Bed Bath and Beyond Consultation! What to expect?

We did ours last month. It wasn't bad. They give you a check list and a scanner. Just scan stuff. It's pretty fun. Scan everything you like and you can change it online. We have lived together for years so we don't need anything. Upgrades would be nice though. Now towels, sheets, dishes, etc. They also expect you to have about twice as many items registered a guests.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your feedback! So household wise we have about 45, so about 90 guests. Honestly I can’t imagine having 45 things to add! I guess that’s where the checklist comes in lol

Add a whole bunch of small stuff. We still need to add more. We did the bug stuff like cookware, coffee maker, instant pot (I've been wanting one). Basically anything now that we see that we want, registry. We have little things too like big spoons, ladles, measuring cups. Stainless steel straws, etc. Things you never think about like how old is your blender, coffee pot, can opener, glasses, sheets, pillows, etc. Stuff you never in a million years, think about, until you need to buy them.

Scan extra stuff because you can easily remove items later (look up brand names online and keep the ones that are well-rated). I did our two retail registries (including BBB) in the store and then showed my hubby the items online so he could say "yay/nay" a few I wasn't sure about. He did NOT want to go shopping which was fine by me.

Have fun!

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the helpful tips! I didn’t even think to look up ratings. I started an amazon registry and was thinking of comparing prices on same items so I can try and find cheaper options.

We did BBB as one of our registries and my best tip is don’t be afraid to set a boundary with the registry consultant. We went into it knowing we were going to register for plates, silverware, glasses, and bedding at another store and the consultant tried to push those on me numerous times. She did a mix of letting us scan things on our own and pointing out things she would recommend. We asked for quite a few brand recommendations because I wanted good quality stuff but looking at 15 different toaster ovens was overwhelming haha.

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I needed new baking sheets and looked up the brands BBB carried. One got terrible reviews and another got amazing reviews--better than other brands. I love them! For some items consumer ratings may be helpful.

I think it really depends on which store you go to and when you go. I went to BBB and they literally gave me a list and the scanner and didn’t talk to me the whole time or try to make me add more things. While other people have had very pushy consultants who try to make them add extra things to their registries.

I used to work at BBB and I’ve setup many registries. You’ll get a pretty comprehensive checklist and (usually) plenty of help from the associate if you need it. At my store we offered to stay with the couple and also gave them the option of being left alone with help nearby. You’ll get a scanner and be on your way within a couple minutes after some data input.

My suggestion - go through every section of the store and register for everything! You’ll always have guests who insist on buying a specific thing whether it’s on a registry or not. Think of all the older things you have as well...upgrades are always nice, and this is the time for it! Also, having a lot of stuff on the registry will have a lot of price points and selection for people to buy.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for the advice! We definitely need more replacements of things. One of my concerns is registering for too much and people think I’m being greedy (because I feel like I am). But i think I’m gonna do a checklist of my own of things we need replaced and see where we go from there

View Quoted Comment I’ve heard both sides of that as well. I’m hoping they’ll let us just trail off and If we have any questions we can go and find them.

I literally just walked in with no appointment with my FH and went 'we would like to register'. They gave us the gun, asked us if we had any questions, and let us be. This could also be because we looked like we knew what we were doing and had firm answers for everything instead of wishy washy or 'I think so' type answers. The person checked in with a us a few times in case we had questions or couldn't find something, but it certainly wasn't any big production or anything.

View Quoted Comment Thanks for sharing your experience! I made the appointment online, FH has a car appointment so we’re dropping off his car and while we wait for it we have the appointment. Hopefully we get a scan gun as well, it’s the main reason why I want to do it in store. I want to view and see the product before scanning it

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Definitely read reviews. On items like cookware, it's so not worth going cheap... or you'll need to replace in 1-2 years and it'll be a pain to clean in the meantime.

View Quoted Comment Definitely feeling that now haha. I got all the cheap stuff about 4 years ago, and probably should have replaced it 2 years ago lol.