Gaiam

Full review
Over the last few months I’ve really gotten into yoga. I’ve been going to one of two nearby studios that have all the equipment I could need, but that is getting expensive. So I’ve begun setting up an at home studio in one of my spare bedrooms and filling it with the same equipment I use at the studio.

Being an internet junkie I love all of the options and money saving coupons I can use when shopping online so I bought most of the items from my computer in my own home. There are tons of sites for yoga gear and I’ve book marked a few of them although I have not purchased from them yet. This is because I was able to get almost everything I needed for a great price from one site - GAIAM.com. I have placed two orders from this company with good results and I would not hesitate to purchase from them again, although there were a few minor annoyances which I will discuss later.


About Gaiam
Gaiam started out in Boulder, Colorado in 1988 to provide environmentally friendly products for healthy lifestyles. I can remember seeing various workout equipment with the Gaiam logo in local stores and on peoples’ clothes and recognizing the brand as one that promotes movement, wellness, personal development, and like solar power and ecology.

The site is very well organized so that shoppers can find specific items quickly. There are tabs across the top of the screen for each category including yoga, eco home and outdoor, fitness center, apparel, wellness, media, solar living, and outlet, which contains all of the sale items.

As I was specifically looking for yoga gear, I clicked the yoga tab and found that everything was further divided into categories, which made finding products even easier. There were also a few featured products to tempt shoppers on the main yoga page. Clicking on each of the category headers drilled down even further to more specific categories, which was much appreciated. I was looking for a yoga mat bag, a strap, and bricks and was quickly able to see which category I needed to select for each of those.

In addition to yoga items, the site has a wide variety of items such as bedding, clothing, products to improve air and water quality, exercise gear, personal care, DVDs, books, CDs, and solar powered products. I can easily lose a few hours just reading the descriptions of products on the site and learning about their purposes.

Everything on the site is accompanied by a large, clear picture of the product with the ability to zoom in and out to see the item in more detail. In addition, each item contains text, which indicates the price, sale price (if applicable), whether the item is in or out of stock, and detailed descriptions. I especially like the descriptions as they include facts such as, fabric content, dimensions, country of origin, and details about organizations supported by the purchase of the product. Everything I ordered or was interested in ordering contained enough detail to give me a very good idea of what to expect.

Shoppers can also take advantage of the Search field, which allows for keyword searches in the event that he or she is looking for something specific and wants to quickly see anything that matches the keyword.


Gaiam offers a few different shipping options. They ship primarily with USPS but may use an alternative shipping option for oversized items. Customers may also choose to upgrade to FedEx for an additional charge.

Gaiam accepts returns and exchanges as part of their unconditional guarantee. Original and return shipping charges are not refundable however. Shipping rates are based on order total. Rates start at $5.95 for orders up to $25 and increase accordingly as the order total increases.






My Experience

Although there were plenty of other online shops that sell yoga supplies, I had a really great coupon code that I got from an online frugal living group I belong to so I was really hoping to find some of the items on Gaiam.com.

After displaying the site I went straight to the yoga section and browsed for yoga mat bags and was very pleasantly surprised to find the perfect bag on clearance for only $12. I then searched the yoga props section and found a strap for only $3.50. With the $10 off coupon I had I paid only about $11 for both and that included shipping. Great deal!

That said, when items are not on sale the prices are a bit steep. For example, I found yoga bricks at Target for a set of 2 with a strap for about $9. A set of 2 bricks on Gaiam.com is $18 so twice the amount at Target and without the strap. Right now the bricks are on sale at Gaiam for $14. If one uses that $10 off coupon it brings the price down considerably, but the prices are still higher than some of the large discount stores. I opted to order from Gaiam because I know the quality is good, I had the coupon, and I was able to order in the color I want rather than get stuck with whatever ugly color Target has (I’m going with a color coordinated theme in my studio. Everything is green.)

Shopping and checking out is fairly quick and easy. Finding the box in which to enter the coupon code was a bit tricky though. Most sites use the words “promotional code”, “discount code” or “coupon code” to indicate where the code should be entered. However on Gaiam.com this box is labeled “catalog key code or web code” which is on the Billing info page. Usually this box is on the page where the order total is and the code is applied and you can see the item total change. I passed it up the first time and had to go back in the process to enter the code. That is one of my annoyances as I had already entered my payment info which was erased after I went back to enter the coupon code so I had to enter it again.

After completing my order I received an email confirmation of my order. I was expecting to receive another email when the order shipped but that never happened. Instead the order just showed up on my doorstep about eight days later. I would think that if I upgraded to FedEx that I would have received shipping tracking details however this does not occur with items shipped via USPS which I found slightly disappointing as I like to have an idea of where my order is on any given day and when it is likely to arrive.

I placed two orders with Gaiam.com. The first contained the yoga mat bag and strap. Two days later I placed another order for the yoga bricks. Each order took about eight days to arrive and was packaged nicely in a recycled cardboard box. There was a packing slip enclosed that did not contain any of my billing details nor the price of the items in the box so if I was sending this order as a gift or if he box was stolen or lost the recipient would not have access to those personal details.

The second order surprised me though as it contained two foam bricks and a whole lot of packaging materials that were not necessary. The bricks were in the bottom of the box and on top they were smothered in some sort of special recycled kraft paper protective packaging that was really thick and completely unnecessary as foam bricks don’t need protecting and the bricks are not hard or strong enough to burst thru the tape and out of the box. It’s like sending someone a shipment of Styrofoam peanuts and protecting them with Styrofoam peanuts. Illogical. Also illogical was the thick cardstock folder included with my second order, which explains the different types of packing materials used by the company for shipment that is just another unnecessary piece of paper someone had to pack and that I will throw away.


Annoyance
In addition to the few annoyances I’ve already mentioned, I feel compelled to mention one more that does not fit into the above paragraphs. That annoyance is the lack of plus sized clothing for women on Gaiam.com. The clothes are not all that stylish to begin with but there were a few items that were kind of cute and that interested me. Unfortunately the clothing on this site goes only up to an XL (size 16). In a country where the average woman is a size 14 and many are larger, that is truly disappointing. Also the site does not carry items for men. Last time I checked I found that both men and plus size women are interested in yoga and healthy lifestyles so to totally exclude those two groups of people really, seriously annoys me.




Bottom Line
My two shopping experiences with Gaiam.com were successful and I am happy with my purchases. My biggest complaint about Gaiam is their lack of items for men and plus size women so I doubt that I will order from them again as the only things I need for my practice now is clothing. The fact that these two groups of consumers are completely excluded from the site’s offerings irritates me in a big way and makes me very unlikely to recommend the site to my close friends as most of them are larger than a 16. I am also disappointed that I was not notified when my order was shipped.

I recommend this site for yoga and exercise equipment and products for healthy living, but not if you're looking for something for men or plus size gals.