As loyal Amazon shoppers, it was a big leap for us to try Chewy(.com), but we’re so glad we did!
Chewy.com used to be only a fleeting thought in my mind. I’m not one to try new purchases through lesser known websites, but Chewy has become such a giant that I couldn’t ignore them any longer.
Every time I would Google a pet food or toy, there was Chewy, ready and waiting to give me a Google shopping link to their site. Their price was always the cheapest, which made me wonder: could they be trusted?
What Is Chewy?
Chewy is an online pet supply store that specializes in premium pet foods, many of which are made in the USA (yay!). It was founded in 2011 by Michael Day and Ryan Cohen. Ryan also happens to be the CEO of Chewy.com. The two initially started a jewelry business, but it just wasn’t their thing. Cue the Chewy start-up.
Chewy’s Promise
Cohen wanted to revolutionize the way people shopped for pet supplies in the same way Amazon and Netflix did for the media industry. Chewy(dot)com promises a lot, but they’re best known for their 24/7/365 service and super-fast shipping. They also give you free shipping on orders over $49.
Our Experience With Chewy
Ordering from Amazon was getting more and more expensive, and our cats needed a diet change fast. It was a combination of them being persnickety about food flavors and a need to include more raw food in their daily feedings.
For those wondering, we now feed them Primal Freeze-Dried Pork for Cats, Nature’s Variety Canned Cat Food (venison, lamb or rabbit), and Orijen Regional Red Dry Cat Food. They have extremely sensitive tummies, which is why we’ve had to change food so many times. You can see the Amazon/Chewy price comparison below:
Order #1
Misha and Tippy were thrilled! Well, they were thrilled to get a couple of new boxes, but whatever. We saved around $15 ordering the same products from Chewy(dot)com that we would have through Amazon.
Don’t get me wrong – I love Amazon. I just can’t afford to keep ordering cat food through them. Chewy also has much faster shipping; we got our first order within three days of ordering it.
Order #2
Yet again, I found myself changing a bit of Misha and Tippy’s diet. All of a sudden, they wouldn’t eat the Rabbit canned food. I ordered the Nature’s Variety Venison and Chicken from Chewy(dot)com. They tolerated the Venison, but they wouldn’t touch the Chicken.
I contacted Chewy(dot)com on Twitter and asked if I could possibly exchange the Chicken for something else (I only opened one can). Instead of asking me to return it to them, they comped it out and told me to donate it to an animal shelter. They fully refunded me; I was shocked!
What We Loved About Chewy
Not only was their service top-notch, but delivery was fast and arrived undamaged (I’ve had a lot of dented Amazon boxes). My order was accurate, and my cats gobbled up the food with no problems other than a distaste for chicken.
I’ve also noticed that Chewy does some pretty targeted marketing, as well. I received a mail flyer not too long ago in regards to auto-shipping. They took the time to print the exact products I had in my last order on the flyer, a level of detail that can’t exactly be cheap to manufacture.
You can save tons of money by using Chewy from auto-shipping alone. If you order a certain food every month (or any other specified amount of time), auto-shipping saves you 5% on every item, up to $15. There’s also a 20% off deal for your first auto-ship.
What We Didn’t Like About Chewy
There isn’t much I have to say in regards to negative aspects of the company. The only thing I was even slightly upset about was that our most recent order took almost four days to arrive instead of the 1-2 days Chewy advertises.
I don’t know the reason for the delay, but the good news was that we still had plenty of food before we would run out. Honestly, as great as they were about refunding the Chicken canned food, I was willing to wait a couple of extra days.
Chewy.com: The Final Verdict
I give these guys 5/5 Meows. Their customer service is literally so good that it blows any other negative aspects of the company out of the water. It’s almost overkill.
That being said, I hope that people will not take advantage of their generosity. A report from Forbes says that the company “has yet to make an actual profit”, which concerns me as an entrepreneur myself. Gosh darnit, Chewmeisters, you made me care too much.
If you haven’t tried this company out yet, I recommend it 100%. Their online store is a Google Trusted business, which means a safe and secure online checkout process. Paypal is not currently an option for payment, but they do accept the Paypal credit card (shout-out to Deniz B., who responded to our question in a flat 20 seconds via online chat).
In short: Chewy rocks!
Have you used Chewy(dot)com to buy pet supplies? Tell us about your experience in the comments section.
(This post may contain affiliate links. Any purchase made from these links may result in a small commission for the blog owner, at no extra cost to you. No compensation was given for this review. All opinions are the blog owner’s and are based on their personal experience with both companies.)
YEARS ago when Chewy first came on the scene, I was one of the original bloggers who promoted them. I left when 1) Too many bloggers got involved 2) When I realized that getting treats/food wouldn’t keep our lights on. Yes, Chewy’s customer service/delivery is superb, but they need to start paying the 100s of bloggers who promote them with REAL money.
Oh, I’m not promoting them in hopes of money. As far as promoting products on this site, it’s either because I’ve tried them and loved them, or I think they would be helpful to my readers. The truth is, I don’t know if they can afford to pay much in the way of affiliate income due to the situation mentioned in the Forbes article. Maybe someday they can! 🙂
We love Chewy and do most of our food shopping there.
They’re pretty great! We have a store about two hours away called Chuck & Don’s that also has fantastic service, but we just don’t have the money to drive all that way every month. Thank goodness I found Chewy. 0_0
That’s great. Hope they managed to expand in the continent, especially that Cohen is from Montreal!
It would save me and my neighbor some time sampling stuff. I’ve only taken care of feral ones in the past two years but even they get picky with their food.
No matter what a cat’s living situation, they’re always picky! lol
Awesome! I love the cat blog 😀 Im gonna share this article to my pages
Aw, thanks hun! Glad you got a kick out of the blog post. 🙂
I tried firstly petco. Then pet smart. Then three other pet med/pet food internet sites. When I happened upon chewy. I have been using them a couple of years now. They ship very fast. I do the auto-ship & I am staying with them. Their prices are the best as well. They pack the stuff very well also. I give them 5 meows!
Aren’t they wonderful? I can’t believe I hadn’t tried them before. I guess I was worried that their super low price was a scam, but they’re the genuine article, and I’m very glad I tried them! I can’t imagine buying from anyone else. 🙂
Hi Amber,
Thank you for writing this detailed post! I just placed my first order on Chewy, and then I googled Chewy vs Amazon and found your post. I don’t think I’ve ever commented on a blog article, but the information you provided was very helpful to me. I will share some information that may, in turn, be helpful to your other readers.
I adopted a dog last October, and ordered a lot of supplies for her from Amazon. I am adopting a second dog this Saturday, and I figured I would just reorder the same supplies. (I do not have any cats, but my sister has two.) Unfortunately, the perfect crate in the perfect size at the perfect price (can you tell I like this crate?) will not be available for 2-4 months. I don’t even know how that’s possible. Anyway, I reluctantly looked at Chewy, which listed the exact crate at the exact Amazon price as in stock. I did not believe it. Chewy has an actual phone number where you can talk to an actual person! In 2017! I called to verify whether the item was really in stock. The representative looked up the Item Number and confirmed that the crate is in stock. I asked about delivery, and she told me that they use FedEx Home Delivery (or FedEx something), but they do not deliver on Sundays or Mondays. She then asked me what state I live in, and told me if I place the order by 3:00 pm today (Friday), I should receive the crate on Tuesday or Wednesday. (Maybe something like this is why one of your orders took a few extra days to arrive.) That is not what I expected, but the representative managed my expectations and I was able to make an informed decision. The lady was very nice and helpful, so I decided to order from Chewy based on the great customer service during the call.
Note: I also asked to speak to a supervisor to give positive feedback. If the company is not yet making money, it might affect employee pay. In a call center, getting positive feedback from customers is a big deal, and might be a metric tied to performance evaluations and pay increases. *steps off soapbox*
Finally, I appreciate your response to the commenter who stopped promoting Chewy due to the lack of monetary compensation. It is getting difficult to find sources that are truly objective, and the reasons you listed for writing this post demonstrate that you want to
(1) provide useful information to your readers; and
(2) support a business that provides a product/service at a cost/quality that meets your needs.
tl;dr – Thanks for the informative post. Chewy seems great, and provides great customer service.
Tina
Thank you so much, Tina! I’m glad you shared your story with me. It’s good to see someone going the extra mile to try and help others (both my readers and Chewy employees) make an informed decision. I particularly like that you called to leave POSITIVE feedback. Retail is a difficult industry to work for, and most times employees only ever hear negative feedback. It’s so easy to complain, yet so difficult to make time to thank people when things go right. I hope you and your fur babies enjoy the new crate! 🙂
I agree that Chewy had been cheaper than Amazon the first half of 2017. But as of August 2017, Amazon beats Chewy on all canned cat food I have searched. Many varieties do not have AutoShip savings on Chewy, but regardless of whether Amazon has Subscribe & Save, it beats Chewy in August 2017. I’m bummed because I have a Rx order with Chewy that needs cat or dog food to meet the $49 for AutoShip.
Hello, and thank you for bringing this to my attention. I, too, have noticed a change in prices as of late. The Primal food we feed our cats is now the same price on Amazon as it is on Chewy. I don’t know if this is because PetSmart (or at least, I think it was PetSmart…) bought Chewy or if they’re getting so big that they had to raise prices – I do know that the majority of items are still cheaper on Chewy, including the canned food we used to get for them. However, I can totally see how lower priced orders wouldn’t be as beneficial in the savings as higher ones, due to the minimum purchase limit for AutoShip. I’ll have to put this article on my list of ones to update! Thanks again!
I used to adore Chewy, but not anymore. The savings has evaporated and now I am being charged sales tax since Petsmart bought them. Chewy never charged sales tax before and it adds a lot to the bill. I am going back to Amazon, since I am not saving any money any more, and I don’t pay sales tax with many Amazon sellers. Also, Jet sells my kitty litter very cheaply.
Oh no! I was worried something like this might happen… I did express to Chewy my concern that their service would change after being bought out, but apparently it’s their prices that have changed. I’ll have to do another price comparison to see what’s changed for my pet expenses. 🙁
I love Chewy. And only once did an order arrive in four days or in an odd manner. I frequently check Amazon on prices for certain things and then I check Chewy. In the past year this was for a Petmate water fountain that my cats love, carriers and new litter boxes. Time was an issue in all, as well as price and delivery. Chew won.
I try to give Chewy all of my business for my pets, although I used PetValu in my neighborhood because they have a canned food my babies love and that ie their Ultra line, and it is very reasonably priced. My cats had been on Wellness, but even on Chewy the price became just too much.
Here’s another reason I am loyal to Chew: A couple of times they have sent me food and goodies that were supposed to go to someone else. When I called them up they said keep what you can use and donate the rest. This resulted in some food and goodies for my kitties at a time when things were really tight (so I thanked God first and then Chewy for this. At the time I had lost my last, elderly canine friend, and so I was able to give the high-end dog food to someone in need.
Chewy won me, and I looked into all the other pet-food delivery services as they all came on board pretty much at the same time, and there always seem to be “catches” with all of them. Chewy is simple and they’re responsive and I really appreciate that. And you cannot beat their delivery, no taxes, great variety, great customer service, and the flexibility of subscriptions, not to mention the extra savings.
And back to PetValue and the Ultra canned, aside from my cats loving it, and the price being good, I rack up points there that are translated into dollars after a certain number, and it has helped tremendously. But I do get canned food regularly from Chewy, too, in the rotation.
That’s great to hear! I use Amazon for any pet supplies I can’t find on Chewy, and sometimes I’ll use it if I just need one thing to avoid the shipping charge. My local Target is usually my stop for toys. 🙂
I totally agree about the “no catches” thing. Chewy’s primary goal really is customer satisfaction. They really care about their customers, else they wouldn’t be as flexible as they are.
Thank you for stopping by The Meow Place, Cathy!
I buy two different type of dog foods. Both of my dog food bags are cheaper then Chewy. They are the exact same bag.
Example 1: Taste of the wild 28 lb pound bag AT Henco Feed the store, cost me $43.90 with tax. Chey Charges $48.99 $5.00 difference.
Example 2: Merric Game Bird Recipe Cost me at Henco Feed $55.90 Chewy Charges $62.98 $7.08 Difference.
Wow, that’s quite a difference! However, I think the price of Henco’s dog food may be because they cut out the middle man and let people openly buy from their warehouse. That skips a whole step for pet owners who don’t have to have the food shipped or priced for retail. I wish I had one of those warehouses near me!
I used to order my pet needs off amazon but decided to try chewy.com because I received an advertisement in the mail with a coupon and free shipping I ordered yesterday late afternoon
with my coupon my final price was almost half of the total order just over what I usually pay for one bag of dog food I got two and two cases of cat food for
if that wasn’t thrilling enough
today I received my order in the mail via fedex everything was exactly what I ordered and had expected all packed neatly
I will be ordering all my pet needs from chewy from now on and will be recommending this site to everyone with pets that I know
thank you chewy for being such a great company
I’m so tired of the ridiculous price fluxes on Amazon, pantry fees, sudden unavailability, poor packaging and BUSTED CANS OF CAT FOOD that I’m moving on to Chewy and won’t be looking back. Buh bye Amazon!
I hear ya! Amazon has ridiculous prices for a lot of things. It’s amazing the amount of difference there is.
I have heard some pet foods are more expensive on Amazon. But my cat food and litter are both cheaper at Amazon, and always free shipping. I don’t have to spend $49 to get free shipping
Chewy does have some trade-offs, but if you’re always getting free shipping on Amazon, my guess is that you either have Prime (which you have to pay for) or the food/litter doesn’t arrive in 2 days like Chewy’s does. Chewy works wonderfully for us, and the customer service/return process is way better. Let’s just say we’ve had some bad experiences with Amazon. 🙁
For quite a while I’ve been having problems with cans of food arriving so dented & damaged that the seal is broken and the food is unusable. Yes, Chewy has great customer service – they apologize profusely and give a credit or send more food. But it’s so inconvenient to carefully inspect every shipment that it’s not worth the small savings versus buying locally.
Raven, I would check with your local delivery service. I have had this happen with Fedex when I ordered from Bean & Lily. The shipment arrived almost completely destroyed… spray bottle nozzles all broken and unusable, dented bottles, and detergent leaked all over and through the box! It turns out that it was Fedex that did the destroying, not Bean & Lily. I would put in a complaint with your local delivery service if this continues to happen, as Chewy sends their packages out without damage (with RARE exceptions, I’m sure).
I ordered a pet gate and it was delayed in shipping. Contacted Chewy….”No problem…we’ll send you another FREE”. Both gates arrived so I contacted Chewy……”We don’t want you to go through the hassle of returning, just donate it to a shelter or give it to a friend who needs it”. Restored my faith in business and humanity. I will make sure all future orders are with Chewy!
Aren’t they awesome??? Chewy has been very good to us. They truly care about pets and their owners, and it shows in the consistent and spectacular customer service they have. I’m so glad you had this great experience with Chewy!
I absolutely love Chewy! I send in an order one day and it arrives the next day. They also have a fantastic customer service department. I am a loyal customer of Amazon Prime but for pet supplies, Chewy has them beat.
Hi Amber,
I notice that the prices of Chewy have gone up and matched the prices in Petsmart. I am not sure but I think Petsmart brought Chewy and that is sad because prices have gone up.
Aw, darn. I was hoping that hadn’t happened. I haven’t noticed any price change on the items I buy. Would you feel comfortable sharing what products you usually purchase so I can check it out for myself?