If you’ve got pets, you know how important it is to source the best food, toys, and supplies for them so you can give them the best life possible. I have a few regular sources for everything I need to keep my three very spoiled cats happy and well fed, and one of them is Chewy.com.
KEY POINTS
- Chewy offers a lot of deals and coupons that result in free toys, treats, and sometimes even a free gift card for a future order.
- The reviews for products make it easier to decide if the item in question will be a hit with your pets.
- You can get free fast shipping for orders over $35, and orders under that threshold still ship for pretty cheap.
The deals available
Chewy offers a lot of great deals on select items, and at any given time, your order might qualify for a free gift card, free bag of pet treats, or a free toy. I hopped over to the Chewy site to see what deals might be available right now, and I found a “buy three, get the fourth free” sale, with hundreds of items eligible. This included dog and cat toys, treats, and even cleaning supplies (always necessary when you have pets).
And a free gift card with an eligible order is always welcome — one of the orders I placed last year came with a $25 gift card. Shopping at Chewy means getting the chance to take advantage of these deals.
Helpful product reviews
If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for new pet products to make your life easier as well as spoil your pet. Chewy is a great place to learn about new treats, toys, and more, because of the product reviews left by other pet owners just like you. When you’re searching inventory, you can sort the list to view products by rating, and this can be a timesaver.
And Chewy staff members read the reviews on the site, at least to some degree. I ordered some cat litter bags that were unfortunately not up to snuff, and I left a review stating just that. A few days later, I had an email from Chewy’s customer service, apologizing for the product quality and noting that my money would be refunded!
Free and automatic shipping
Here’s where I admit that I don’t use Chewy’s Autoship service, which functions a lot like Amazon’s Subscribe & Save (and I don’t use that either). This isn’t because the service stinks — I have a lot of friends with pets, and many of them swear by Autoship. With Autoship, you choose the products and how often you want them sent to you. You save 35% off your first Autoship order and 5% on subsequent orders.
But I prefer to order items when I need them, and Chewy has my back here, too. Until recently, you needed to spend at least $49 to get free one to three day shipping from Chewy, but when I was researching this article, I found that the threshold has been lowered to $35! And if you only need, say, $20 worth of items, you can get fast shipping for the flat rate of $4.95.
Wait, what about the prices!?
I’m the first to admit that I enjoy saving money on my purchases, but I don’t base my buying decisions entirely on how much a given item costs at a certain retailer. The shopping experience counts alongside the hit to my checking account. I did some price checking for things I buy frequently for my three cats, to see how the costs shook out at Chewy, Amazon, and PetSmart:
| Item | Chewy price | Amazon price | PetSmart price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purina Beyond Grain Free Dry Cat Food (Ocean Whitefish & Egg) | $28.94 for 11 pounds | $28.94 for 11 pounds | $38.99 for 11 pounds |
| Hartz Delectables Bisque Senior Variety Pack | $12.94 for 12-pack | $12.94 for 12-pack | $12.99 for 12-pack |
| Tidy Cats Lightweight Free and Clean Clumping Litter | $25.48 for 17 pounds | $24.11 for 17 pounds | $27.99 for 17 pounds |
For two of my items, Amazon and Chewy priced them the same. For the third, Amazon was cheaper, but not by a lot. And in all cases, PetSmart was the most expensive. For individual items I buy frequently, I have a look at Amazon or Chewy to see which is cheaper, and generally buy from there. PetSmart is often my third choice, and not just because of price — I have a PetSmart store in my area, but it’s easier to order pet supplies, so I tend to default to one of the online-only options.
While Chewy does sometimes have the cheapest prices, my reasons for using it go beyond just saving money. I like the fast free shipping, finding deals on different products, and reading helpful reviews so I know I’m getting products my cats will like. Give Chewy a try and see what you think.
