awesome. In my case, we order so much from Amazon that we were early adopters of Prime and we love it. I can order gifts or books for a trip last minute and get them quickly so it was worth the cost (I think I paid $59 or $79 for the year). I can also order one book at a time which I like instead of always trying to get $25 worth for free shipping. Anyways, a bit of a thread highjack, but wanted to give some other perspective on Prime b/c we've really liked it.