How Do I Place an Order?
How Do I Save My Address Information?
Which Shipping Methods are available?
How much will it cost to ship my order?
How do I know when my Order has shipped?
I got two emails. Did you double ship my order?
I got my shipping confirmation, but when I clicked on the USPS tracking link the status still just “Electronic Shipping Info Received” Is anything wrong?
Does Kate's Caring Gifts ship internationally?
How do I ship to multiple different addresses?
What are my gift wrap choices?
Why Buy Organic?
Why Buy Fair Trade?
Is Fair Trade important for Chocolate?
What is meant by “Cruelty-Free”?
How is the gift wrap and packaging that Kate’s Caring Gifts uses different than usual?
What is Naturally Fun and Healthy Body Care?
Questions About Ordering from Kate's Caring Gifts:
How Do I Place an Order?
Either place an order online here at www.KatesCaringGifts.com, or call to place an order at 1-877-379-4438 (toll free in the United States) or 1-510-656-GIFT(4438) between the hours of 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM Pacific Standard Time.
How Do I Save My Address Information?
To save you time and the hassle of re-entering your address information every time you order, just set up an account for yourself.
Here are the steps:
- Click on "My Account" on the top menu bar of our home page: http://www.KatesCaringGifts.com/
- Click on the blue "Create New Account" link.
- Go through the steps to enter your address information and set a login and password.
- When done, click on the "Save" button at the bottom right corner of the screen.
Ta Da! Now the next time you order:
- Click again on "My Account" but this time you'll enter your login and Password under "Login to Existing Account:"
Your address information will already be there! We do not save credit card information though.
Which Shipping Methods do you use?
We are pleased to partner with the United States Postal Service (USPS) and Federal Express (FEDEX) to offer our customers a variety of shipping options.
Within the United States
- USPS Express Mail - One to two days to anywhere in the U.S. Express orders are expedited to the best of our ability. We can almost always ship them the next business day if the product is in stock. We will contact you right away if there is any kind of a problem.
- USPS Priority Mail - Usually 2-4 days to most of the country. Priority Mail is not guaranteed. Our experience has been that right near Christmas day this can stretch to as long as 5 days.
- USPS Parcel Post - 2 to 3 weeks. Please do NOT use Parcel Post for any fresh food items, such as Chocolate or Fruit Baskets. Parcel Post is a terrific, low cost option for heavy items such as candles, body care, and glassware. For chocolate or fresh fruit, please use Priority or Express.
- FEDEX Standard Overnight - Overnight anywhere in the U.S. Delivery by 3:00 PM Orders placed before 11:00 AM are usually shipped same day. if we have everything in stock. We do our best to expedite Express Shipments
- FEDEX 2nd Day - 2 Business days within the United States. Orders placed before 11:00 AM are usually shipped same day. if we have everything in stock.
- FEDEX Ground Home Delivery 1-3 Days on the West Coast. 7-10 Days to the rest of the country. Another low cost option for Candles, soaps, and other heavy items. Do not use for food.
International shipments
- USPS Express Mail International 3-5 days to most of the world.
- USPS Priority Mail International 4-6 days to most of the world.
International Shipments are subject to customs delays and additional duties. These delay shipment of your order and/or add cost to delivery, beyond our control.
How much will it cost to ship my order?
Shipping costs are calculated during the checkout process, after you have entered the shipping address, but before you enter any payment information. It works like this:
- Place desired items in your shopping cart
- Select Checkout
- Enter Bill to and Ship to addresses Press Continue
- On the next page, there will be a pull-down menu with available shipping options and the cost of each option.
Our system gets the shipping estimate from the USPS and Fedex servers. The estimate is based on the weight of the products selected, and the distance your order will be shipped.. Occasionally we have fouind that we can lower your shipping cost by using a flat rate box. When that happens, we refund you the difference. Unfortunately, our software isn't smart enough to figure that out in advance.
How Do I know When my Order has Shipped?
We send you an email with the delivery confirmation or tracking number as soon as your order is packed and lablelled. The USPS truck comes to our warehouse daily at 3:30PM, and we drop off to Fedex before 5:00 PM
I got two emails. Did you double ship my order?
Almost certainly not. Our system usually sends an email when the tracking number is imported from USPS or FEDEX. However, because this does not always happen, we send an email with the tracking number when have confirmed that your order has shipped.
I got my shipping confirmation, but when I clicked on the USPS tracking link the status still just “Electronic Shipping Info Received” Is anything wrong?
For Parcel Post and Priority Mail, the US Postal Service does not provide much information for your package along the way. The status is often not updated until the package is delivered. (That’s why the post office officially calls the tracking number a “Delivery Confirmation Number”.) We have recently seen them get better about this, but it can take time before their database is updated. Remember also that you get the confirmation email as soon as we print the label. The USPS does not actually get the package till later in the day.
Does Kate’s Caring Gifts ship internationally?
YES! We have shipped all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. Please see shipping options above.
How do I ship to multiple different addresses?
Sorry, at this time separate orders must be placed for each ship-to address. You can make the process a little faster by creating an account, and saving your billing address. Then you only need to change the shipping address for each order. If you have more than 5 orders to send, call us., we can help
What are my gift wrap choices?
Kate’s Caring Gifts offers personalized message gift cards, gift wrapping, and gift boxes FREE!
We also have lovely reusable fabric gift bags (made in the USA), including several of organic cotton, for just $5 each.
If the gift item is in a rectangular box: We recommend gift wrap.
If the gift is a non-rectangular items, or several items: We recommend a gift box or gift bag.
Here’s the choices you’ll see at checkout:
Giftwrap Options
- Not a Gift
- No Gift Wrap ( We still take price tag off items)
- Earth Friendly Gift Box - Paperboard box (recycled content)
- Earth Friendly Gift Wrap - Wrapping paper made with recycled content
- Reusable Fabric Gift Bag - Just $5 more, from Lagniappe Gift Wrap
If you have ordered multiple items, and you would like them wrapped separately, please tell us which items go together
If you are ordering a Gift Set or a Gift Basket, you do NOT need to select any additional gift wrap options.
Certain items, such as the Animal Alphabet from Imagiplay, the Growth Chart from National Parks Conservancy, and a few others, are too large to fit in any of our availabel gift bags or boxes. For these products, we will gladly giftwrap using Earth Friendly Gift Wrap.
About US, the Products We Offer, and the Choices We Make:
Why Buy Organic?
The short answer: It’s healthier for YOU, and it’s healthier for the planet! The synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers used in conventional agriculture leave residues on the fruits, vegitables, as well as seeping into our water supply through runnof. Intensive farming has lowered the quality of topsoil. The creation of synthetic chemical fertillizers and pesticides uses petrochemicals and releases CO2. Organic farming methods work with, instead of opposed to nature, and produce food that is healthier for you and tastes better.
Why Buy Fair Trade?
To put it simply: “Let not your daily bread (or coffee) harm another.” That includes the farmers who grow the plants which become the marvelous foods we enjoy. Especially coffee and cocoa farmers whose families often suffer in poverty under “business usual” policies. Fair Trade Certification is currently available in the U.S. for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, sugar, rice, and vanilla.
Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
Fair Trade is much more than a fair price! Fair Trade principles include:
- • Fair price: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
- • Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
- • Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
- • Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
- • Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.
- • Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.
See Fair Trade Certified for more information.
Is Fair Trade important for Chocolate?
Where does cocoa come from?
- Cocoa only grows near the equator, in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
- The Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa producer, providing 43 percent of cocoa sold worldwide.
Why should consumers be concerned about cocoa?
- Much of the chocolate we enjoy every day in the United States is made from cocoa beans that have been harvested by illegal child labor.
- The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and the US State Department estimated that 284,000 children work in dangerous conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa, 64 percent of which are under 14 years old.
- Highly respected news outlets, including the BBC, have reported on outright child slavery in the cocoa fields of West Africa.
- The US is the world’s largest importer of cocoa, consuming annually more than three billion pounds of chocolate.
How and why should the cocoa industry change?
- Consumers are appealing to the US chocolate industry to (1) end abusive child labor in cocoa (2) shift their sourcing towards Fair Trade certified cocoa.
- Consumer demand for socially responsible goods, including Fair Trade Certified products, is rising; Businesses—whether large or small—that incorporate socially responsible products into their product lines can gain the market advantage of promoting a positive image to consumers.
How do Fair Trade certified products provide a solution?
Fair Trade, denoted by the "Fair Trade Certified" label, is a monitoring and certification process that guarantees a minimum price per pound for cocoa.Fair Trade:
- Prohibits forced or abusive child labor.
- Enables farmers earn enough to meet their families’ basic needs, such as health care, education, and nutrition, so they can build a better future for their families.
- Requires sustainable farming practices, which protect the environment.
In short, Fair Trade cocoa ensures an end to the cycle of poverty and rampant child abuse on cocoa farms.
How Does Fair Trade Help the Environment?
- Fair Trade farmers abide by rigorous environmental standards that prohibit use of the most harmful chemical pesticides and encourage small farmers’ tradition of environmental stewardship.
- Fair Trade farmers protect the land and wildlife habitat by intercropping plant species and maintaining strict waste management control.
Is Fair Trade more expensive?
Fair Trade cocoa is usually within the same price range as other gourmet chocolate. The main reason cocoa farmers earn a better income under Fair Trade is that the farmer cooperatives export directly to importers, cutting out the conventional middlemen who typically capture more of the profit
What is meant by “Cruelty-Free”?
"Cruelty Free” describes products that do not contain parts of dead animals, or those which are not tested on animals. Cruelty free products also do not contain materials obtained from animals by means of cruelty (such as keeping the animal in a confined space or separating mother from child etc.). AND cruelty free products do not promote child slavery and sweatshop labor (also prohibited under Fair Trade guidelines)!
A trustworthy logo of “Cruelty Free” is the leaping bunny logo.
Also see the Consumer Guide to Eco-labels at Greener Choices
Choose label category “Animal Welfare”
How is the gift wrap and packaging Kate’s Caring Gifts uses more Earth Friendly?
RIBBON: Our ribbon is made from biodegradable cotton and soy ink, NOT the typical petroleum based materials used for ribbons.
CLEAR BASKET WRAP: Our clear wrap for baskets is made from corn (PLA), NOT petroleum based plastic!
WRAPPING PAPER: We used gift wrap paper from Earth Lovin’ Paper that is 100% recycled with 100% post-consumer content.
GIFT BOXES: [From Gift Box Corporation of America] The board used to manufacture our gift boxes, and the newsprint laminated to the inside, are both 100% post-consumer recycled paper. The paper laminated to the outside of our boxes contains post-industrial paper waste. The glues used to adhere these two laminates to the board is natural cornstarch glue that the gift box manufacturer cooks themselves. All of the inks used on the gift boxes are water-based and can be disposed of easily and safely. These boxes are 100% recyclable and the recycled emblem is debossed on each one.
PACKING MATERIAL
“PEANUTS” We use biodegradable "peanuts".
PACKING TISSUE: Has 100% post consumer content recycled paper PACKING PAPER: Has post consumer content recycled paper (have to dig up the numbers).
Materials we reuse include bubble wrap, newspaper (not in gift orders!), packing paper and packing tissue.
SHIPPING BOXES: Kate’s Caring Gifts reuses shipping boxes when possible, and for new shipping boxes we have two sources:
- THARCO: Currently produce corrugated boxes with an average of 59% recycled fiber content, of which post-consumer material is 44%.
- US POSTAL SERVICE: Since May 2007 Express Mail and Priority Mail packaging have been awarded Cradle to Cradle(SM) Certification for their environmental attributes. The Cradle to Cradle certification means that USPS packaging and the components of the packaging is not harmful to the environment. The boxes are not 100% Post Consumer Content (PCC), they contain 30%-40% PCC but are 100% recyclable.
What is Naturally Fun and Healthy Body Care?
Our Bodycare Motto: RESPECT THE SKIN YOU’RE IN! My goal is to offer you Naturally Fun and Healthy Body Care! How do I do this? Well, it’s simple. I do my homework! What ingredients are healthy and safe? Although a simple question, the answer require some serious research!
What I like to see: Organic and natural ingredients. Examples are:
- Aloe vera,
- Jojoba oil,
- Essential oils,
- Vitamin E.
What I DON’T like to see: Cancer causing, irritating, or polluting ingredients. Examples are:
- Artificial Colors. Why? Some of the FD&C colors are cancer causing.
- Synthetic Fragrances. Why? Contain phlalates which are carcinogenic.
- Toxic/Irritating Preservatives like Urea Diazinol, Parabens, TEA, DEA.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate – cheap sudsing agent which is highly irritating, people which eczema or psoriasis should ALWAYS avoid.
My Resources:
Books:
Dr Ruth Winter “A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients” (5th edition)
Web Sites:
Environmental Working Group
How Does Your Current Bodycare Rate for Safety?
Organic Consumers Association
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
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