RedEnvelope

Full review
You know what I love about being on mailing lists? I get tons of catalogues from neat shops -- stores that I would never have discovered if not for the joy of magazines through the mail. One of these neat stores was Red Envelope. If I had the money, I'd purchase 99% of their catalogue... but I don't, so for the longest time I was contented with sitting there and looking at things I'd love to buy but couldn't afford.

The latest catalogue changed my mind. There were a few things I wanted to buy for myself and Aidan, so I decided it was time to splurge a little bit (though I didn't buy all the cool things I wanted).

So what is Red Envelope?

Red Envelope is an expensive, gift-oriented retailer that specializes in unique gifts. They have products for virutally every occasion such as house warming, birthdays and weddings... even premium gifts for new additions (like a silver-plated cup and spoon). Their hallmark is the beautiful, cardinal red gift box with the white, satiny bow that you can purchase if you so choose. Like I said, they really do have a wide variety of products available and when they have sales/clearance, their prices start to look a little more reasonable.

Site Design and Navigation

Their site is extremely user-friendly. On the home page you can choose to do a manual search, shop by occasion or recipient, shop the catalogue, order business gifts, access specific shops, check out their featured items or go directly to the sale page. Obviously you can also access your account, check your shopping bag and access their contact numbers from the starting page.

Red Envelope's website is easy to navigate. There isn't a lot of clutter on their pages, and they offer several opportunities to streamline the product results.

Product Selection and Pricing

I really am amazed at the depth and bredth of products that Red Envelope carries. I've found everything on that site, a list that includes: jewelry, throws, clothing, housewares, toys, books, unique giftware and outdoor items. I purchased a great deluxe wall gallery that included frames and matting for thirteen pictures, a purse with a slot for a 5" picture, a purse with slots for three pictures (for a gift), a personalized growth chart, and two books. I have my eye on a neat ABC wooden block set that has names of possible careers (ie: O is for Optometrist, R is for Rock Star) and turtle stepping stones that you can design yourself. So there really is a terrific amount of items on this site -- you can literally find almost anything you're looking for.

The pricing is where you have to be careful. Some of the prices are fair (such as $98 for the deluxe wall gallery... I checked out comparable frames at Wal-Mart and it would have cost me $120 to make it myself), but many are a little on the high side. Heck... who am I kidding? Many are on the high side, and not a little. They want $39 for the wooden block set -- to me, that's ridiculous... but I'm willing to choke up the $48 for the personalized (it has his name and birthday embroidered on it), embroidered growth chart simply because I've never seen another one like it. I paid $55 for the tote with three pictures, which seems fair... but I bought the other tote on sale for $44, which really is a good deal. That brings me to their sales -- their sales bring their prices into more acceptable territory. The books were on sale for $15, where my local Waldenbooks charged $20 plus tax. The tote was on sale for $44 and the turtle stepping stones were on sale for $18.

I also wanted to mention that Red Envelope participates in both Upromise and Baby Mint. You would earn a 4% reward through Upromise and 5% through Baby Mint. In addition, outside of California and Ohio you pay no sales tax.

Check it out, but many people can't afford to go crazy there. Though there are many other items I'd like to purchase, I wait until I save up my money. In addition, I have found many of their items for less money elsewhere. They want $160 for their digital picture purse, when I bought one for my mom for $45 from Personal Creations. My advice is save your money, don't go crazy and wait for the sales -- that'll make Red Envelope worth the trip.

Ordering Process

Ordering from RE is extremely easy, though I must admit I have found better. Once you have selected a product, just choose your quantity, add a gift box (if you'd like) and click "Add to Bag." It will take you directly to your shopping bag where you can then choose to either continue shopping or check out. Pretty standard, really. Once you choose to check out, you just type in billing and shipping information, credit card info and you're done. They give you an order number and email you immediately.

So why I have found better? Well, I did order one item that needed to be personalized. It was a fabric growth chart that could be embroidered with Aidan's name and birthday. When you order a personalized item you must open a separate window and type in your information then click Enter. Once you've done that, you never get to see what you typed in unless you actually reopen the window. The information isn't even printed on your final receipt. This is in marked contrast to the safety precautions that Personal Creations took to ensure you spelled everything correctly (you had to check a box acknowledging what you wrote was correct, and they show the wording in your shopping bag and on your final receipt). I wish Red Envelope was a little more like Personal Creations in this aspect -- I checked the spelling approximately 10 different times and I'm still worried I made a mistake. If it was printed on my final receipt, I wouldn't have to worry!!

Shipping, Order Accuracy and Product Quality

Want to know a nice point about their shipping? You pay a flat rate of $8.95 per order. No matter if you choose one item or fifteen, spend $10 or $500... you pay the shipping price of $8.95. One thing that I'm planning on doing next time is having friends give me their orders and payment and I'll place the order for everyone together. This way we save on shipping (since three people will be splitting it) and I get the Baby Mint rewards off the entire amount. You can also choose to speed up your delivery to expedited, but it does cost you a significant amount more.

Their time to ship is surprisingly fast and accurate. They advised that it would take four business days to personalize my item, and the order shipping in roughly that amount of time. I ordered it late on 7/18 and I received an email saying it was shipped on 7/21 via UPS (including a tracking number). When I checked the tracking on the package I noticed that UPS didn't actually PICK UP the package until 7/24 even though they received the info on 7/21 -- no big deal, but I wonder why it took them so long. Anyway, it arrived on 7/27. The order was perfect, with a billing receipt detailing exactly how I needed my items personalized. It also included a booklet that contained their return policy, damage policy and a return sticker for damaged goods.

One thing that I really liked about their shipping was how everything is shipped. Every single item came in a box. Both tote bags, the personalized growth chart and the wall gallery all came wrapped extremely well in their own boxes. How NICE! I can't think of one online store that provides this -- most of the time I have to hunt for a box to put my gifts in. It seems like a thoughtful addition. Like I said, the items were wrapped extremely well making the likelihood of breakage slim. I was also very impressed with the quality of the items I purchased. The wall gallery even had a nice chart that you tape to the wall with marks where you should drill the holes (this way you don't have to screw around with a pen, level, ruler and screw driver). The tote bags are beautiful -- I even had a person remark how much she loved my Red Envelope bag. I couldn't believe she knew where I got it from. The tote bags are sturdy and well made and the personalized growth chart is fantastic -- from the embroidery to the picture frames that are included.

Overall Opinion

I really liked Red Envelope. The website was user friendly, ordering process easy, shipping timely and accurate and the quality first class. You really can't ask for anything more in a retailer. Are they expensive? Yes... Are their prices on certain items outrageous? Yes... Does their quality help them stand apart from other online retailers? You bet. You might pay a little more (though if you can find a sale, you'll get a good price), but the quality of the merchandise definitely makes up for it. I'm not saying that the items I purchased from Personal Creations were bad (they were actually pretty good), but Red Envelope is, quite simply, better. If you are in the market for unique items for yourself or as a gift for others, you should absolutely check out Red Envelope. I should say that this store has joined the ranks of Sephora and West Elm as "Stores he should be afraid of when the catalogue arrives in the mail." So you husbands, you might want to be aware of this! Your spouse will get addicted!!

Pros:

*Large selection of items
*Quality of items are top notch
*Easy to navigate website
*Can track orders easily from site
*Shipping is timely and accurate
*They have great sales
*You can get a catalogue
*No tax except in CA and OH
*You can get items gift boxed with a card
*Each item comes packaged in its own box
*The items are wrapped well to ensure a clean delivery
*One flat shipping fee of $8.95 is a super deal
*Ordering process is a breeze
*They participate in Upromise and Baby Mint


Cons:

*Their prices are a bit on the expensive side
*Their personalization costs can add up if you have many items needing it (it costs around $5 per item)
*Doesn't offer a verification for personalization like some other sites do -- this means you could make a mistake and not catch it until you receive the item in the mail