Great storefront with hard to find items for new parents.
Written: Feb 25 '04 (Updated Feb 25 '04)
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Overall
Onestepahead.com is the internet outlet for One Step Ahead, a catalog with hard to find products for parents of babies, 0-3 years old. The site is also affiliated with LeapsandBounds.com, which is a site for educational toys and products for children from ages 3 to 8 years of age. This review is about Onestepahead.com and will not focus on Leapsandbounds.com, mainly because our sons are all under the age of three, and therefore we have not utilized Leapsandbounds.com. The majority of the policies (shipping and handling, etc.) apply, just the selection is different!
Why do we utilize Onestepahead.com?
We utilize Onestepahead.com to purchase items that we need for taking care of our three boys. We have received the catalog in the mail since our first son was born three years ago, and it hooked my wife. We have bought a baby carrier, TV button guard, several toys and outlet covers from their website over the past year. My wife proudly told me that we were a premier member, which made me somewhat suspicious. I am not sure what the standards for this are, but we have not purchased near enough from them to warrant this designation!
Site Layout
The Onestepahead.com home page is a white background with very little in the way of selection on the front page. I am used to the electronic superstores such as BestBuy.com, Newegg.com, and CompUSA.com that have great selection on their front page, so this was somewhat of a shock to me to open up. Today they have a Get Ready For Spring theme, with subcategories of :
Outdoor Toys
Warm Weather
and
Play Equipment
Along the top of the website are you’re the typical tabs that take you to specific areas, similar to most websites. On Onestepahead.com the tabs are as follows:
Apparel
Bath & Health
Feeding
Gear
Nursery
Parenting
Toys
Safety
Specialty
and
Outlet
All of these selections are fairly self explanatory as to what items they sell, except for outlet. Outlet is a tab that consists of clearance and on sale items. You can find some pretty good deals on closeouts, etc. in this area!
Directly below these tabs is another row of links. Of these, we use two links frequently. One is labeled Catalog Quick Shop. My wife has found this tab extremely helpful, as we generally find what we need(want) in the catalogs that come in the mail. When you click on this, it brings up a screen in which you can input the item number or the catalog source code. This saves a lot of time when shopping for something you have noted in the catalog!
The second is Shop Smarter, which is a list of helpful topics for the parent. They include childproofing your home, making your crib safe, and how to choose a car seat. These are all very helpful guides to prospective and new parents, like we were in the beginning. This is actually where we found the outlet covers and the TV button guard! Keep in mind that these are built to sell products, and you will not be upset as you peruse.
Selection and Cost
Onestepahead.com specializes in items that you will not find in every department store, and it is specifically slanted towards new parents. As such, their prices are definitely not cheap. You may be able to find the same items at a reduced cost, but it will take some looking, and may not be of the quality or reputation that you will find through this company.
Affiliate Program
The affiliate program is one that allows you to put a link to Onestepahead.com on your own homepage, and based on hits and sales earn commission. If folks click through your website and order from Onestepahead.com, you will earn an 8% commission on whatever they spend. Not applicable to our family, but this may be a plus for you!
Finders Keepers
Another nice little perk that Onestepahead.com has is the Finders Keepers program. If you have a product that you have personal use of and think that they should carry, you let them know via a form on the net. If they choose to pick up the product in their catalogs, they will give you a $250 gift certificate to their merchandise. Typically they are looking for regional products that are not carried by large manufacturers, which again does not apply to us. We live in rural Montana, which does not have too many manufacturing facilities. It may be a good solution for you, however.
Ordering page
After you have found a product that you wish to purchase from Onestepahead.com, you place the item in your basket. You can then go to the checkout screen, which is typical to any online store you have utilized before.
You will fill in information for your account, or create an account. Fill in your billing information, including credit information, shipping information, and then review and process your order. The whole process is very quick and secure. The site uses a 128 bit encryption to protect your identity and vital information!
You will receive a confirmation email as well as an ‘item has shipped email’. If you chose 2 day delivery, this will have your tracking number utilizing Fed Ex as the shipping agent.
Shipping(and Handling)
Onestepahead.com uses a scale for shipping prices, both priority and ground. The scale is below:
Cost of products
Ground
Priority
Up to $20.00
$5.20
$15.20
$20 to $45
$7.30
$17.30
$45.01 to $70
$9.40
$19.40
$70.01 to $100
$11.50
$21.50
$100.01 to $150
$13.60
$23.60
$150.01 to $200
$15.70
$25.70
$200.01 to $250
$17.80
$27.80
$250 and up
$19.90
$29.90
As I said above, this site utilizes Fed Ex 2 day shipping for Priority, while for Ground it will either be Fed Ex ground or USPS, depending on the product. I really tend not to like scales such as this, as they are geared to the vendor making money off of the shipping. If you order one small item that happens to weigh in at a little over a pound, they will make a LOT of money off of the shipping. I tend to agree with sites like BestBuy.com and Newegg.com who charge nothing to ship. This is not only because it is the lowest cost for me, but also because they make money on what they are good at, the products they sell. I do not like a company to have built in profit not only in the product but the shipping as well!
All of our packages from Onestepahead.com have been shipped securely and safely. The boxes are taped together well and have never come apart. Overall, they do a good job with shipping and we have never had an issue with broken or otherwise damaged items.
Customer Service
We did have one package that became lost in the mail, verified by Onestepahead.com service folks. My wife went to the website to get their contact information. You can call, email or write.
Phone: 1-800-274-8440
Mail:
One Step Ahead/Leaps And Bounds:
P.O. Box 517
Lake Bluff, IL 60044-0517
Email: questions@onestepahead.com
My wife chose to contact them via email, as a house with three boys under three does not allow too much time for lengthy phone conversations. She explained that we had purchased several toys for Christmas, and now, five days before the actual holiday, we still had not received the package. The email response came within four hours, explaining that USPS could not account for the package, a claim had been made and a replacement was in the process of being sent. Further, they sent it two day air at their expense to ensure that it arrived on time. Now that is what I call customer service! Needless to say, we will be customers of theirs for a long time to come after this experience!
The Final Word
Onestepahead.com is a very well set up website with good pricing (not great) and poor shipping rates with high quality products. They specialize in hard to find items together in one store for prospective and new parents. The company is high quality and has been in business since 1989. I have never had an issue with anything I have ordered from this site, nor do I believe that I will!
I hope this review helps you, and please leave me feedback ratings or comments!
Recommended:
Yes
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