Oriental Trading Company Online Store: Tons of Stuff for Not Very Much
Written: Mar 24 '04
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Every month or so, a catalog from Oriental Trading Company arrives in my mailbox. Every year my husband and I SWEAR that we are going to order something from them to give out for Halloween, and every year we forget to order in time and give out candy instead. However, they are always in the back of my mind for ordering small throw-away gifts, and I finally resorted to them in my time of need: my daughter's fourth birthday party. You see, my daughter wanted an angel theme for her birthday, and I had nowhere to turn in terms of traditional party goods outlets. Enter Oriental Trading Company Online Store.
~&~ The Basics ~&~
If you are living under a rock and have somehow never received one of Oriental Trading Company's catalogs, they are what every parent will refer to as a "junk toy" catalog. Most of the items you see are the quick, throwaway type of toys given out in doctor and dentist offices everywhere: frogs that stick to your walls and creep their way down, glow in the dark bouncy balls, foam animal masks, plastic yo-yos and the like.
Oriental Trading Company Online Store also carries a wide variety of craft projects, party supplies and decorations, and an entire selection of religious-themed crafts and toys. Lest you think these toys are entirely Christian-based, I know that around the holidays I have seen Hanukkah crafts in there as well.
The website at Oriental Trading Company Online Store is very easy to navigate, with categories across the top and "site features" on the left sidebar. You can order quickly from the catalog by entering the catalog item number, or search for what you are looking for using the search feature. Once you have selected your items, checkout is a breeze, with Oriental Trading Company Online Store accepting Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Transactions are protected by VeriSign, and shipping is based on order total, with a handy chart breaking shipping charges down for you if you click the link.
~&~ My Experience ~&~
Oriental Trading Company Online Store was the only solution for us for my daughter's birthday, and I've used them again since. I don't know when the whole "loot bag" business started, as I sure don't remember leaving parties with a whole bag of tchotkes when I was a kid, but they are a permanent fixture around here. I've found that Oriental Trading Company Online Store is a great place to find inexpensive toys that the kids love, and since we've started using them, our loot bags are one of the most popular in the party circuit.
Shipping is fast and efficient, and they do a wonderful job at packing things; I've even ordered something as fragile as rock candy on a stick for party bags and they've arrived intact.
Finding what you are looking for on the site is very easy as well. For my son's Buzz Lightyear party, I passed by the overpriced Buzz paraphernalia from the party store and went with a space theme for his loot bags. By typing in "space" and then for a second search: "stars" I was able to find a host of great things to choose from, and his loot bags included star-tipped maracas, glow-in-the-dark star stickers, and foam "spaceships" that fly like paper airplanes and are easy to assemble.
My only caveat is that these really are the type of tchotke toys that your kid love but aren't very durable. I found in our last order that small flashlights with space covers to make designs on walls were very shoddily made, and I spent about an hour trying to jimmy the ones that didn't work into working again. Unfortunately, as it was the day before the party, I wasn't able to contact Oriental Trading Company Online Store to see if I could return them, but at the same time, what was I expecting for the price I paid? Also be aware that sometimes their "units" are huge: when I ordered the spaceships, they came in a pack of 36! Lucky for me, I had a regular party and a daycare party to take care of, so I don't have tons of extras sitting around the house.
I would not hesitate to use Oriental Trading Company Online Store again, and am already perusing jungle items for my baby's first birthday party this summer.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? loot bag supplies
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pippadaisy
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Divorce seriously cuts into the amount of time for reviewing.
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