About Us

Our names are Julian and Sandra Heinz and we are a couple of travelers who are very interested in foreign cultures. We started Colors of the Orient as a way to share the beautiful treasures that we had discovered on our travels to India.
Many members of our large international family have contributed to setting up our organization, and we remain very much a 'mom and pop' business dedicated to excellent and personalized customer service.

What we do

Colors of the Orient, Inc. is an internet-based company founded in 1996 to import unique hand-crafted objects from India into the United States. We sell these treasures through this web site and through eBay auctions.

We take pride in providing our customers with distinctive, high quality products and individualized attention. At Colors of the Orient we believe that online customer service can and should be just as comfortable as it is at your corner store.

How we do it

By buying directly from the artisans in India and doing our own importing we are able to cut out the 'middle men' and to sell at wholesale prices. In addition, as an internet-only business we have much lower overhead costs than traditional 'brick and mortar' retailers.

Shipping Policies

Free shipping

Shipping is free for domestic (US) orders totaling $50.00 or more. There is a flat fee of $5.00 for shipping on domestic orders under $50.00.

When will my order be shipped?

All orders are shipped within 2 business days of the date on which we receive payment. We will send you an email to let you know when your order has been shipped.

When will I receive my order?

To estimate the delivery date of your order, add the time until shipment (see "When will my order be shipped," above) to the time en-route below.

Orders for all items except gemstone jewelry are shipped via USPS Priority Mail (2 to 3 day delivery).

Gemstone jewelry orders are shipped via UPS Ground (approximately 5 day delivery). UPS 3 Day is also available for an extra charge of $4.00 - just let us know when you place your order if you would like this service.

Insurance

We insure all packages with a value of over $50.00 for no extra charge.

International orders (outside the US)

Currently we ship only to the US and Canada. We charge a flat rate of $10.00 for all orders shipped to Canada - this includes insurance for orders totaling over $50.00.

Import duties and other taxes are the responsibility of the customer.

Our Guarantee / Returns

30 Day money back guarantee

All of the products sold through this web site carry a 30 day money back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied, you can return any of our products for a full refund, (not including shipping) provided the merchandise is in good condition.

If you wish to return a product under our guarantee please write to us at heinz@colorsoftheorient.com and we will provide you with instructions for returning the merchandise.

If your merchandise arrives damaged

If your order is damaged during shipping please write to us at heinz@colorsoftheorient.com. It is important that you keep the original packaging as it will be required for the insurance claim.
We will reimburse you for the cost of shipping the merchandise back to us.

How to Use this Web Site

Payment methods we accept

We accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards, as well as cashier's checks and money orders (from US banks only).
We also accept payment through PayPal, and this web site is set up to make it very simple: just go through the checkout process as described below choosing PayPal as your payment method, then click on the PayPal button which will take you to PayPal's web site where you can enter your password and approve the transaction.

How to use the shopping cart

This web site features a 'shopping cart' that can remember the items that interest you while you continue to browse through the site.
When you see a product that you like just add it to your shopping cart (by clicking on the 'Add item to cart' button on any product page), and then continue to look around the site. You can easily remove items from your shopping cart by clicking 'Delete Item' on the cart contents page. To see the cart contents page click on 'My Cart' at the top of the page.
When you are ready to purchase the products in your shopping cart simply click on 'Checkout' and follow the instructions.

How to order

First, add the items that you wish to purchase to your shopping cart, as described above. After you click on 'Checkout' just follow the three simple steps below to place your order.

2. Enter delivery information
Choose the first option to have your order delivered to your registered billing address
or
Choose the second option and enter a different shipping address to have your order delivered to a different address

- Click on 'Continue' -

3. Review and choose payment method
First look over the order information and your addresses to make sure that they are correct.
To adjust your shipping address click on the 'Change Delivery Address' button.
Then choose your payment method :

Visa, MasterCard, Discover - please fill in your credit card details and click on 'Submit Order'.

Cashier's check, money order - please click on 'Submit Order' and send your payment to the address shown on the next screen.

PayPal - Please click on 'Submit Order' and then follow the PayPal link on the next screen. This link will take you to PayPal's web site where you can finish the checkout process.

Security

This web site uses industry standard 40-bit SSL encryption to protect all personal information as it travels between users and the server.

Privacy Statement

Sharing of information

Colors of the Orient will not share any of the personal information collected by this web site with any 3rd party.

Cookies

Our Site uses cookies to keep track of your shopping cart.

Information we collect

Contact information

Our site uses an order form that collects contact information, like email and postal addresses. The customer's contact information is used to ship orders to customers, and to get in touch with customers concerning their orders.

We also send occasional email messages to customers to inform them of specials, additions to this web site, and other news that we feel would be of interest.
Customers may opt-out of receiving mailings; see the choice/opt-out section below.

Financial information

Credit card numbers are collected to bill customers for products.

Surveys

Our optional online surveys ask customers for contact information (like email addresses), and demographic information (like zip code, age, or income level). We use this information for marketing - getting to know our customers.
This information - like all the information we collect - is never shared with any 3rd party.

External links

This site contains links to other sites. Colors of the Orient is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites.

Choice/opt-out

Our site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving promotional/marketing information from us, just send email to heinz@colorsoftheorient.com .

Data quality/access

To change or modify information that you have previously provided just send email to heinz@colorsoftheorient.com .

Contacting us

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can contact: heinz@colorsoftheorient.com .

Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)

Do you take special/custom orders?

We are not able to take special orders. This is due to the complication involved in finding merchandise that meets our high standards and in shipping it to the US at a reasonable cost.

Is it safe to use my credit card?

As the US Federal Trade Commission writes in its Consumer Alert: Holiday Shopping Online, "Pay with a Credit Card. Other payment options simply don't offer the same consumer protections."

According to the FTC it is quite safe to pay by credit card on the internet as long as the data is encrypted (see Security above) and as long as you trust your merchant (see Can I trust you? below).

Can I trust you?

Colors of the Orient has been in business and selling on the internet since 1996. During that time we have built up a large clientele, many of them repeat customers. Our customers have found us to be honest and straightforward, and this is shown by our eBay feedback.

How do I know I'm buying good quality products?

We sell only the highest quality products. To ensure high quality, all merchandise is selected and inspected by our trained employees in India, and then once again by us when it arrives in the US.

Do you have a customer service telephone number?

We provide customer service by email only. We answer all messages quickly (almost always within 24 hours) and we also inform customers when their orders have been shipped.
We have found this to be the best system for providing good, dependable customer service because we are often traveling and thus unreachable by phone.

Can you rush my order? Can you send it Express/Overnight?

We are not yet set up to send orders by Express or Overnight delivery service. We hope to provide this service soon.

Do your paintings come with frames?

All of the paintings that we sell come without frames. This allows us to keep our prices low and makes shipping much more practical.

1. Register / Sign in
New Customers If you have never registered at Colors of the Orient then choose 'You are a new user' and click on 'Continue'. On the next screen please enter your name, email address, billing address, and a new password of your choice - then click on 'Continue'.		Returning Customers If you have already registered at Colors of the Orient then enter your email address and password and click on 'Continue'.