The Stash Tea Company Online Store Sells Great Tea Products and Accessories
Written: Jan 12 '06
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Coming up with a Christmas present for my Grandparents has never been an easy thing for me. I have a hard time first of all, because they live around 3,000 miles from me, so anything I purchase is going to have to be shipped the distance. I also have a difficult time figuring out what would interest them, because they don't have out-and-about hobbies anymore. Neither of them really collect anything anymore either, so that slims down the potential choices even more. But this year, I was determined to figure out a nice gift that would not only be useful to them, but that they would enjoy getting. Now I know they would enjoy any type of gift from their grandson, but you can tell if a person really enjoys something, or if they are just being nice about it. I wanted by gift to be of the former sentiment. After figuring out a short list of what I thought they would like the best, I came up with the idea that I could purchase something "Tea" related, because they are big tea drinkers. I had also put myself under the stipulation that I needed to buy it here and ship it, but under the suggestion that I look online, I was off and running to Epinions where I found a positive review written by 2Buzy about a little online company, and I decided to give them a try.
The Stash Tea Online Web-Site
As soon as I logged on to the site for the first time, I was impressed with how the company represented themselves on the Internet. The site has a few very nice pictures on the front page, but other than that they have specific indexes that will take you to where you want to go on their site. Specifically, it is broken down into 3 indexes which include the informational part, the tea indexes, and an "about us" section, where you can learn anything you ever wanted to know about the company itself. At the top of the main page, you find a few portals to specific destinations that include the ship, the catalog, discounts & closeouts, a site index, the about tea and about us sections, recipes, and the bed & breakfast promotions. From any of the portals you can get to other parts of the site, and if you don't know exactly what you are looking for, it is easy to just take a few moments and browse around the site to look over all of the options that they have. At the bottom of that first page, they also have a section for all of the special offers that they may have going on at a time. This includes discounts, gift offers, and potential free stuff that you could qualify from purchasing certain items. The site is very easy to navigate, and I think that they really have a good method when it comes to organization of a web-site entry page.
Finding My Products, and Making The Purchase
Starting out on the site, I really didn't know specifically what I would be purchasing for my Grandparents. I knew it would somehow be tea related if I could find a product that interested me, but I wasn't sure exactly what that would entail or how much I would end up spending on the gift. Clicking on the "shop" link, I was taken to another page that listed the types of products being sold on the site. Those included seasonal gifts, sweet treats, tea accessories, spa and lodge stays, and of course thousands of types of tea. On the center of the page were offers for gift packages, and thinking that it would be something interesting to me, I decided to take a look through that section. There you can get mixtures of different types of teas, with cookies or other types of treats, as well as with dishware that the tea can be served in/on. There were a lot of interesting selections, but then I saw a specific one that I felt would be the best type of gift. This was a tea chest, that contained many types of tea, which even after the tea was exhausted, could be reused by putting store bought tea in the slots.
The tea chest is a black felt lined, dark mahogany stained tea chest. It measures out to about 12 in. x 9 in., and comes with 80 foil wrapped tea bags with 10 each of 8 different flavors. The flavors included in my particular selection were: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Chai Spice, Darjeeling, Premium Green, Jasmine Blossom, Decaffeinated Vanilla Nut Creme, and Peach. I thought that this would be a nice selection to work from as my Grandparents prepared their tea on a daily basis. There are other combinations that you can choose from, but on the whole I thought this was the best combination. Knowing this was what I wanted, I selected it, and was told that because my purchase was over $35.00 I would be getting a free box of cookies with it. These were chocolate covered cookies, that looked like they would go very well with tea. It was a nice bonus, and meant I didn't need to look around much for something to go with the tea. Checking out was easy, and they show you a depiction of exactly when items will be shipped depending on what method you end up using.
The shipping choices are Standard (3-7 business days), Rush (3-4 business days), Second Day (2-3 business days), and Next day (1-2 business days). The cost for standard shipping is $4.95, with $10.00 added for Rush, $11.50 added for Second Day, and $27.50 added for Next Day. As the price of your items increases, so does the cost of shipping, and they denote that with a graph that can be used to figure out exactly how much you are paying. Needless to say, it can get pretty expensive if you are purchasing a lot from the site, but I have found that it is worth it, because you are getting a really nice product from them. For an additional couple of dollars they will even giftwrap your purchase for you and include a personalized card with your own message. For shipping I decided to just go with standard, and hoped that it got their on the low end up the 3-7 days. It got there 5 business days after I had made the online purchase, and this was during the busy Christmas time of the year (week leading up to Christmas Sunday). That being said, I think that they were very prompt, and got my order out in a very timely manner.
My Thoughts on The Stash Tea Company Online Store
The site worked like a charm for me, and when I made the purchase I was sent an e-mail both when I made the purchase, and when it was shipped. This made it easier to judge when my Grandparents would be receiving their gift, and I was able to let them know to expect a package in the mail soon. They really loved the gift, and enjoyed the cookies that came with the tea. They really liked the fact that they now had a beautiful box that their tea could be kept in. This would cut down on clutter, and present something great they could use to serve guests at their house as well. Everything to do with The Stash Tea Company went without a hitch, and I came away very pleased with everything on the site. I guess the only small draw-back is that they do charge a lot for shipping, but due to the service and product that they provide, I think that it is really worth it in the end. I come away highly recommending that if you are looking for a great gift, or know that you want to purchase tea for someone that you give The Stash Tea Company Online Store a try. They can be found at http://www.stashtea.com.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Tea, cookies, box for the tea
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About the Author
Member: Ryan
Location: Somewhere near the land of the lost
Reviews written: 1752
Trusted by: 616 members
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