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My Other Tote Project

Back in March I tried out an e-mail offer from Shutterfly.com for a "free" 15" X 18" canvas tote that I personalized with one of my own photos. To get these offers you need to register an account with them on their web site, and they send you promotional e-mails and offers pretty much every day. I usually take advantage of the "free" 101 4" X 6" prints they regularly offer, and occasionally get a "free" coffee mug or calendar I make with my photos as gifts for the holidays.

Nothing they offer is actually free -- you have to pay tax and shipping -- and my canvas tote cost $9.99 to ship plus $.70 tax,for a total of $10.69. The regular price for the bag is $16.50 plus shipping and tax, so while not free it's a good deal. Now every time they offer the free tote I order it with one of my favorite photos. Eventually I'll have enough that I can use them for my weekly grocery shopping and eliminate using plastic bags altogether. I think they'd also make great gift totes.

I doubt it cost $9.99 to ship these freebies, but the bags are roomy, well-made and sturdy, plus the photo images are nice and clear, so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

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Comments

nightsmusic said…
Cute kitty!

The 'free' reminds me of what sellers used to do on eBay until eBay caught on and stopped them. They'd offer an expensive item for $5 and in the small print, the shipping would be $89. I guess enough people who didn't bother looking at the shipping charges finally complained enough that the practice was stopped. I'm all for reason but sometimes...
May 17, 2021 at 3:05 AM
the author said…
Not that I ever got scammed, but I always checking the shipping charge for the exact same reason.

I now have enough free totes to use them for our weekly trip to the grocery store, which will eliminate getting those pesky plastic bags. These totes are washable, too, so I can use them forever.
May 21, 2021 at 10:54 AM
nightsmusic said…
I have some totes I bought at our big sell-all grocery store. They're not branded so that's nice and the have a hard bottom but fold. I go at 6am, open them in my cart, use they're shopping app to scan everything and load it into the bags and then all I do is scan a barcode and everything transfers to the register. I'm a little anal about how I like my things bagged so for me, it works out great. But I cringe if I still have to use a plastic bag. Thankfully, that store also recycles them.
May 21, 2021 at 10:59 AM
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