Fast shipping and generous MyPoints make me shop at Barnes & Noble.com
by knotheadusc - Written: Dec 10 '07 (Updated Dec 10 '07)
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I am currently living overseas, which sometimes means that if I want to buy American goods, I have to shop online to get things I want. Since I'm in Germany, I especially find myself attracted to online booksellers for books in English. When I lived stateside, I loved shopping at brick and mortar Barnes & Noble stores, browsing their vast bookshelves for new titles and seeking out new music. Since we don't have brick and mortar Barnes & Noble stores handy where I live, Barnes & Noble.com can offer a nice alternative.
To be honest, I'm only an occasional Barnes & Noble.com shopper because I find that Amazon.com often has better prices, selection, and chances to do one stop shopping. But the holidays are upon us and that means I'm doing a ton of Christmas shopping online. I'm also a member of MyPoints.com, which allows users to earn gift cards based on purchases made at certain online stores. Barnes & Noble is currently a MyPoints participant and is offering points for purchases made through their Web site, while Amazon.com isn't. Moreover, right now, Barnes & Noble purchases earn ten points per dollar spent. That means a relatively small purchase can help me make lots of progress toward a earning a nice sized gift card. Frankly, that's why Barnes & Noble.com got my business this year instead of Amazon.com.
This Christmas season, I went to Barnes & Noble.com to find a few presents for my husband, Bill. Since I'm also a bibliophile, I also threw in a book for myself! At Barnes & Noble.com, I can buy books, DVDs, CDs, stationery, journals and certain gifts. Barnes & Noble.com also has gifts for children, including board games and educational toys. Barnes & Noble.com also sells used and rare books.
Surfing the site
Surfing the Barnes & Noble.com Web site is fairly straightforward. There's an effective search function for users who want to look for items by keyword. Or, users can search for books, textbooks, DVDs, music, or gifts simply by clicking on the corresponding tabs at the top of the homepage.
Prices and Barnes & Noble's member program
Users will notice that each item has at least two prices listed. Sometimes there's also a list price, which is usually higher than the online price. The online price is what regular users are charged when they shop at Barnes & Noble.com. There's also a lower price, which is for people who are Barnes & Noble members. I am not a member of Barnes & Noble's preferred customer program because it costs $25 per year and until recently, I haven't shopped at Barnes & Noble often enough to justify the expense. However, I may join the program now that I'm in Germany. Barnes & Noble's member program allows users to get discounts of 40% off Barnes & Noble bestsellers, 20% off adult hardcovers (including textbooks), and 10% off almost everything else. Members can also get special "insider's deals" and the discounts apply to purchases made in stores and online.
Barnes & Noble.com charges sales tax on orders from all U.S. states except New Mexico. The tax is based on the shipment's destination. Barnes & Noble.com also charges sales tax on shipping to orders going to states where sales tax on shipping is required. So far, I have not been charged sales tax on my Barnes & Noble.com orders.
Barnes & Noble.com accepts all major credit cards. It's easy to create an online account on the site, which makes tracking orders and communicating with customer service fairly easy. However, creating an account is not required to make a purchase and the store does have customer service that can be reached by phone.
Shipping
Again, I generally find the prices at Amazon.com to be more competitive than at Barnes & Noble.com. However, there's one area where Barnes & Noble.com seems to outshine Amazon.com and that's shipping. Because I live overseas, it can take forever for me to get things in the mail. However, I placed an order with Barnes & Noble.com at the end of November and all of my items got to me by the next week. Granted, the items were in several shipments because they came from different warehouses, but I still got them fast. So far, Amazon.com has not been able to match Barnes & Noble's shipping speed, at least not since I've been overseas.
Barnes & Noble.com is currently offering free shipping for orders totaling more than $25 and, for items that are in stock and scheduled to ship to addresses in the United States, delivery is guaranteed within three business days. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule and even faster shipping options are available for a price. Since I have an APO address, my order is not guaranteed to get here in three business days. International shipping is also available, but it's quite expensive.
I just placed another order on Barnes & Noble.com this morning and immediately got a confirmation email. Less than a half an hour later, I got another email letting me know that my order is scheduled to ship tomorrow. Once it ships, I expect another email to let me know that my order is on its way. So far, I've been very impressed with the shipping speed, even though it largely also depends on service by the United States Post Office. My orders also get to me well packed.
Returns
I can't really comment much on returns because I've never needed to make one. However, Barnes & Noble.com will accept returns made within 30 days of the shipment date on the packing slip. For refunds, all items must be sent to the address on the packing slip. Barnes & Noble stores will grant in store credit for new books and unopened CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes. The packing slip includes a handy address label for returned items.
My overall impressions of Barnes & Noble.com
Generally, I've been very pleased with Barnes & Noble.com. I often get coupons via email to entice me to buy from Barnes & Noble.com. The coupons are nice, but I especially like the fact that this retailer is so generous with points for MyPoints users. To me, it's worth it to spend a little more for media on Barnes & Noble.com if it means I'll be able to score a gift card for another favorite store sooner. What's more, I'm very impressed with the speed and quality of their shipping. I would especially recommend this store to folks overseas, like me!
www.bn.com
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? books, DVDs
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