Check it out, free shipping for Americans, $4 flat rate for Canadians (and free for orders over $49). Are you paying attention, other tea companies? This is how you do a free shipping promotion without losing money or alienating all your Canadian customers. It’s not that complicated.
this is where i giggle a bit and say..but what about the international customers haha. But yes.. i agree with you on the canadian shipping promotion thing :)
Yeah, what about me?? (International customer) haha. Canadians think they have it so hard :’)
I’m not bitter at all
that why i had to laugh a little nattie. I mean..yes i totally agree, that’s exactly what companies should do from a canada/US perspective and it made me super happy to see! (other companies take note).
I feel bad for international customers trying to order from canada/US but conversely…OMG i would give anything to be able to have access to a bunch of the companies that “international” companies have access to. there is NO love for canada there mostly. heh
Thank you, Lindsay! We have so many Canadian customers – it was really important for us to offer a good shipping deal, even if we couldn’t afford to make it free shipping for everyone.
Sil & Nattie – We’re still in the thick of researching alternate ways to group and box orders, use different shippers and calculate weights our rates for all possible combinations ahead of time, etc… to see just how low we can get everyone’s shipping without compromising on speed, safety and quality.
Providing more options for our international customers is a high priority, for sure! I spent most of my life living overseas in Indonesia, the UK, Angola and mainland China, so I definitely understand how frustrating it can feel to be left out in terms of shipping costs on packages.
Our goal is to roll out more options by the summer time. Even though we couldn’t have those ready for this February, we’re definitely using this time to learn all we can. Maybe we’ll even be able to extend it? We’ll see! That would definitely be exciting…
Lily – that’s so great to hear! Even if it’s not possible it’s good to know that someone is thinking of us (: I just received my Verdant samples today and I’m impressed so far. The Laoshan Black is so good, I’m already thinking about picking up more, as well as the chocolate genmaicha version. I would have done already, if it wasn’t for the shipping issues! Lol.
Oh, I’m glad to hear your samples arrived safely! I do wish international shipping were a simpler nut to crack – if there’s ever anything I can do, don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know.
Hey, I’m super sympathetic to the plight of international customers, but I do find it a bit bizarre that Canada is often lumped in with the entire rest of the world when it comes to shipping from the US. Like you’ll have maybe 4 different levels of shipping for domestic orders, and then only one option for international orders which is “Priority International Air Mail” or something. So like, even though we have this ridiculously long border between the US and Canada, and most Canadians live within several hours drive of the border, somehow the ONLY possible way you can ship something to a Canadian address is to put it on a plane and treat it the same as shipping something to New Zealand. Like, really? If you can put something on a truck and ship it to Detroit, but not Windsor… or say, Anchorage, but not Vancouver… then something is seriously messed up.
Lindsay – I know what you mean! Especially here with our HQ in Minnesota, there are many Canadian customers who live much closer to us than, for example, my parents in Seattle, or my brother in Houston.
Part of the cost of shipping has to do with the fuel used to transport the package, but I think part of it has to do with the logistics of wrangling that package. Apart from the distances involved, a big part of why shipping out of the country of origin is more expensive is from all of the wrangling: being a bonded carrier who is legally and practically able to deal with moving goods over international borders, from customs to health regulations agencies to security and anti-terrorism / smuggling and everything in between. And that’s even without specific tariffs meant to control the flow of goods between countries!
The internet really helps make our world more connected, but international borders often makes it all more complex.
Thanks so much for sharing, Lariel! We did a little countdown to Chinese New Year and giveaway last year, and it was so much fun, we wanted to do it again this year :)
Last year’s was more for folks in our rewards and referrals program, so this year, we wanted to be more inclusive. For folks who want a recap without clicking through:
When is it? Now through February 19th (Chinese New Year / spring Festival!)
What is it?
- 8 Days of Shipping Deals for US + Canadian customers
- Free shipping in the US.
- $4 flat rate shipping for Canadians, and free $49+
- 8 Days of Lucky Tea Cash
For every order $40+, we’ll include a special Tea Cash voucher in a lucky New Year’s red envelope. Every voucher will be for at least $5 off, but many envelopes will have $8 Tea Cash, a few will have $20 Tea Cash, and just one will have $50 in Tea Cash! We’ve already stuffed and shuffled all of the envelopes, so none of us know just where the shopping spree will be…
- New Pu’er
Last year we kicked off the Year of the Horse with new pu’er, and this year we’re making it a tradition with new pu’er from Master Han in Qianjiazhai! More full 500g bricks of his 2014 Sheng- it sold out over the holiday season, so we’re happy to finally have it back. The Qianjiazhai 2014 Old Growth Sheng – it’s the newest in the series he presses in collaboration with the Zhenyuan Dongsa Farmers’ Cooperative. I know the 2012 version was well loved by many (including myself!), so it’s a pleasure to get to share the newest in the line.
And finally – Master Han’s Single Tree Sheng Pu’er!! We’ve been so excited for the chance to bring in his newest project – when all of the cakes finally arrived, it was pretty tempting to just keep a few for ourselves! Each cake uses leaves from just one of the 500-year-old wild tea trees Master Han looks after. XD I am so excited about this one… hopefully, we’ll be able to resist drinking all of it up now.
You’re welcome. I got myself some black teas. Happy almost lunar new year!
Thank you, Sil! I think it’s definitely a tradition now :)
Thank you, Lariel – that sounds perfect for getting through the tail end of winter! :) Hard to believe here in Minnesota that it’s almost Spring Festival, but it’s nice to know that Spring is on the way. Happy almost New Year to you, too!
Ah, I’m such a sucker for fun promos and for Verdant! Just placed a delicious order :)
Thank you so much for your support, Jennkay – and here’s to a great Year of the Ram! :)
Happy New Year, everyone! We’re raising our glasses today to a great Year of the Ram.
Let’s drink to a better year: a year of discovery, of exploration, and a year where we all fall a little bit more deeply in love with our favorite drink :)
Apart from the good wishes, I wanted to pop in with a reminder that today is the last day of our New Year’s celebration. We busy packing up orders and putting in lucky red envelopes with special Tea Cash vouchers. We also got an excellent surprise in the mail today: Master Han’s 2002 Shu Pu’er arrived early! So we will be releasing that along with the last full cakes of his 2014 Single Tree Sheng Pu’er this afternoon.
And though it’s not officially part of the New Year’s celebration… we are extending our free shipping & shipping deals through the end of the month! All regular US orders will ship free, and Canadian order ship at a low $4 flat rate (or free at $49+).
Best wishes to everyone! We’re raising our tea cups for a great year ahead
Login or sign up to leave a comment.