Zola and Blueprint Registry

For our amazon list we added, resturaunt and movie gift cards and a picnic basket set, wine fridge, customized wedding frames etc

I don’t know about these particular sites but I’m pretty sure all of them take a percentage. People will know to give you cash or checks and then you get 100% of that money and can include a picture from your honeymoon in your thank you card of what you used that for. If you are having a shower though you will need to make a small registry or decline it because these cash registries aren’t appropriate for a shower.

What about upgraded nice sheets or towels? We have gotten an air fryer and pressure cooker off our registry so far and we love them! I’ve also seen people register for board games, camping equipment, Bluetooth speakers, smart thermostats/lightbulbs etc.

View Quoted Comment Okay cool! Thanks

View Quoted Comment That’s helpful thank you!

So far I have found Zola to be great! We've started receiving some physical gifts, although our main "gift" is a contribution to honeymoon and house fund. I love how the site is set up to include lots of other info for guests too ... and our RSVPs are set up through Zola now. So far so good.

We did a house "inventory" of things we would consider upgrading, boiled it down to a handful of key items at a variety of costs (cookware, wine rack, serving platters, etc ) but then ultimately did a contribution fund for the main "gift" (all through Zola). We found there were so few physical things we felt like we really *needed* to upgrade so the fund made more sense for us. But it did feel great to start getting the "upgraded" items delivered!

I LOVE Zola and based on my research they do not take a cut of any money contributions - they do have to pass a 2.5% charge onto the guest or onto the couple (you choose) to cover the credit card fee, but that’s it.
The unique thing they do is if someone buys a present for you and to be shipped to you, you’re notified and get to select when it’s delivered. This is highly convenient if you travel a lot.
They also have some excursions and activities you can register for that I don’t believe have a credit card fee.
I also like the app they have - it makes it very convenient. Just note that some of the items on the Zola registry are priced higher than other places, however, they do price match but it requires an email. I just linked my two other registries to Zola as well so guests have options.

As a guest, if I were given the option of 2 websites to give money for a registry...I would decline. Besides the fact that asking for cash in any form is rude, the risk of personal information and cc numbers being stolen is a huge factor in this day and age.
I would rather give cash or check as a gift. However, if cash donations were being demanded of me via wedding invite, I would give a card full of nothing but good wishes.

We've lived together 5.5 years, so I feel you! We got our first registry gift yesterday, and I never thought I'd be so excited about silverware. 😂
We registered for a set we would probably never have purchased for ourselves (our $35 set from Target works just fine), so it's a really nice set with a lifetime guarantee.

Maybe choose some things around the house to upgrade that you may not buy for yourselves. We also registered for board games, a grill, patio furniture, etc.

I am using blueprint, but we are only doing a traditional registry through them, however I did look into the cash registry. The website (this has been the case for The Knot, blueprint, and Zola) charges the guest a fee on top of the cash gift they wish to send. So if they want to buy you a $100 massage they have to pay $102.50, where you only receive $100. Also the funds are held for an extended period of time, you don’t receive them until 3 weeks to a month after the guest purchases the gift so if you are looking for honeymoon experiences you would not even receive the money in time for that.

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............that 2.5% IS a cut

You're not going to get a lot of love on this idea, people aren't big on cash funds because your guests will know to gift cash without your asking. I'd rather get a check than ASK my guests for money and then have them assessed a fee, that sounds awful.

Definitely take the upgrade approach PPs have mentioned. One thing I've heard many couples don't think about is luggage. Macys and pretty much every bridal site has a registry guide that can help yout think through what you need and want.

View Quoted Comment It may be a cut but Zola does not get any profits from it - it solely covers the credit card fee. Plus it’s the lowest of any of these sites. When you set it up, you have the option to pay the fee at checkout. Therefore guests pay $100 and you get $97.50.

I asked around to various guests, differing generations and it was mixed (80% for the idea 20% against). Most of the against said that if they saw that, they would just put cash in a card. Only a handful truly felt it was rude. I do believe this stigma is changing - use of cash and checks are slowly disappearing). But it’s good to know your guests. Personally, IMO adding excursions you want to go on is no different than asking for a blender - you’re still asking for a gift. My FH and I actually don’t do traditional gifts, we gift activities and excursions to each other. I did however add some traditional “upgrade” items to the registry for those that prefer hard set gifts.

We used zola to register and I was also able to link our amazon to it and we registered for a few items we would like to upgrade but we're taking a drive down the California coast so registered for different things to do like indoor sky diving, wine and dinner in Napa Valley, something in LA etc..which so far I have heard guests love they can contribute to and others loved we have a "normal" registery so I would say put a little of everything and let your guests choose 😊

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Since Amazon is so huge/popular, I was wondering if you could link Amazon products to Zola - thanks for covering that! Do you happen to know if doing it this way you'll still receive the 20% registry completion discount for Amazon Prime members?

View Quoted Comment No, 2.5% is a transaction fee most likely VERY close to the fee they are charged by the creidt card company. Given that almost all credit cards give you at least 1% cash back that fee is going to be less than 1.5% realized.

I don't know about you, but I don't have a checkbook (because I live in this century and in a first world country) and I don't send cash or gift cards in the mail as I prefer for things not to be stolen. If a couple doesn't have some type of fund that I can send money to electronically then they better have a large enough registry for me to choose from or they may get nothing at all.

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Hi, I'm wondering how you liked Blueprint Registry and if you've had any problems collecting the cash gifts? I can't find the "Redeem Funds" button on the Gift Tracker page, so I had to put in a support request. Just wondering if this is only an issue on my computer or if others have also dealt with it.

Thanks!

View Quoted Comment Hey Jess,
i really like the Blueprint registry! I prefer the platform over that Zoeller. I have never had an issue getting the red team section to show up on either my phone or my laptop. The only issue I have ever had is that if I want to add a registry items from some random site I can only do it easily on my laptop not on my cell phone. I find the “redeem” function under the gift tracker section! Hope this helps 😊

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Thanks! I actually heard back from the support team quickly. It turns out I created my account a while ago before they made some upgrade or switch to another platform, so instead of the regular "Redeem Funds" button which does not appear on my account, they have to send me a special (free) PayPal transfer manually. So I think it will all work out!

I did enjoy using the platform to consolidate gifts from many places.