A lot of people out there appreciate the thrill of the hunt when it come to Christmas shopping. No, it’s true! However, Best Buy is encouraging shoppers to stay at home, with its latest announcement.

The retailer is offering free standard shipping on purchases made through BestBuy.com from November 1 through December 27, 2011.

Whether you’re buying a laptop or a DVD, it doesn’t matter; no minimum purchase is required to collect on the free shipping offer. However, you may want to check the fine print (or URL); the free option is not available on select purchases made through Best Buy’s new online Marketplace.

“This holiday, we are offering free shipping on everything sold on BestBuy.com…everything,” said Barry Judge, Best Buy executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “Unlike some retailers, no minimum purchase will be required and free shipping will apply to the over 400,000 items sold at BestBuy.com —with no exceptions—for the eight full weeks leading up to and immediately following Christmas Day.”

If you don’t want to wait on standard shipping, Best Buy also offers same-day in-store pickup. That means you can order online and pick up items that are available in the store, for free, in as little as 45 minutes. For those looking to get a head-start on holiday shopping this weekend, Best Buy has free Ship-to-Store service, which allows you to order items online and have it shipped to a local store for free, easy pickup.

Best Buy says the deadline to place a free shipping order and have it make it under the tree in time is December 20 at 11:00 a.m. (EST). Last minute shoppers can also score that free in-store pickup right up until December 24 at 3:00 p.m. local time.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.