When I was a first-time mom, I had no idea baby registries actually offered free stuff. I just assumed it was all a scam. Boy did I miss out!
Now that I’m expecting my third child, I wanted to see what kinds of samples, products, and coupons these boxes come with, and whether any of them actually live up to the hype. I REALLY love freebies (and, after testing these boxes and some other strategies, wrote the complete guide to free diapers if you like freebies too).
Today, I’m going to show you what I got in four different company’s boxes: Amazon, Babylist, Target, and Walmart. Though each box will be slightly different and no products are guaranteed (each website makes sure to state that clearly), you can expect something very SIMILAR if you also choose to order from any of these companies.
(And if you’d like to read about the baby products 6,000 moms did (and didn’t) recommend you add to your registry over my six months of research, you can read my essentials-only baby registry checklist article here!)
I also dive into some of the requirements to getting a box, the specific policies for individual registry sites, and answer frequently asked questions.
So let’s get to the hauls!
Amazon Baby Registry Welcome Box [Best Overall]
Requirements to getting Amazon’s free Welcome Box:
- Be a Prime member.
- Create a registry.
- Complete 60% of your “checklist.” This step includes adding items from different categories (like “clothes,” “diapering,” “nursery essentials”) to your registry.
- Spend at least $10 on an item from your registry.
- Once your item worth at least $10 has been DELIVERED (not just ordered), you can order your welcome box.
Review of Amazon’s Welcome Box
I was fairly impressed by Amazon’s freebies. Their Welcome Box did have a spending requirement of $10, but I definitely got way more than that in free products. (The swaddle alone costs $13.) Amazon states that their Welcome Box is valued at $35, and that felt about right. It also had a good mix of full-sized freebies, travel/sample size freebies, and coupons, which I appreciated.
The biggest downside to Amazon’s requirements is definitely the “completing 60% of the checklist” step. Essentially, you’re interacting with advertisements for 15 minutes, all designed to make you question how much stuff you thought you would need for baby and encourage you to want and buy more. Plus, reaching 60% takes at least 15 minutes, even if you just randomly click buttons and fill your registry with the first suggested item without actually looking at anything.
However, if you think about taking 15 minutes to earn $35 worth of goodies, you were basically working at an hourly rate of $140/hr, which is pretty good! If you’d like to create an Amazon baby registry, you can do so by clicking here.
Target Baby Registry Box [Best TOTALLY Free Option]
Requirements to getting Target’s welcome kit freebies:
- Have a Target account, and sign into it.
- Create a baby registry.
- Claim your free welcome kit in one of two ways-
- In-store: Show the barcode from your Target App to an employee at Guest Services (while supplies last)
- Online: Order your free kit, but it will only ship in an order over $35.
Review of Target’s freebie box
I loved that I could just walk into a Target and pick up my freebie bag, but I know most people will have to hit the $35 online cart minimum before they can claim their free box. I’d definitely recommend calling the customer service desk at your local store to see if they have any in stock.
My favorite part about Target’s welcome kit is that the samples are products parents actually need. Diapers! Wipes! Bottle/breastfeeding supplies! It’s really hard to go wrong with the basics.
The only downside? Target says the welcome kit is valued at $100 when you include the samples, discounts, and coupons, but as you can see from the above picture, most of that value is coming from coupons. However, this freebie box is really, truly, 100% free, so getting anything at all is a win.
Babylist “Hello Baby” Box [Most Freebies Overall]
Requirements to getting a box of freebies from Babylist:
- Create a registry.
- Add three items to your registry directly from Babylist’s online store.
- Add three items to your registry from other retailers (Amazon, Target, Pottery Barn, etc.)
- Make a purchase of at least $10 (plus $7.99 shipping & handling) from the Babylist store. This step can be done either by you or by a gift giver.
- Order your Hello baby box and pay $8.95+ tax.
Review of Babylist’s freebie box
Babylist had the most expensive requirements to qualifying for a freebie box (you need to spend at least $26.94), but they also gave away WAY more products than anyone else. I received clothes, diapering supplies, supplements, nursing & bottle feeding items, a pacifier, creams & lotions, and TONS of coupons.
The box’s interior came with some fancy gift wrapping too, which was a nice touch.
Also, from a registry standpoint, I love that they allow you to register for “pre-loved items,” group gifting, acts of service like babysitting or house-cleaning, and other gifts that allow friends and families for more frugal options for supporting new parents.
The one downside to getting Babylist’s Hello Baby box was the requirement to buy something for $10. I found very few things on their site at that price point or below, and eventually settled on a sleep sack for my toddler for $14. In addition, they seem to be focusing on branding themselves as more of a “luxury” baby registry experience compared to the other three sites I reviewed, so their prices on *everything* were higher. For example, no, I’m not spending $78 for a single nursing tank top.
The big question is this: did I receive more than $26.94 in baby freebies from Babylist? The answer is ABSOLUTELY, and more than half of the products are ones I’ll definitely use (that’s coming from a mom who’s already been down the baby road twice before).
If you’d like to create a Babylist baby registry, you can do so by clicking here.
Walmart’s “Welcome Baby” Box [Easiest]
Requirements to getting a box of freebies from Walmart:
- Have a Walmart account, and sign into it.
- Create a baby registry.
- Claim your “Free Welcome Box.”
Review of Walmart’s Welcome Baby box
That’s literally it. My experience ordering Walmart’s freebie box was shockingly easy compared to the other three registries. Within five minutes, I’d made a registry and claimed my box. No making a purchase, no giving away valuable data, not even adding items to the registry! Walmart’s box did take slightly longer to arrive than the others, but still in less time than the website promised. (I received mine in 2.5 weeks, whereas the website estimates it would take 4-6 weeks.)
The Walmart Welcome Baby box did have less items in it overall compared with the other three, but I was completely fine with that for the amount of effort it took. Some of those items were very practical, like diapers and wipes, and others were more cutesy, like the 12 photo cards with months printed on them. You can’t go wrong!
If you’d like to create a Walmart baby registry, you can do so by clicking here.
Frequently Asked Questions about Baby Registries:
| Amazon | Babylist | Target | Walmart | |
| Are there shipping fees for the freebie box? | No. | Yes, $8.95 | No. | No. |
| Do you need to make minimum purchases from the registry to qualify for the baby box? | Yes, at least $10. | Yes, at least $10 (but if you don’t spend $45 or more, you’ll actually need to spend $17.99 because of shipping & handling fees.) | Not if you pick up the box in-store. If you want to get it shipped to you, you’ll need to order the box along with a cart costing at least $35. | No. |
| Can you add links from other websites on this registry? | Yes. | Yes (actually required for earning the freebie box). | No. | No. |
| Can it be private? | Yes, either private just to you, or private just to people you give the link to. | Yes. | Yes. However, if you make it private, Target can’t share your info with other registries you might have started. | Yes. You can also share the private link with friends & family. |
| Can multiple people contribute towards one big gift? | Technically yes. You’ll get an Amazon gift card for the value of the combined amounts though, not any specific gift. See here for more details. | Technically yes. You’ll get a Babylist gift card for the value of the combined amounts though, not any specific gift. | Technically, yes. You’ll get a Target gift card for the value of the combined amounts though, not any specific gift. | No. |
| Do you get discounts if you make a registry? | Yes, 15% off any un-gifted items in your registry, starting 60 days before your due date (and expiring 90 days after). Up to $300 off. | Yes, 15% off items starting 60 days before (and expiring 6 months after). It cannot be used to purchase diapers or wipes, among other exclusions. | Yes, 15% off any registry items starting 8 weeks before your due date. | No. |
| What’s their return policy for products bought off the registry? | Gifts purchased from your Baby Registry are eligible for free returns within 1 year of the receipt of your shipment. See their return policy for more details. | Gifts purchased directly from Babylist can be returned for up to 9 months from the purchase date, but ONLY if the item is still unopened, among other exclusions. See their return policy for more details. | You have up to 1 year to return new, unopened gifts from your registry. See their return policy for more details (scroll down to “Registry Gifts.”) | You can return all registry items for up to 1 year as long as you still have the original packaging. See their return policy for more details. |
| What’s the total cost to get the freebie box? | $10+ tax | $26.94+ | Free if picked up in-store, $35 if getting free shipping online. | Free! |
And that’s it! If you’d like to read more articles about raising a family on a budget, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter below for weekly updates and other insider tips!