About the Shop
No, the Hebridean Tea Store is not a big company. We are a small, family-run business operated by a mother and daughter.
Is the Hebridean Tea Store open 7 days a week?
Short answer: No, it is not.
Sunday is a day of rest here in the Western Isles, and almost everything is closed—except for a few exceptions, such as the local petrol station and, since December last year, our local supermarket.
We are also closed on Wednesdays, with a few exceptions:
April to September – We open on Wednesdays if a cruise ship is in.
December – In the run-up to Christmas, we are open on Wednesdays.
As there are only two of us running the shop, opening six days a week would be exhausting. Closing on Wednesdays allows us to rest and manage other aspects of the business, ensuring we can continue providing the best service to our customers.
Unfortunately this is not possible.
We are only a small business with maximum two staff working at the shop. None of us is a full time operator who would be able to take your call and process the order.
As we do not wish you to wait until we have everything set up for taking your order, we kindly ask you to use our website for your orders.
Yes, you can!
We understand that ordering through the website can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming, and we’re more than happy to assist you.
Please email us at cu**************@******************co.uk with the following information:
First and last name
Your address, including postcode
A valid email address
A phone/mobile number in case we need to contact you regarding your order
The name of the item you wish to purchase
The amount/size of the item you want to purchase (e.g., 1 x 100g or 2 x 50g)
Please let us know if you’d like us to set up an account for you, as this can make future orders easier.
Once we receive your order, we will send you an invoice with a link to complete your payment. Please do not email any credit or debit card details.
We use Stripe or PayPal as our payment processors, both of which are secure and reliable.
Rest assured, we do not store your payment information on our server or website.
Once your payment has cleared, we will ship your items promptly.
Your email and any personal data will be securely deleted once your order is processed.
If you request us to set up an account for you, we will use the data you’ve provided.
Shipping
We use Royal Mail 24 and 48 for our shipping. We no longer use Evri or UPS due to customer concerns about pricing and delivery times.
We usually ship on Tuesdays and Fridays.
During the Christmas period, we do our best to dispatch orders nearly every day to ensure your gifts arrive safely and on time.
Our shop is located on an island in the Outer Hebrides, off the Scottish mainland.
Under normal circumstances, Royal Mail 24 delivers within two days, sometimes even faster. Royal Mail 48 can take up to a week, occasionally longer. However, this is beyond our control—it’s a well-known issue with Royal Mail!
We do our best to dispatch your order as quickly as possible.
Shipping Destinations
At the moment, we are still shipping to the USA.
Please be aware that you may be liable for taxes and tariffs on your order. This is beyond our control, and we have no influence over local regulations.
We are certainly shipping to Canada!
Please be aware that you may be liable for taxes and tariffs on your order. This is beyond our control, and we have no influence over local regulations.
Yes, we do ship to Australia and New Zealand.
Please be aware that you may be liable for taxes and tariffs on your order. This is beyond our control, and we have no influence over local regulations.
We understand that importing food into Australia and New Zealand can be challenging.
All our teas are clearly labelled, with ingredients listed on the packaging. To avoid any issues with customs, please check the product pages for a full list of ingredients and review your country’s import regulations before placing an order.
Yes and no.
The EU has introduced significant red tape for imports, requiring us to prove that our products pose no health risk to European customers.
Typically, we would need to register with a company in Europe to conduct these checks on our behalf. However, the cost is prohibitively high for a small business like ours, and at present, we have no plans to register.
That said, if you’re willing to take the risk, we can send the items to you, but please consider the following:
You may be required to pay taxes and tariffs on your order.
Your country’s postal service may charge an additional processing fee.
There is no guarantee that your order will clear customs; they may refuse it and return it to us.
If customs returns your order, we will issue a refund minus the postage costs (as this is non-refundable by Royal Mail). Additionally, we will deduct a small administration fee of £5.