How I finished my Christmas shopping in one morning.

Christmas shopping with PayPal all done

I have just had the most brilliant morning. Yes, I should have been working, and yes, I do now have a little deadline pressure to catch up on. But it’s totally worth it for what I have just achieved. You see, my Christmas shopping is all done. And I only started today!

Christmas shopping with Paypal saves time!

This Christmas PayPal are asking you to share your Magical Christmas Moments with them, for a chance to win some fabulous prizes every week. Plus, if you use PayPal to do your Christmas shopping, you’ll have the chance to win back up to £1000 of your spend in their Win Christmas competition.

I’ll ‘fess up right now. PayPal did give me some money to spend, to entice me onto their shopping page and review the process, in the hopes that I’d be able to create some #PayPalMoments with the time I saved. I’m so glad they did, and I would go back there again next time I have shopping to do, even now I’ve spent it all! Because it’s genius in so many ways. I’ve always been a PayPal shopper, where it’s an option, and here’s why:

  • PayPal saves me time on payments – my head is like a sieve with all the things I have to remember for my family and my work. There is no way I’d remember my credit card details, so every online purchase means a trip to the place where I last left my bag (uhmm..?) to retrieve my card and painstakingly enter all the digits and security codes required to complete my transaction. OR, I just click the PayPal button and pay with my balance, or with the card details already stored on there.
  • I can manage my accounts – like most families, I have 2 or 3 credit cards for different accounts. I’m paying for something for the family or the kids, I use one of them; I’m buying something for work, or for myself, another. PayPal stores all my cards so I can make sure I use the right one for each purchase – so no transferring funds between accounts at the bank when I’ve treated myself to something on the joint account. Ahem.
  • It’s safe – in years of using PayPal I’ve never worried about my card details, and I’ve even used their resolution services when goods I’ve ordered have failed to turn up.
  • You can even save time buying on eBay as there’s now an option to link your eBay account with your PayPal account so you don’t even need to leave eBay to complete your payment.

For some of my family, I knew exactly what I wanted to get for Christmas, and I headed straight over to the relevant websites, using my PayPal account to buy the stuff of their dreams. But you know when you just can’t think of the perfect gift, and so you complete 17 circuits of town, gazing in windows, filled with indecision, and then wearily trudge home with bags full of random junk, most of which sits on the bathroom window ledge for the next 12 months unopened? I have totally avoided that this year, and have secured some of the most genius gifts ever for my family. *Fist pumps.*

PayPal’s shopping page.

I have bought gorgeous scents, and posh skincare products, toys I can’t mention in case the kids are reading, and hampers I can ship direct to family who I won’t see before the big day. And all with a couple of clicks – not a single page of variable search-engine results required! I’ve also managed to limit my pre-Christmas supermarket hell, by securing a case of wine for less than £5 a bottle, and a couple of spare champagne flutes, which is handy because at Christmas – well, you know how it goes with glasses at a party..!

1. Vinyl record player from PrezzyBox. 2. Case of wine from Virgin Wines. 3. Draw Something game from The Entertainer. 4. Tutu skirt from Miss Francis.

In addition to finding it all in one place, I also got the answer to the ‘difficult to buy for’ dilemma. It took me 5 minutes to make my decision, click ‘buy’ and check out. Only click the following link if you’re not Actually Daddy, GG or the Bug: this is what I’m getting my family for Christmas – inspired, hilarious, and I’d never have thought of it if I hadn’t seen the PayPal offers page, so it’s the perfect site for browsing if you’re stuck for ideas. And much less stressful than trawling the shopping centre!

I may have even got lost in the concept of booking my next holiday when I spotted the travel offers. After reading this post from Katie about visiting Amsterdam with the family, I’m rather twitching at my keyboard to click on PayPal’s deal with Travelpack to lots of European destinatios, including Prague and Amsterdam. That would be another fabulous family moment, right there!

Disclosure: I was given PayPal credit to spend, in return for writing this review, and promoting the #PayPalMoments Christmas campaign. All editorial and opinion are my own.

6 thoughts on “How I finished my Christmas shopping in one morning.”

  1. I’ve been delighted to see that being able to pay with Paypal is featuring more often on more sites this year and enjoy using it for the reasons you outline. I didn’t realise it has moved on to this degree though and I LOVE what you’re getting your family! Great tips here, thanks and am glad you’re all sorted so simply 🙂 X

    Reply
  2. I think programmes like Watchdog scare people about using PayPal because one person got their account stopped once. I’ve never had any issues with it and have just bought my Xmas tree with it!

    Reply
  3. I do use PayPal for most purchases, I like how you have either the choice of debiting your bank account or using your charge card. I did not realize they had a shopping page though, so I think I will hop over there now, since I have yet to start my Christmas shopping!

    Reply
  4. We ‘rediscovered’ paypal recently after not using it for a while and it really does make things a lot quicker. Must be a relief to get that christmas shopping out the way! x

    Reply

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