When You Get an Urge For Something Fitness Related, Click on Body Trends
Body Trends
As springs warms up, I just feel the need to buy new fitness stuff. Oh sure, I have a lot of it already but new stuff gives me new motivation. For a little while anyway. I was recently shopping on Body Trends, a huge and a bit confusing website, that carried everything I could have wanted and more.
What the Site Sells
Exercise equipment and accessories, athletic footwear and apparel, books, CDs and DVDs on fitness and exercise, and pretty much anything else you could want as it pertains to indoor and outdoor fitness.
Navigation
This site is busssssy! There are no crazy blinking things or scrolling words but there is just so much going on that you don't know where to look when you click on the home page. Along the left side is a list of product categories. In the middle are several pictures of different items that someone like me will be lured to check out even if they had no intention of looking at when they clicked onto the site.
Stay focused, my friends, and you will get out of there with your bank account intact.
In addition to selling products, they have a fitness library — a section of the site where you can read up on certain exercise types and how to achieve your personal goals. They have an anatomy chart as well to check out. There is also a "Fitness Shop" which breaks down exercise type and suggests the products a particular exercise (Body building for instance). This seems to be somewhat of overkill because they already have links to those types of products but whatever helps (and helps sell).
There is a search box to help you find what you are looking for faster.
Choose a category of products and you will see many thumbnails with prices. Another click will give you a larger photo and, in most cases, a good description of the product you are looking at.
Next to every product is a VIP price in red. Then here is a line that says, "Not A VIP Member? Click Here". But when you click there, it says the page you are looking for is not found. Alrighty then. No VIP memberships for them!
If you like the item and want to buy it, click to put it in your cart.
When you are done shopping, you begin the checkout process.
There is a shipping chart on the site based on weight but, from all I looked at, they don't give you the weights of items so you don't know what the approximate weight of your items are, thus rendering the shipping chart useless. Therefore, you go into the checkout guessing.
Checkout involves supplying your name address, phone number and email address. You still don't know your shipping charges at that point. Once you input your info and continue, you are offered a "special price" on a product that is related to what you are buying. Ironically, that offer has the shipping weight next to it. Click to add it or bypass to the next phase.
At last, the magic shipping charge appears right before you enter your major credit card details. You can choose from four shipping methods and speeds. Shipping for my lightweight product was $5.73 Ground. That wasn't too bad.
Once you input your credit card details, you will get an order number and confirmation on the screen. An email will arrive with your order details.
You will then get a tracking number and estimated delivery date when your order ships which, for me was very quickly.
My Experience
I had a load of fun browsing the large inventory. A fitness buff or even a wanna be fitness buff could spend hours browsing the site. I found what I came for, a simple fitness cuff that works the body using a circular elastic tube. I was amazingly tempted to buy a pair of super expensive balance shoes but I resisted for now. But I am still longing to go back and get them (I'll review them if I cave in and get them!).
Checkout was easy and straightforward and I was done within moments. I got a confirmation email and a delivery one within a day of one another. My order arrived in around five days, boxed well and in good condition.
The cuff is as it was described and I enjoy it so this was a pain free experience on all counts.
Shipping and Returns
Shipping is based on weight of the total order. There is a shipping chart on the site but there isn't really a way to get a handle on how heavy your order is because most items have no weights posted. You can choose from UPS Ground, Three Day, Two Day, or Next Day shipping with prices rising with each option. They sometime use USPS Priority mail for smaller items.
According to their FAQs: We guarantee to ship every in-stock item within 1 or 2 business days, or your shipping will be refunded (upon request). If an item is on backorder, you will be notified and we'll take whatever action is most convenient for you.
They fulfilled that promise with my order.
Returns are accepted within 45 days of purchase with the receipt. Products must be new and unused in their original packaging. Some items are subject to a restocking fee but they don't say which items and how much that fee will be. Shipping fees will not be returned as is usual for just about every online store.
I would suggest that, before you make a large purchase, you check with customer service to see if it is subject to a restocking fee if returned — and how much that fee is.
Contact Info
Customer Service:
MON-FRI: 9AM - 6PM (EST)
SAT-SUN: CLOSED
1- 800-549-1667
Sales: 1-800-549-1667
Bodytrends Health & Fitness
304 Tequesta Drive
Tequesta, Florida 33469-3205
Conclusion
I had no problems with this site. The prices are pretty good and the selection is wide and varied. Navigation is fairly simple once you get past the home page where you are lured every which way. I like some of the informational items on the site and I like that I am not charged tax! The shipping costs seem to be reasonable. I added a rowing machine to my cart to see how high my shipping cost would be and it was $57.30 for the slowest shipping. If I were buying a rowing machine, I would look for a site that has free shipping if I could find one. Still, the shipping charges are not crazy high for such a heavy item.
I had a good experience shopping on the site and I will return. If I want a heavy piece of equipment, I will probably go where there is free shipping (unless the price is much lower at Body Trends) or buy locally. Otherwise, this is a 4 star site that has just about everything you need to meet any fitness goal.
Recommended:
Yes
