Do you shop in the June toy sales? Do you stash toys away for Christmas presents? Every year I try to have a Christmas toy stash but I don’t always succeed. This year I tried something new and I’m so pleased to have started my christmas shopping early. What’s even better is that I managed to get CraftyDaddy, who rarely gets to help me shop (or wants to!) to help me out.
How? By shopping for toys at the BigW website. Yes, I had an incentive to do it, but after doing it once, I’m converted!
Why would I shop early and stash toys?
- It saves me money – by buying in the sales, I save money on the big items that I might not buy otherwise.
- It makes life easier in that busy pre-Christmas rush – I always seem to run out of time!
- It means I have time to discuss options with CraftyDaddy and have his input in those decisions.
- It means I have actually thought about gift ideas so I am ready when other family members want to know what to buy for the kids.
- It was easy and there were no crowds!
- Quick delivery – I ordered online on Sunday night and my toys arrived Thursday morning, so I don’t have to worry whether I’ll have them in time to go under the tree.
- Fun! I love looking at toys for the kids and imagining the thrill they would get opening it and playing with it!
I spent an afternoon browsing the BigW website. There are lots of categories to help find things and I quickly realised a ‘Wishlist’ was the way to go. As I found things that I thought might be suitable for the kids, I just added them to my ‘Wishlist’. This meant that in the evening when the kids were in bed, I could pull up the ‘Wishlist’ and chat to CraftyDaddy about my ideas. He had some more suggestions so we could easily check those out too. Each time we found toys we liked, there were also suggestion of similar toys on the left hand side under ‘You Might Also Like’, so that gave us even more ideas, plus often there were related products in a tab below the description.
The other feature that I noticed which would encourage me to do this again next year was the No-Deposit Layby that they have especially online during this sale. That really means I could order toys now, pay for them over a 16 week period and then have them delivered in time for Christmas. I wouldn’t have to find a place to stash them until they get here – and let’s face it, one problem with buying toys early is finding somewhere to hide them! (More on that later… help me!)
Is your child a Toy Expert?
Now as parents it doesn’t take long to realise that our kids know which toys they like – and which ones they don’t! My kids have been poring over the catalogues that have been in the mail box lately showing plenty of toys – and there has been a lot of, “Mum, I want to buy THIS! Pleeeeeease!” Why not set the kids up on the computer and let them save things to their own ‘Wishlist’? Then you can go back at your leisure and decide what to buy. You can also share the ‘Wishlist’ with Grandma and Aunty Sue (and any other friends and family) with a special URL via email at the click of a button.
I’ll be taking my ‘Toy Experts’ shopping next week so I’ll let you know what they pick.
Giveaway thanks to BigW
Thanks to the lovely people at BigW, I am giving away five $100 BigW gift vouchers to spend in the Giant Toy Spectacular which runs from June 20th to July 10th online. You too have the chance to create your “crafty” Christmas stash by shopping online or in store. You can see some of the lovely things I bought in my pictures, and by clicking on them, you can view them on the BigW website.
To Enter
Tell me your child’s favourite toy in the BigW Giant Toy Spectacular, and where you would stash it? I need some ideas, folks, so the most creative answers will win the prizes.
Fine Print
- Only one entry per person.
- This is a game of skill, not chance. You must answer both parts of the question for a valid entry – 1. which toy your child likes? and 2. where you would stash the toy? I am looking for creativity in the second part of the question.
- You must leave a valid email address for me to contact you for a valid entry.
- Only open to Australian residents – apologies to my overseas readers.
- Entries open with this post on Thursday 20th June 2013 and close on Wednesday 26th June 2013 at 8pm Brisbane time.
- The 5 winners will be chosen by me from the valid entries and contacted via email before midnight Friday 28th June 2013.
- If any winners don’t contact me, after 4 days I will choose a new winner to replace them.
- Once I have been in contact with the winner, I will announce the winner and pass on their details to Digital Parents Collective who will send out the prize.
- I can’t take responsibility for any issues in the delivery process.
- BigW would love to see a picture of your ‘Toy Expert’ and/or the toy they choose on their Facebook page.
