Haven't Done Your Christmas Shopping Yet?

You’re just not living if you aren’t last minute shopping.

There’s nothing like the thrill of a loved one gleefully exclaiming how very thoughtful your present is when you found and bought it in a manner of minutes online, in your daily pre-bed web browsing time, pantless.

But what if you’ve been had in the past? What if your gifts were seen for the last-minute sorry excuses they are?

Then it’s time to go online my friend. You see, this year, more internet retailers than ever are offering shipping specials for last minute shoppers like us, so that you can chose from a selection more vast than a picked apart Toys R Us on Dec. 23.

For the last few years, Amazon has been offering a free trial of their Amazon Prime subscription, a program where users typically pay around $70 to get free two-day shipping. 

This is how I will deceive this year.

Here’s how to take advantage of the deal.

1. You can only get the benefits from Amazon Prime if you purchase products from the retailer itself and not a third party retailer that has set up shop inside Amazon. So that means when you find something you want to buy, make sure it is sold by Amazon. If it is, you should see Amazon’s name under the green “In Stock” text at the top of the page.
2. Then follow through with the purchase: enter your payment and shipping information …ect. Then at the final page, where you confirm your purchase, you should see an advertisement at the top for a free trial of Amazon Prime. Follow those steps and you are good to go.
3. But what if you are a deviant like me? What if you have pulled this scheme before, last year? Create a new Amazon account, so long as you have an additional credit or debit card that isn’t already listed on your current account.

Voila! You now have free two day shipping and one day shipping that cost $3.99 per item, from a store with such a massive collection, no one will think their gift is the afterthought it always was.

For a longer list of online retailers offering similar services, check out this Cnet story, which includes shipping deals from Apple’s web store, Target, Best Buy and more.