A 12 Ounce Bottle of Soda Costs WHAT? Decent Site for Rare Beverages but Pricey.
Beverages Direct
At a recent family gathering, my brother started reminiscing about "old times". He remembered drinking Boylans Bottleworks Creme Soda while the whole family played poker around the table for bottle caps. A great memory indeed and I went looking for that soda to buy for my brother as a sort of bonding thing since the gathering had finally brought all four of the siblings together in a peaceful manner — something I wanted to live on after that gathering.
I searched around offline and found none so I did an online search. The first several results were for Beverages Direct Online Store and, after browsing a bit, I decided to buy the soda from that site.
What the Site Sells
This site sells soda — both diet and regular — juices, flavored and regular water, energy drinks, coffee and tea, and some variety packs. None of the names of the products are common run of the mill names but ones that are hard to find locally.
Navigation
This is a very simple site. You can click on the category tab (Soda, Energy Drinks, Diet, Coffee & Tea, Water, Monthly Club, Juices, Variety Sets, Other, or Shop by Brand) across the top to see the offerings.
You can also input what you are looking for in their search box.
The list of items offered is fairly small and the photos are tiny. But clicking on a thumbnail will give you a somewhat larger photo and good description along with nutrition facts, ingredients, and the price per unit. Generally, the items are sold in 12 or 24 packs.
Once you find what you want, add it to your cart. You can find out what your shipping charge will be at any time by inputting your zip code. Shipping charges are quite high. So high that I won't go back to this site. I am aware that most items are bottled and quite heavy but still...
When you are finished shopping, you go off to the checkout.
You will be prompted to fill in the usual personal info and billing address as well as input a valid email address.
The next screen tells you the weight of your order and the shipping cost by UPS Ground. I ordered 24 (12 ounce) bottles of soda and my shipping was $14.00. I had added one more 24 pack of something else but the shipping would have been $28.00 so I removed that and stuck with what I came for.
You can add a gift message for free, which I did. It didn't arrive though.
Continuing on, you will then input your American Express, Visa, MasterCard, or Discover Card information or you can use PayPal.
You can also complete your order by faxing your credit card info or mailing a money order in. They don't accept checks.
You will get a conformation letter immediately and a shipping email a couple days later. They say it takes seven to 10 days for your order to arrive but it took almost two weeks for mine to get here.
My Experience
I went to the site specifically looking for one brand of soda and found that easily. I did browse a little and the prices are a bit high but most of the items are hard to find and probably worth the extra cost.
I chose a 24 pack of the crème soda I mentioned above for $29.00. I thought that price was acceptable considering it isn't an everyday brand. However, the bottles are only 12 ounces a piece which is a very small amount compared to common brands.
I did browse and found a ginger ale item I wanted but removed it when I saw my shipping soar.
Adding to my cart and processing my order was easy. My shipping for a $29.00 order was $14.00. That hurt.
I used PayPal because I had a balance and I figured I might as well use it up rather than let it sit. I had no problems with the transaction.
I did receive an immediate letter indicating my order was processing.
Three days later, I received a shipping email. It took a couple weeks for my order to arrive which kind of ticked me off. However, when it did arrive, everything was well packaged and nothing was broken. The bottles were well protected.
I was amazed at how tiny 12 ounce bottles are! In this day and age of super sizing, it is shocking to see such little bottles of beverages.
I did not get the gift note I requested but it was no big deal. I typed one up on my computer. My brother got a kick out of the stroll down memory lane and the quality was good. I hated to drink a bottle since each one was so expensive with the shipping but I had to try it. It was as good as we both remembered.
The whole experience was pain-free except for the longer than average wait for my order and the shipping charge. Ouch. I won't be back to the site unless I really NEED a certain hard to find beverage. I doubt that situation will occur anytime soon. Certainly I would never shop regularly on this site. I don't fault them for the high shipping and handling as glass bottles are heavy and the padding also adds weight. I just feel, unless the beverage I am buying is really worth the cost, the site really doesn't have much to offer me.
Shipping and returns
There is no shipping chart on the site but you can easily see what your shipping charges are as you add items to your cart by inputting your zip code into the box under the shopping cart. Boy, that shipping adds up! I paid $14.00 for a $29.00 order. I did not pay tax although the FAQ's say that I would have to. No complaints from me on that one!
You cannot return any items for safety reasons and I have no complaints about that. I don't want returned beverages sent to me. Tampering is all too real of a concern. So, while some may balk at the no return policy, I think, in this case, it is a smart policy and have no problems with it.
Conclusion
This is a good site for buying hard to find beverages such as Boylans Bottleworks, Red Rock, Honest Tea, Barritts, and Thomas Kemper. Those aren't names you find at a local grocery store.
The prices are a bit on the high side but not exorbitant. But coupled with the expensive shipping, you could find yourself dropping a large amount of money on a few small bottles of a beverage.
Still, if you are looking for something specific and can't find it locally, this site has a nice selection of rarer and old style beverages (all non-alcoholic) to choose from. Shipping charges are steep especially for bottled products but they do arrive intact and well wrapped.
I wouldn't use this site on a regular basis, but it did fill a need for me when I was looking for a gift.
I didn't get the gift note I had asked for and it took two weeks for the order to arrive though. In addition, there is no phone number posted on the site to contact them should the need arise. They only have an onsite form to fill out.
So, based on everything above, I am giving this site 3 stars and recommending it with the caveat that you do a little comparison searching for prices and shipping charges before you settle on Beverages Direct Online Store. If you do choose this site, at least you will know your order will arrive safety as they do a good job packing each item.
Recommended:
Yes
