Oriental Trading Company

Pros:  great selection of merchandise, inexpensive trinket type items

Cons:  have to buy some items in bulk or packages of a dozen

The Bottom Line:  This is a novelty store one I would love to shop in locally, but the next best thing has to be ONLINE...

Full review
I have been a faithful customer of Oriental Trading Company for years with their catalog sales, so you can imagine how excited I was to find their online store. I still get the catalogs mailed to me, but going to the online store it is easier to see the merchandise in larger photos and sometimes in actual usage.

Who is Oriental Trading Company

Oriental Trading Company is a mail order business based in Omaha, Nebraska. They have been in business over 65 years selling novelties, toys, Holiday decorations, craft supplies, paper and party supplies, costumes, and recently added some costume jewelery and home decor items. You might get a chuckle out of this, I did when I read it, but according the the company history, The company was founded in 1932 by a man named Harry Watanabe... don't you see at first glimpse Harry Wantabe? :) I had to look at it several times to get it right.

I began ordering from Oriental probably during the early 90's when teaching Sunday school for pre-school age children. The craft supplies that could be bought in bulk along with small gifts for inspiration or awards were much less expensive than I could purchase them locally. At that time I thought having the ability to fax my order in was just top of the line technology.

Now today I can browse through the online store of more than 10,000 items, click a simple button and add it to my cart. The web site ordering features the company's same money back guarantee and also works with VeriSign Secure online ordering.

If you currently have a catalog you can go to a special section online for catalog ordering where you enter the item number from your catalog to order online. The first time I used this service this is how I placed my order, as my catalog had come in the mail when I noticed the web site listed. I had already filled out my catalog order form so it was real simple just to type in my item numbers and submit my order online. You are emailed an order verification shortly after your order is placed. You do have to create a member account to order online, but it's a quick and simple process of filling in your personal shipping and billing information.

Shipping costs will be determined by the amount of your order and if you request special shipping such as overnight shipping. I have always just used regular shipping and received my order on the after 4 or 5 business days after it was placed. The web site says 7-10 days for regular shipping, but I have always received my orders quicker than that. The basic shipping is UPS ground and your order can be tracked at the web site for exact shipping time. Shipping rates for orders up to $25 are $6.95 for standard and $12.95 for Express 3-5 days. That is based on Tennessee rates, so it may change for different locations. You can easily find shipping rates at the web site for your location.

Products

Unless I wanted to make this Review 100 pages long there is absolutely no way I can tell you what individual products Oriental Trading has to offer. What I have bought mostly was things like erasers, small toys in bulk, treats for my sons classroom, small jewelery such as Holiday lapel pins for gifts and halloween trinkets to give out to trick or treaters.

Over all Impression

I guess I don't need to say I love this company and shopping online has only made my experience with them better. I've never had to return anything even though they offer a complete money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with any product for any reason. There is a pre-printed shipping label that comes with each order in the even you have to return an item.

It's getting close to the time of year I will be ordering several times from Oriental Trading Company, so check it out if you are looking for inexpensive trinkets or that unusual gift for the person who has everything.