Recently I discovered a site called Alice.com. It is a site where you can buy household products, like cleaning supplies, cosmetics, hair care, baby items (diapers, food, etc.), pet supplies, stamps, and more. Best part is that shipping is always free.
So for the good points of the site. Before I used the site I did a recon mission to Walmart to get a good price comparison. I found that in most things they were pretty close in price. Alice.com was actually cheaper on most Gerber baby items, name brand cleaners, and some name brand hair care supplies. They also sell stamps with no mark up price which just saved me a trip to the post office.
The package got here in about 2-3 days - very quick I thought. Everything was packaged nicely. They put a strip sticker over the lids of all the liquid type containers and put them in a plastic baggy together. They send along a packing list that also includes the price you spent on each item.
Coupons: Usually I will clip some coupons, but I usually forget to use them - or there just aren't any for what I usually buy. Plus we don't get a Sunday paper where most of the really good coupons are. Alice.com gets coupons from the companies and automatically applies it to your purchase. I love that part! I got some Aussie shampoo for a little over $2 because there was a $1 off coupon for it. And there were lots of products that had coupons.
The site is also very easy to use. I didn't have any problems navigating, ordering, or paying.
The downside. If you usually go with store brand purchases, those will still be much cheaper. For example, I use store brand formula, which is about half the price of the name brands - this still holds for the Alice.com site. Now if you are buying Similac anyways, then it would be a great place to buy because I'm pretty sure the price between site and store are just about the same. There are some items that are more expensive on the site - you have to do some research to figure out your best deals. I guess you also have to figure in the cost to drive to the store, and how much the convenience of shopping from home is worth.
Also, you have to order 6 items (except for your first order) at a time. This might be a downside if you really only need one or two items, and you need them pretty soon.
Some other features of the site. There are some other features that I really haven't used much. There is a tab that will show you how much of your money has been spent on a certain category of items, eg. baby items vs pet items. The site will also remind you to purchase items on a regular basis. You set up the time frame when you order the item. Most of my items defaulted to 4 months, except for the diapers which wanted to be set at 2 weeks, I think. You have complete control over how long before you are reminded.
So to summarize. I really love this site. If you usually shop for name brand items, this site could really be a time saver for you, and maybe even a money saver. I love that they apply savings directly, without any effort from you.
Oh and in case you were curious, my first order included: Pledge, Windex, 2 packs Luvs Diapers, Aussie shampoo and conditioner, Suave kids shampoo, mousse, 3 rolls Paper Towels, Stamps, Gerbers Rice Cereal, Ritz crackers, Comet, index cards, envelopes, Always pads, and Arm and Hammer Toothpaste. My total (before tax) came to $59, with $6.65 coupon savings. I figure that's pretty good, especially considering that the stamps and diapers make up almost half the cost. ($25)
