Uncommon goods.com

Full review
The weather has been cold here in Jersey for the past few weeks. Pumpkins and mums adorn the doorsteps of my neighbors but my mind keeps returning to one thing: Christmas. I have been fully aware that we haven't even gotten through Halloween yet, but I still found myself asking my boyfriend about Christmas lists and taking the lights down from the attic. I admit it--I love Christmas and get so much pleasure from watching the people I love open up presents that I've gotten them.

When I'm selecting gifts, I look for unique items that people haven't seen before in stores or in other people's homes. I'm not out for the most expensive pieces which is a good thing because I'm a teacher which is synonymous with poor. I recently ordered some really fun Christmas presents from a web site that I first discovered this year: Uncommon Goods.

What They Sell
This site sells an incredible variety of items. You can buy furniture (coolers, chairs, tables, lamps), jewelry (earrings, necklaces, rings), wall art (posters, sculptures, frames, hook racks), desk accessories (clocks, journals, decorations, paperweights, gadgets), coasters, soap sets, cards sets--the selection is impressive. As the company name implies, Uncommon Goods offers fun and unexpected goods that are not widely available elsewhere.

Navigating The Site
It is easy to browse through the Uncommon Goods site. At the very top of the page there are general category tabs: home decor, dining, desktop, jewelry, accessories, collections, occasions, and gifts. You can click on them to check out the merchandise in a given category. Above the general category tabs, there are a few more to take you back to the home page at any time, to direct you to the customer service page, to a wish list, and to the gift registry. All of the above tabs are available on every single page of the site.

On the left side of each page there are several drop-down menus to help you narrow your search. You can view what Uncommon Goods offers by intended recipient (baby, business associate, family, pet lover), by price (under $25, $25-$50, over $150), by occasion (birthday, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, get well), and again by category.

If you have a general idea of what type of item you would like, the site also offers a "search" option to allow you to scan through the site by keyword or item number.

As you work through your way through the merchandise, a listing of recently viewed items pops up below the drop-down boxes on the left side of each page. This allows you to easily return to something that you were looking at previously.

What Else Can They Do For Me?
Of course, you can buy whatever merchandise you like from Uncommon Goods. But they also provide a few other services. You can create a wish list to share with friends and family. If they aren't sure what present to get you, a wish list makes it pretty clear what you'd like. It's not subtle, it's not much of a surprise, but at least you'll be happy with the gift.

You also can create a gift registry for upcoming occasion. The only type of registry that I can see that would work with this site would be for those buying a new home or getting married and starting a new home. The site has many different fun items for married couples and for new parents but they just don't strike me as particularly necessary or numerous to create a whole registry on this site.

The last feature available on the site is packing an item in a gift box. Each gift box item costs $3.50 and every item requires its own individual gift box. For the extra money, the merchandise is packaged in a navy blue box that resembles poster board. The gift box is adorned with a neon green ribbon and has a tiny blank gift card for you to write a super-brief message. I, personally, feel that you'd do much better to order early, package, and gift wrap the present yourself. I ordered 2 gift boxes for items last year and was very disappointed with how cheesy they looked--I wound up wrapping them in traditional wrapping paper to hide the tackiness of the gift box.

Ordering From Uncommon Goods
When you find an item that you want to purchase from this site, you just click "add to basket" and it will be added to your order. After an item is added you will have the option to keep shopping or checkout. If you wish to continue browsing you can just click "keep shopping" and move along. When you have completed your order, click on "checkout" to initiate the purchasing process.

When you decide to check out, you are taken to a page that allows you to review your order, adjust quantities, delete items, and elect gift boxes. You will be given a preliminary order price that does NOT include shipping at this point. The next page asks you to either enter your email address and password if you are a returning customer or to create an account. (You also have the option to enter neither email address nor password but I'm not exactly sure what happens if you choose to follow that path because I created an account.)

After you settle the account details, you are asked to enter your billing and shipping addresses. If you have already established an account with Uncommon Goods, they will fill in the fields with stored names and addresses. You then must select a shipping method... and there are many. You can select UPS standard, preferred, expedited, express, express Saturday, Canadian, and a couple of others. I chose UPS standard for my order. The billing/shipping page also is the one that allows you to enter gift messages on cards if you are having items shipped directly to someone's home.

The next page asks for credit card information and, after entering it, you are asked to review your order and then click to confirm your order, at which point it will be processed.

My Order From Uncommon Goods
I placed my latest order with this company last Friday night. I received a confirmation email within minutes from the company detailing the merchandise that I had purchased. I also received a shipping confirmation email from Uncommon Goods to let me know when my merchandise was packed and shipped by them. During my order I selected UPS Standard shipping (6-8 days) and received my order tonight (Tuesday). I certainly can't complain about the delivery time, but what about the condition of the actual items?

Everything I ordered was packed in cardboard and tissue paper inside the packing box. I expected the metal paperweights and ceramic coffee mugs to arrive intact (they did), but I was worried about the real copper-dipped leaf Christmas ornaments. They also arrived in flawless condition. The only negative thing I have to say about the shipping experience was that the box that contained the items did not include a packing slip or copy of my order. I had to go back to my computer and pull up the order confirmation to double check that I received everything that I ordered. It wasn't a very difficult task... just an annoying one.

Overall Opinion
My experience with Uncommon Goods has been nothing but fun, easy, pleasant, and fast. My order was accurate and it was shipped incredibly quickly. Most importantly, the presents that I ordered will be a huge hit on December 25th because they are just so uncommon.