Hello Steepster, We're Steep This! A New Web-Based Loose Leaf Tea Company. *UPDATED*
UPDATE: We have just launched our “medium” and sample sizes based on your feedback! Along with the two new size offerings, we also have two awesome new blends and reduced shipping costs within North America. Take a look and as always, feel free to leave us feedback and questions as we heavily value what you have to say! Thanks for the look.
Our small (but proud!) web-based tea company recently launched and we’re super excited about it! We are based out of Canada and carry high quality, 100% organic teas/tisane and would LOVE if you’d check us out at www.steepthis.ca
We decided about a year ago to start a more youthful, fun brand to make tea more accessible to those who may be intimated by the traditionally “stuffy” beverage and so far we’re stoked with the results. My first impression as a new tea drinker was just how daunting the whole thing felt. I knew I couldn’t be the only one and that was the backbone of our new venture.
Our selection isn’t overly large at the moment but we will have a few more blends available by the end of summer/early fall as well as some tea drinking accessories and tea-ware. We are looking to be very active on social media and just wanted to start by introducing ourselves, our brand and our mission to a community of very savvy tea drinkers of all ages and walks of life.
Currently we’re offering 10% off your entire order with coupon code “righton” until the end of the month! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you can get a hold of us here, email us at [email protected], visit our contact us page on our store page or reach out via Twitter @steepthis.
Based on customer feedback we’ve just added the ability to rate/review our teas and leave comments on our site. Also, smaller sizes, sample bags and two (maybe three) new blends are on their way!
Shipping is currently available to Canada and the U.S. Our apologies to those of you outside of North America. We are currently working to offer affordable shipping to other parts of the world. Thanks for your patience!
Thanks for the look!
Woot a Canadian tea company, sweet!
Your Hip Strawberry White looks yummy, but yeah, I wish you had sample sizes. I’d never get through 150g with the size of my tea stash.
Update us when the small sizes and sampler bags are available!
Excellent. You’ll find that many of us are sample fiends and prefer to try a little of everything before we commit to larger purchases.
I like your website – very cute and fresh.
I have one suggestion though – can you do anything about the shipping prices? I added one tea to my cart and for my address in Vancouver I was told:
Regular Parcel at $17.32 CAD
Xpresspost at $36.85 CAD
That is a huge deterrent. A lot of the companies people order from here charge between $5-$20 (from Canada or US), but $10 or less seems to be the most common, with other sites offering free shipping if you spend a certain amount. I know some places lose a bit on shipping and that isn’t feasible with a new start-up, but I wonder if you could trim that price somehow with smaller packaging?
When I had an Amoda tea box subscription, they were shipping those boxes for only $2 in Canada: http://www.amodatea.com/ They only had room for 3 × 20g packages, but maybe you can get closer to that range somehow?
I wish you the best of luck!
I echo cavo’s sentiments on the shipping! Love to see new companies popping up though :)
Really appreciate the feedback!
Unfortunately shipping is still something we are struggling to find a balance with. The shipping rates within Canada are at an all time high and the rates generated on our site are direct from Canada Post. You’re correct about others doing it for less and we are working on trying to come up with a solution that is fair for customers and also doesn’t cause us to take a loss.
Hopefully as we become better known and sales increase, we can offer far more competitive rates, but until then we will continue to work at making things better. We are always looking to compete for your business and improve all aspects of what we do, but this will be a priority for the coming weeks.
Thanks for the interest and please keep us in mind, follow us on Twitter and reach out if you have any further questions, concerns or suggestions.
What’s really more of a loss though, someone going to another company because of your shipping costs or you having to front a % of the shipping cost on sales to set a flat reasonable rate?
I just put 150g in a shopping cart to Manitoba, shipping was 11.90 Xpresspost 14.00. IMHO, and I don’t mean any disrespect, but it doesn’t cost 11.90 to ship 150g of tea. I send swap packages within Canada pretty regular, and I can ship a LOT of tea for 11.90. I don’t think 11.90 is unreasonable for a LARGE order but too much for 150g.
If you are looking at doing smaller quantity samples you may want to look at that. Find different ways of packaging to cut your shipping costs… ??
I agree with Cavocorax, it’s not competitive.
@Sil – We are located in Hamilton, Ontario.
@Bentea – Completely understand your point. We don’t want to see people leave based on shipping costs and this is our number one priority to correct. We’re working on making shipping more affordable within Canada as we speak. Just stay tuned!
@Dexter – No disrespect taken! The rates shown on our site are direct from Canada Post. If you take a peek on their site with your postal code and a Hamilton, Ontario postal code for that weight (not including bag) that is the cost to ship. We’re in agreement, it’s too high, however we just need some time to sort out a way to apply shipping costs that are cheaper for our customer but make sense from a small business start-up perspective. It will get better, trust me! We appreciate your patience!
I actually live in Hamilton and it told me shipping would still be $9.
I’ll keep an eye out for sure though, some of your blends look good and I’d be happy to support a local company!
I deal with Canada Post frequently. To ship an oversized envelope (so above 500 g or beyond envelope dimensions) costs $7.50 between Dartmouth and Halifax in NS. That is a 20 minutes drive. Canada Post rarely makes any sense. A lot of time they don’t care about dimensions, there are just certain minimum costs for parcels and they ratchet up from there. Don’t even get me started on the XPress rates either. Yuck.
@Uniquity – You nailed it. Canada Post is an absolute nightmare to deal with in the way or rates and customer service. Common sense is not in their vocab. Bentea is correct, and how crazy is that? To ship from my house to his in the same town – maybe down the street, is more expensive according to them, then to ship to California. INSANE!
Our word though – Canada Post rates aside, we are working on fair shipping costs to stay competitive, a little patience and understanding is appreciated and we’ll be back with an update soon!
I love the tea names! I too would be interested in sampler sizes. I couldn’t find a shipping estimate to the States (Buffalo, NY). (I am just curious at this stage and not ready to order.)
@Melissa – Thanks so much for the kind words and interest! We are literally a few weeks out from sample sized bags for people, so that is coming very soon. As for shipping, with a larger bag, US Small Packet Air would cost just over $7 to Buffalo so I’d think a few samples when available would be somewhere around there or slightly less based on weight ($5 or so maybe?). Keep checking in and we’ll be sure to get you some samples of our goods!
Not to bump, but thought this would be more than just edit worthy – As of yesterday our shipping costs have been drastically reduced. Based on customer feedback and to remain competitive with other high quality, online retailers, we have decided to do whats right and lower the cost of shipping.
As always, thanks for the candid feedback and continued support. We hope this helps encourage an add-to-cart for you on your next visit!
Awesome, can’t wait to make an order! I’m waiting on sample sizes so I can try them all :D
Also, I didn’t catch your name! I mean the company name yeah, but we’re a friendly bunch… and know most of the shop owners round here :)
Hi! Sorry for the delayed reply, the notification must not have worked as I just saw this now after peeking back in. Weird.
Anywho, our company is a partnership and you can call me Ry and my business partner, Jeff. Pleasure to meet ya!
Great website! The Funky Spiced Maple definitely sounds yummy! Like the others said the sizes are a bit too big for me to buy on the first try. A sampler pack of the teas would be great.
Plus I see you have free shipping over $50 now! That’s always awesome!
Yup! Shipping is much improved based on customer feedback. We will have sample sizes in the coming weeks and update this posting when they are available and ready to ship! Thanks for your interest!
Hello,
I was wondering why you were sold out of English Breakfast 50g, yet had the 175 gr, and the 20 gr option still available. Is this just a computer error?
Hello SFTGFOP!
Appreciate the honest question. We actually package and heat seal our teas based on demand and quantity.
We have some of the sample and larger bags done but are awaiting our arrival of more English Breakfast to package in the size you’re looking for (medium). Turns our the medium bag of that particular tea was a little more popular than we anticipated and actually really did sell out!
I understand the frustration in not having your size available and apologize. Check back with us soon and we’ll have it available, I promise!
I hadn’t seen the updates on this topic. How did I miss that?
I really appreciate companies that make changes based on customer feedback. I was critical of your shipping earlier in this thread, I didn’t express it but was also looking for smaller sizes.
I wish I had noticed the update sooner, and would have said thank you sooner. You’ve addressed my concerns, and I have placed a small order to check out the teas.
I know, but I’m a sucker for coconut oolong. Bought some of that and then samples of the maple rooibos, strawberry white, and funky chai.
Hi Dexter!
Thanks for checking back! Good ideas are good ideas and coming from the customer, our incentive to action these ideas is even greater. We appreciate your continued support and thank you for your order. We hope you enjoy your teas and reach out when you try them if you’d like. We love feedback!
Login or sign up to leave a comment.