4 Ways to Get Free Shipping on Holiday Gifts

Even if you’ve made a budget to decide how much to spend on gifts this year, you probably forgot about shipping costs. However, postage and packaging costs don’t need to be an annoying extra expense, instead, there are many ways to get free shipping. Take full advantage of these 4 ways to get free shipping on holiday gifts.

1. Shop on Free-Shipping Day (Dec. 15)

It’s almost here! Thanks to the founder of Coupon Sherpa and Freeshipping.org, December 15 is a free-shipping day. Lots of retailers, large and small, will be offering this promotion to secure your purchases on Friday. More than 1,000 retailers took part in 2016, including Walmart, Target, Crate & Barrel, GameStop, World Market and more.

2. Check Which Retailers Offer Free Shipping

Lots of retailers like Apple, L.L Bean, and Zappos all offer free shipping throughout the year. Usually, Target and Best Buy offer free standard shopping during the holidays too. But with some different retailers, you might need to enter a code at the checkout or meet the minimum spend to qualify. You can use the browser extension Honey, to automatically apply a discount or free shipping code at the checkout.

3. Consolidate Your Shopping to Meet the Free-Shipping Minimum

If you plan your list in advance, you should be able to get multiple gifts from the same retailer. This is a good saving if you hit the minimum spend for free shipping. More often than not, the larger retailers will price-match each other, so you won’t end up paying more for an item in order to get free shipping. Stick to one or two retailers, and get all of your shopping done in money-saving one swoop.

4. Consider In-Store Pickup

Alternatively, if you aren’t going to spend enough to hit the minimum, you might be able to choose free in-store pick up instead. Lots of retailers are starting to offer this service, and K-Mart, Sears, Target (at limited locations) and Nordstrom will bring the goods to your car.

If you order online with Walmart and pick-up your items, you’ll also make good of an extra 3% discount. They’ve now got dedicated stations inside their stores to encourage online shoppers to pick up their order.