FAQ

Essentially Natural is an online retail store based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Our shop address is : www.essentiallynatural.co.za

Our warehouse address: Unit 12 DuVille Industrial Park, 8 Arum Lily Street, Fisantekraal Industrial, Durbanville (Outlying) 7550

Call us : 021 001 1130

Email us: support@essentiallynatural.co.za

Our customer support hours are Monday to Friday 08h30 to 16h30, excluding public holidays.

However, please don't hesitate to send us an email, messenger or contact form message outside of our business hours if you need urgent assistance; we'll reply as quickly as possible.

Our offices and warehouse are physically located at:

Unit 12 DuVille Industrial Park, 8 Arum Lily Street, Fisantekraal Industrial, Durbanville (Outlying), Cape Town 7550

Please note: we are, exclusively, an online retailer. We don't have any physical stores or facilities that allow for browsing or purchasing from our warehouse. You can, however, select the 'pick-up' option when placing an order on our shop, if you would prefer to collect from our warehouse.

Simply, no. Essentially Natural is an online store, providing the convenience of online shopping for 4000+ (and growing) unique products.

Our focus is wholly on providing an e-commerce platform that supports these many thousands of natural products, DIY ingredients, botanicals, aromatherapy oils and auxiliaries and packaging and equipment items, making them accessible to customers nationwide.

We don’t have multi-tiered pricing, but there is always economy of scale in purchasing larger volumes and we offer as many bulk options as are available.

Many bulk size variants (5kg, 10kg +) are listed at discounted prices already. If you need a product in bulk and the size is not listed, please contact us for a quote.

While we haven't built in an additional wholesale pricing tier on our own Essentially Natural range, we do gladly pass on item volume discounts.

These are: 

50+ item: 15% discount

100+ item: 20% discount

500+ item: 25% discount

1000+ item: 30% discount

And of course always free delivery – to every corner of SA - for any order of R400 or more.

Unfortunately not. Due to concerns around maintaining the flow of business and security we ask that you please note that the browsing and purchasing of products is available on our website only. 

We do not have a physical store, showroom or payment facilities at our offices.

Shopping online is much like shopping at a brick and mortar store.

In this instance, add items to your cart, go to the checkout page, choose a delivery method, then select your preferred method of payment.

To add products to your cart,  simply click on our gold 'Add to Cart' button to add any products to your shopping cart.

You can click on your trolley icon at any time to view items in your cart and then check out.

On the cart page you'll see an overview of the products in your cart. You can add or remove quantities or remove items as desired. The shopping cart will immediately update.

Checkout is completed in 3 simple steps:

1. 'Sign In' to your account, or 'Create an Account' or 'Checkout as a Guest'. There are many advantages to creating a customer account; primary among these is ease of use of our shop in future, including tracking your order progress. However checking out as one time guest simply entails registering your delivery details.

2. Choose a shipping option: select your preferred delivery method from the listed options (these options are offered based on what is available to your specified delivery address).

3. Select your preferred payment method: make direct payment via EFT or via secure online payments portal, PayFast*: by debit card, cheque card or credit card (Visa & MasterCard), Instant EFT, MasterPass or MobiCred.

We take care of the rest!

We offer a range of secure payment options. These include:

VIA PAYFAST

Credit card

Debit card

Cheque card

InstantEFT

Cash retail payment, via SCode, at one of over 6000 a participating stores nation-wide

Mobicred

Masterpass or Zapper

NB: if you are paying by card you'll need to enter a one-time password (OTP) which is generated using 3DSecure payment security technology. If your card is not 3DSecure enabled then you may not be able to make an online payment with it.

We take your payment security very seriously: 3DSecure payment security helps ensure online payment protection and fraud avoidance. You can find out more about 3DSecure and how to register with your bank here.

DIRECT

Bank transfer (EFT payment)

NB: we do not accept cheques or payments made inside the bank (bank teller deposits) as these incur hefty additional charges, however you can make cash deposits to an FNB ATM. 

Our banking details:

The Essentially Natural Domain t/a Essentially Natural

First National Bank (FNB)

Business Cheque Account # 62492496768

Universal branch code: 250355

Branch: Rivonia

We're proud to offer free delivery in South Africa on orders over R400. If your order is under R400 in value then a shipping fee will be applied, according to your preferred shipping option and your delivery address.

Depending on the delivery address, delivery options will include:

> door-to-door courier

> delivery to the nearest PostNet branch

> SA post

> Pargo

> Collection from Durbanville collection point

Shipping takes 2 to 7 working days depending on the delivery address, and the method of delivery you select / which is available to the delivery address. You can track your parcel online by logging into your My Account.

COURIER DELIVERY

Please remember: our couriers can only deliver to street addresses and they do not deliver to embassies, chain stores, plots, farms, mines and to some outlying towns and townships. If our couriers can't deliver to your address we'll contact you to make alternative arrangements.

One of our courier partners – The Courier Guy, CourierIt, Dawn Wing Express or FastWay - will deliver to your physical address, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. If you are at a business address during working hours then please register these details for your courier delivery unless someone is at home to sign for your parcel.

If you live in a main city centre then the shipping time will take 1-3 working days. If you live in an outlying area it could take up to 7 working days. The shipping time of heavy goods, bulk purchases and to outlying areas is generally 3-5 working days.

There are no deliveries on weekends or public holidays. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us or our courier partners directly  if you would like to try and get a more precise estimate of delivery date.

*Late Deliveries*

Unforeseen circumstances like adverse weather, load shedding, hijacking, strikes or supplier issues could prolong the delivery time. It's rare, but it can happen. Late delivery is not grounds for refund or cancellation of already shipped orders but if you are in any way concerned about the current location of your parcel and ETA of delivery, please contact us with your order number so that we can follow up for you. 

Yes! We're proud to offer free door-to-door courier, door-to-Postnet branch or Post Office delivery in South Africa when you spend R400 or more.

(Please note: door-to-door courier delivery might not be available to your address if that address is in an outlying or remote area, or is a farm, plot, township, mine, embassy or chain store). 

If your order amounts to less than R400 then a shipping fee will be automatically added to your cart according to your selected delivery method to your specific address. 

If your order amounts to less than R400 in total then a delivery fee will be automatically added to your cart. 

(All available delivery options are free when you spend R400 or more.)

COURIER DELIVERY

Shipping Rates:

Local (Cape Town Main Areas)

R400.00 or more Courier Door to Door Delivery - FREE

R399 or less Courier Door to Door Delivery - R55.00

Main Centres

R400.00 or more Courier Door to Door Delivery - FREE

R399 or less Courier Door to Door Delivery - R80.00

Regional & Outlying

R400.00 or more Courier Door to Door Delivery - FREE

R399 or less Courier Door to Door Delivery - R100.00

This depends on your delivery address, your preferred method of delivery and product availability.

Indicated shipping lead times are realistic: we would rather under promise than over promise. If you need a product extremely urgently please contact us so that we can advise on ETA - we'll always do our our best to assist. We do our utmost to dispatch all 'in stock' items within 1-2 working days of receiving payment.

COURIER SHIPPING takes 1 to 7 working days, nation-wide. If you live in a main city centre then the shipping time will take 1-3 working days. If you live in an outlying area it could take up to 7 working days. The shipping time of heavy goods, bulk purchases and to outlying areas is generally 3-7 working days. Courier deliveries are made Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm to your physical address. There are no deliveries on weekends or public holidays. 

PARGO STORE DELIVERY takes 2-7 working days.

POST OFFICE DELIVERY takes 4 to 7 working days.
Please remember to take your tracking reference and your ID with you when you go to collect your parcel.

POSTNET BRANCH DELIVERY takes 1-4 working days.

You'll receive automated shipping updates by email and SMS (opt-in) and you can always track your order in your My Account.

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any trouble tracking your parcel – we are here to help!

Unforeseen circumstances e.g. adverse weather, load shedding, strikes, hijacking, supplier issues etc. could prolong the delivery time. This is very rare, but it can happen. If your delivery is late or you are in any way concerned about when you can expect delivery, please contact us with your order number so that we can follow up and assist. We're here to help!

We deliver orders anywhere in South Africa.

Depending on your delivery address, available delivery options will include door-to-door courier, delivery to any  PostNet branch, or delivery to your nearest post office.

We do not deliver outside of South Africa.

Naturally we would prefer that you receive your order personally however this isn't a requirement. Anyone at your specified delivery address can accept the delivery on your behalf.

Our courier partners deliver Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, so you should always provide a delivery address where there will be an appropriate person to receive your parcel during these times. If there is no one around to accept the delivery, the courier company will contact you so that a new delivery day can be arranged.

Yes, you can place an order for delivery in South Africa no matter where you are in the world - if you live abroad and want to send a gift to relatives or friends who live in South Africa, or if you want to use your own international shipping agent or freight forwarder.

Please note: at this time we don't offer overseas shipping; you will need to arrange for your own. We can assist with parcel weights and dimensions, and we can also deliver to your freight forwarder in South Africa.

At this time we don't ship overseas. However, you can have an order collected by UPS, Fedex, Aramex or any other international courier. Please note there may be import restrictions, but the courier service will be able to advise further on this.

We will also gladly deliver to your freight forwarding agent in South Africa, if you have one (and delivery is free when you spend R400 or more). In which case we will simply need the freight forwarder's address and contact details.

And we will gladly assist with parcel weights and dimensions for your quotes.

Please note that you may have to pay customs duties when your order arrives in your country. This is out of our hands and we cannot be held responsible if you need to pay customs duties to receive your parcel.

Please contact our customer services team (support@essentiallynatural.co.za) to discuss VAT exclusive invoicing.

If you don't receive your parcel in good condition, or if anything is broken or damaged, please let us know within 7 days so that we can liaise with you over replacement, credit or refund straight away.

Goods are rarely damaged in transit but - especially given the very high volumes of fragile items that we ship - it can happen and if it does then we will gladly assist with getting a replacement to you as quickly as possible or crediting or refunding you.

We ask that you please simply take a photo of the damaged item and/or parcel as soon as it's received and forward these to our customer services team so that we can assist: info@essentiallynatural.co.za

You can return any goods purchased from Essentially Natural to ours within 30 days of receipt. 

We want you to feel secure in the knowledge that we want nothing more than for you to be 100% satisfied. If you're not happy, we're not happy; it's as simple as that.

We're very proud that with many hundreds of thousands of items delivered to date, we've received less than 20 product returns.

Please note: Should you wish to return an item which is not damaged, or incorrectly shipped, then a handling fee of 10% of the total order value applies. 

There are two ways to earn Eco Reward Points:

1) Simply shop with us! As a registered customer, you automatically earn points every time you purchase. Earn 1 Eco Reward for every R1 spent. 100 Eco Reward points = R2 off your next order.

To view your points and rewards, click on the Eco Rewards button at the bottom left corner. To spend your reward points, click 'All rewards' then click 'Redeem'. Choose the amount you want to redeem with the slider then click 'Apply code' and the discount will be applied on the checkout page.

2) Review the products you purchase. Earn 100 points for every published review.

Trusted reviewers get rewarded! Earn bonus points if it's your 10th, 25th and 50th product review.

Points will be allocated within one business day.

Must be logged in to earn and claim points.

The Aromatherapy Standard is 20 drops per mL of essential oil. Of course this will depend on the viscosity of an oil. The thicker the oil the less drops per mL and the thinner the oil the more drops per mL.

The product page will specify if food grade or not. If you are unsure, send us an email and we will confirm.

Stick to between 1% and 5% essential oil(s).

The bases do contain their own preservative so are fine to use as is, but they are ideal to customise to your own needs. If you are customising with additional oils, botanicals, etc, it is recommended that you add in additional preservative too, as the built in one may not be able to handle all the extra ingredients, particularly if water based.

The bases are not concentrates so they are not designed to be diluted to make 'x-amount'. The final amount will depend on what you add to it, so will be equal to the base amount plus the extra ingredients.

They are highly customisable; you can add in extra carrier oils, essential oils, botanicals etc according to your needs. Obviously the consistency will change with additions so don't add too much so as to destabilise the formula. You may need to experiment here, depending on what additional ingredients you use.