Below, we gathered the most important information you need to know about shopping with Sazen Tea. If you are new to online shopping, you also find a guide here that helps you through the purchase process.
Company name: Sazen Tea Co., Ltd.
Company owner and CEO: Jotatsu Motonari
Managing Director: Agnes Balogh
Address: Enmado-Cho 222-1, MORIYAMA, SHIGA 524-0042, JAPAN
Contact information:
Telephone number: +81 77 585 9661
Fax: +81 77 584 4110
Operating Time
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Current date is highlighted in grey.
- Webstore: open 24/7
- Customer Service and Shipping:
from Monday to Friday, 9 AM-5 PM, except on Japanese National Holidays
Our Customer Service is available in Japanese, English, and Hungarian.
General Purchase Terms and Conditions
Introduction
The following General Terms and Conditions of Purchase (hereinafter: “GTC”, “Terms and Conditions”) apply to the www.sazentea.com website (hereinafter: “website”) and they qualify as the general contract terms and conditions. This website, www.sazentea.com, is operated by Sazen Tea Co., Ltd. Throughout the website, the terms "we," "us," and "our" refer to Sazen Tea Co., Ltd.
The GTC applies to all website users, including, without limitation, browsers, vendors, customers, merchants, and contributors of content (hereinafter: “customers”). Throughout the site, the terms "you" and "your" refer to the customers.
We reserve the right to modify the provisions of the GTC. By placing an order on the website, you accept the GTC and agree to be bound by it. Therefore, we kindly ask that you read the Terms and Conditions on the website before you make a purchase (hereinafter: “order”). In the event of any amendment to the GTC, the Terms and Conditions effective on the day of the order will apply. The GTC is a binding agreement between you and us.
Topics covered in the GTC:
- Website Availability
- Your Status
- User Comments, Feedback, Reviews, Messages, and Other Submissions
- Registration on the Website
- Accuracy of Information
- Disclaimer of Liability
- Refund and Replacement
- Order Modification
- Order Cancellation
- Holding a package or reserving an item
- Warranties and Guarantees
1. GENERAL TERMS
We reserve the right to suspend the website for any reason, including but not limited to repairs, planned maintenance or upgrades, and shall not be liable to you for any such suspension.
We reserve the right to make any changes to the website or to discontinue any aspect or feature of the website without notice.
By placing an order through the website, you warrant that:
- You are legally capable of entering into binding contracts; and
- You are at least 18 years old.
By accessing the website, you warrant to us that you are legally entitled to do so and to make use of information made available via the website.
In the event that we, in our sole discretion, considers that you are making any illegal or unauthorised use of our website, or your use of our website is in breach of these Terms and Conditions, we reserve the right to take any action that we deem necessary, including terminating your use of our website without notice and, in the case of illegal use, instigating legal proceedings.
User Comments, Feedback, Reviews, Messages and Other Submissions
If you send creative ideas, suggestions, proposals, plans, or other materials, whether online, by email, by postal mail, or otherwise, you agree that we may, at any time, without restriction, delete, edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate, and otherwise use in any medium.
You agree that your comments, feedback, reviews, messages and other submissions (collectively: “comments”) will not violate any third party's rights, including copyright, trademark, privacy, personality, or other personal or proprietary right. You agree not to use the website to send or post any comments or material that is unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, indecent, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, sexually orientated, racially offensive, profane, pornographic or violates any applicable law. You further agree that your comments will not contain any computer virus or other malware that could affect the operation of the website or any related website. You may not use a false email address, pretend to be someone other than yourself, or otherwise mislead us or third parties about the origin of any comments. You are solely responsible for any comments you make and their accuracy. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any comments you or any third party posts.
You need to register on our website in order to use some of the services or features made available on this website. When you register, you are required to provide information about yourself that is true, accurate, current, and complete in all respects. Should any of your registration information change, please notify us immediately via email at. We may change registration requirements from time to time.
We reserve the right to ban or limit registered user accounts without notice at our sole discretion in any case where we find the user behaviour to go against our community guidelines.
The material on this site is provided for general information only. Any reliance on the material on this site is at your own risk.
This site may contain certain historical information. Historical information, necessarily, is not current and is provided for your reference only.
We reserve the right to modify the contents of our website at any time, but we have no obligation to update any information on our website. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor changes to our website.
In no case shall we, our directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, contractors, interns, suppliers, service providers, or licensors be liable for any injury, loss, claim, or any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special, or consequential damages of any kind, including, without limitation, lost profits, lost revenue, lost savings, loss of data, replacement costs, or any similar damages, whether based in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise, arising from your use of any of our services or any products procured using our services, or for any other claim related in any way to your use of the Service or any product, including, but not limited to any errors or omissions in any content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of the Service or any content (or product) posted, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the Service, even if advised of their possibility. Because some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such states or jurisdictions, our liability shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.
2. TERMS OF PURCHASE
Watch our step-by-step guide on how to place an order at www.sazentea.com
All descriptions of products or product pricing are subject to change at any time without notice, at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to discontinue any product at any time. We reserve the right to limit the quantities of our products. Any offer for any product or service made on this website is void where prohibited.
Certain products may have limited quantities and are subject to replacement or exchange only according to our Refund and Replacement Policy.
We offer special and unique products from local manufacturers and artists. Since the works are mostly hand-crafted and the tea is processed by traditional manufacturers, the products are available in limited quantities, depending on stock availability or production capacity.
We reserve the right to limit the sales of our products for any person, geographic region, or jurisdiction. We may exercise this right on a case-by-case basis. We reserve the right to limit the quantities of our products at any time, without notice.
If only a certain amount is available of a product, it is marked “Limited”, and the available stock is indicated on the product page.
The following payment options are available on www.sazentea.com:
PayPal Transactions
Online payment option through your personal PayPal account with your PayPal balance or credit card.
Cards accepted: The payment page of PayPal accepts VISA, MasterCard, JCB, AMERICAN EXPRESS, and Discover Card. You can pay from any foreign currency account according to the current exchange rate of PayPal.
Using PayPal’s system is a secure transaction method.
In a PayPal transaction, you must use your own PayPal user account. We will not be liable for any fraudulent payments completed through PayPal. The liability for using a PayPal account fraudulently will be on the account user.
Refunds under the value of 10 USD/8 EUR/1000 JPY will only be given in Sazen Reward Points (1 USD = 1 point in USD system, 1 EUR = 1 point in EUR system, 1 JPY = 1 point in JPY system).
Learn more about PayPal HERE.
Credit Card Transactions
Online payment option using the secure web banking interface of Paygent.
Cards accepted: Paygent accepts bank cards belonging to the MasterCard and VISA family of cards as well as JCB, AMERICAN EXPRESS, Discover or Diners credit cards (JCB, AMERICAN EXPRESS, Discover and Diners cards are only available for JPY payments).
Using Paygent’s system is a secure transaction method.
In a Credit Card transaction, you must use your own credit card. We will not be liable for any credit card fraud. The liability for using a card fraudulently will be on the card user.
In the case of Credit card payments, we are unable to give refunds for payments made over one month prior or partial refunds in general. If there is a need for a full refund over the one-month period or a partial refund for a Credit card payment, we can only credit the refundable amount to the customer's registered Sazen Tea account in Sazen Reward Points (1 USD = 1 point in USD system, 1 EUR = 1 point in EUR system, 1 JPY = 1 point in JPY system).
Refunds under the value of 10 USD/8 EUR/1000 JPY will only be given in Sazen Reward Points.
Money Transfer
Direct bank transfer is only available for Japanese bank account holders. We do not accept bank transfers from non-Japanese bank accounts.
For international money transfers, we recommend using Wise.
Refunds for bank transfer or Wise payments are only possible in Sazen Reward Points (1 USD = 1 point in USD system, 1 EUR = 1 point in EUR system, 1 JPY = 1 point in JPY system).
C.O.D. (Cash on Delivery)
Payment upon delivery. This service is only available with Yamato Transport within Japan.
Payment due date:
For card payments, the total order amount is pre-authorized by the credit/debit card company immediately after the customer approves the payment. The amount is withdrawn from the customer's account on the card company's closing day.
In the case of Debit Cards, the bank issues the payment in two steps. First, it reserves the amount you need to pay (so it disappears from your account), and second, it transfers the amount. They do these two steps at the same time, so it can appear as a double payment, but in fact, the bank is just holding the allocated amount for a while even after transferring the payment to us.
For bank transfers, the total purchase price of the order sent by e-mail is expected to be credited to our bank account within 5 business days following your order. If the full amount is not credited to our account by the deadline specified, your order will be canceled.
If you chose cash on delivery (C.O.D), please pay the total amount of your order (including the shipping fee) to the Yamato Transport courier.
The processing of any order - except for orders with C.O.D. payments - only begins when the payment is successfully received by us. For this reason, the expected shipping date indicated on our website at the time of placing the order is void in cases when the payment is completed at a later date.
We don’t have control or input over the payment services provided by third-party tools (PayPal, Paygent, Wise, Yamato Transport, etc.). You acknowledge and agree that we provide access to such tools "as is" and "as available" without any warranties, representations, or conditions. We shall have no liability arising from or relating to your use of third-party tools.
Prices for our products and services (including shipping fees) are subject to change without notice.
The sales prices on the website are listed in United States Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR) and Japanese Yen (JPY).
The prices are fixed and they are individually assigned as currency versions and do not follow the daily exchange rate.
Sales tax is included. (8-10%)
In case you choose DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) shipping service for an international order, our system will automatically reduce the tax rate by 8% to offset the import tax payment.
EXTRA CHARGES YOU NEED OR MIGHT NEED TO PAY
Package Fee
The sales prices of our products listed on the website do not include the shipping fees. Postage (official prices charged by delivery service providers), and fuel and emergency surcharges (also charged by the delivery service providers) are calculated based on the receiving country, the chosen delivery service, and the measurements of the package. These expenses are shown as “Package fee” in the Cart and are to be paid by the customer.
Customers are notified about Package fees in all cases before the contract comes into force. The final compensation has to be paid in advance for the delivery of the products. Please note that the Package fee is calculated based on the gross weight of the full package (gross weight of the ordered items and the packaging materials). The weights shown in some product descriptions (eg. teas) indicate the net weight, and do not serve as a guide in any way in calculating the gross weight of a package.
Customs Duties
Customs duties do not belong to our competence and the Package fee does not include customs fees. Duties may have to be paid on receipt of the parcel. These fees are charged by the receiving country and we have no control over them. Please learn about your country’s import rules before ordering.
If customs fees apply to your order and you refuse to pay them to your local authorities, we can not give any refunds or compensate in any way for the order.
In case you do not choose DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) extra shipping service, the customs procedures and payment of customs fees is entirely your responsibility.
We are not liable for any fees or extra expenses resulting from the customs information (eg, commodity codes) shown on the invoice of your order; it is the customs agents' jurisdiction to determine what customs group they put a product in, and may do so regardless of the commodity codes we provide on the invoice. We are not liable and can not give any refunds if, based on their own assessments, the customs officers impose higher duties than you expect.
In case you choose DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) extra shipping service, we undertake the incurring charges upon customs clearance. This includes duty fees, VAT, and customs handling fees. Please note that you might still be required to provide some documents to clear the package for customs (eg. invoice, proof of payment).
The choice of selecting DDP service is at your sole discretion. We may, but are not obliged to, offer the option of this service regardless of the local customs regulations of the shipping country, and the offering of this service in no way indicates the necessity of customs charges. We are not liable for these expenses and can not offer refunds or compensation for these charges.
Be informed that the DDP service is not available for all the countries we ship to.
We offer discounts and promotions on our website (hereinafter: promotions). These promotions can be long-term, seasonal, or for limited periods. We reserve the right to start, change, or discontinue any of these promotions at our sole discretion, at any time, without notice. These promotions are extra bonuses for the customers, not their rights, and can be revoked at any time. We are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from any modification, change, suspension, or discontinuance of promotions.
Free shipping offer
★ We offer free shipping to Japanese addresses over ¥10,000 JPY cart value
★ We offer free international shipping on USD orders exceeding $150 USD cart value and on EUR orders exceeding €120 EUR purchase value.
Extra delivery services - DDP, Direct Signature, Shipment Insurance, Cool Box, etc. - are not included in the Free Shipping offer.
Free Tea Sample
Free tea samples are included in US Dollar orders as a gift. These samples can be matcha or loose-leaf teas. They are selected randomly by us, and we can not comply with special requests.
Reward Point
At the Sazen Tea online shop, registered and logged-in users can earn and collect points calculated based on the total value of the purchase.
After every order placed, we offer 1% of the purchase value (excluding shipping fees and extra services) in Reward points.
(1 point in USD system = 1 USD, 1 point in EUR system = 1 EUR, 1 point in JPY system = 1 JPY)
The points are credited to your registered user account after the order is completed (the package is dispatched). The points can be used on subsequent orders.
The received points are valid for 12 months. After each purchase, this expiry date is extended. The countdown restarts from the date of the last purchase.
Expired points cannot be revalidated; our system deletes them automatically.
We can deduct reward points from a user account at our discretion in lieu of extra payments tied to an order.
VIP Club Discounts
For our registered Customers we offer VIP Club Discounts
- Silver Grade VIP discount
5% off listed prices after spending at least $2,000 USD/€1,667 EUR/¥200,000 JPY in a single year, excluding shipping fees - Golden Grade VIP discount
10% off listed prices after spending at least $5,000 USD/€4,167 EUR/¥500,000 JPY in a single year, excluding shipping fees
The VIP discounts can be revoked or modified at our sole discretion at any time, in general, or for specific user accounts.
Wholesale Program
Please note that we only sell products directly to private customers; our wholesale program has been discontinued.
Special Promotions
We reserve the right to start, modify or cancel special promotions on our website at any time, without prior notice. Each special promotion has its own terms and rules, published on our website throughout the duration of the promotion.
We reserve the right to exclude any user or revoke the promotion for any order at our discretion in case of any abuse of a promotion.
3. SHIPPING AND DELIVER
We offer shipping options provided by the following partners:
- DHL – International Express Courier Service
- FedEx – International Express Courier Service
- EMS – International Express Mail Service
- Yamato – Japan Domestic Courier Service
- Yu-Pack – Japan Domestic Courier Service
- Pick-Up – You can pick up your order personally at our headquarters during office hours > Sazen Tea Head Office, Enmado-Cho 222-1, MORIYAMA, SHIGA 524-0042, JAPAN; Phone: +81 77 585 9661
Not all delivery service options are available to all countries.
We reserve the right to change the delivery service
Optional extra shipping services
- + DDP / All Duties & Taxes paid
- + DS / Direct Signature Request
- + SI / Shipment Insurance
- + Cool Box
Not all extra shipping service options are available to all countries.
Delivery time has three main sections:
1. Process time
We work hard to make sure that each order is shipped as soon as possible. Depending on our inventory, packages are shipped within 3-10 business days (excluding weekends and Japanese holidays) after we’ve received the payment, except for products where a longer waiting time is indicated on the product page. We do not guarantee posting dates, as preparation time can vary due to the manufacturer's capacity, Japanese National Holidays, and natural disasters or accidents.
If you order large quantities, delays are expected, because, depending on the makers’ capacities, the preparation might take longer than usual.
Holding back a package at the customer’s request is only possible for 30 days from placing the order. The best-before date of items in the order held back is the same as indicated at the time of placing the order.
2. Transit time
Delivery time after dispatching depends on the destination country and the chosen delivery service.
Some seasons are busier for the delivery service providers, causing delays in the delivery. Eg., in countries where Christmas is celebrated, the delivery may take significantly longer before and during this holiday season.
Please take into account that our shipping partners do not operate on weekends and Japanese National Holidays, thus we are not able to dispatch packages on these days. We do not guarantee delivery dates, as delivery time can vary due to the delivery service providers, the customs clearance of each country, as well as natural disasters or accidents.
3. Customs Process Time
Packages may be subject to customs procedures in certain countries. This may slow down the final delivery and may incur some extra charges. Customs proceedings are beyond our control and we cannot be held liable for what happens to your package once it reaches the country of destination. For more information, please contact your local authorities or the local office of the carrier company you have chosen.
The exception from this is the DDP service, where customs duties and taxes are paid to us by the customer upon placing the order, in which case we are responsible for the customs clearance payments. This includes duty fees, VAT, and customs handling fees. Other expenses - like issuing certificates, etc - are not covered by the DDP service. The consignee might still be contacted for the customs clearance process and asked to provide documents, such as the invoice, proof of payment, etc.
We are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from delays in shipping and can not offer refund or compensation for such losses.
As we are not the manufacturers of the products, we are not able to provide documents and certificates (eg. Certificate of Authenticity, Phytosanitary Certificate, Certificate of Origin, etc).
Read more about the customs process HERE.
Responsibility for the package
All our packages are sent as FOB (Free on Board), which is a term in international commercial law meaning that as soon as the shipment of goods leaves Japan, we record the sale as complete. You own the products en route as a buyer and you assume responsibility for completing the customs clearance and for managing the final delivery. That also means that if the package is lost or damaged in transit, you must file any claims for reimbursement.
For this reason, we recommend choosing Direct Signature and/or Shipment Insurance extra services for orders. Using Direct Signature greatly reduces the chances of misplaced or stolen packages, and with Shipment Insurance, lost and damaged packages can be refunded by the delivery service based on their own refund policies. Without these extra services chosen for an order, we are only able to comply with refund requests for damaged or lost packages in the value the delivery service decides to compensate.
Lost or stolen packages
As all packages are sent as FOB (Free on Board), we are not liable for packages after they leave Japan.
For packages lost in transit, the delivery service provider is liable according to their own policies. We are not liable for any loss or damage caused by packages lost in transit, and can not offer a refund. For any claims, contact the delivery service provider.
Once a package is successfully delivered to the address provided by you, responsibility for the package is solely in your hands. Neither we, nor our delivery partners are liable for packages lost or stolen after successful delivery.
We package orders with the utmost care and attention.
Our extensive experience guarantees that the products you order will be delivered without any damage. On the rare occasion that a product does get damaged while shipping, we take responsibility and either replace the damaged item or issue a refund.
4. REFUND AND REPLACEMENT
If you need a refund or replacement, please contact us within 10 days from the date the product was delivered to you.
We can fulfill your request for a refund or replacement if
- the item shipped does not match the item ordered,
- any product is missing from the package,
- the item shipped is defective,
- the item shipped is damaged.
Other personal or subjective reasons are not acceptable.
IMPORTANT!
Please check packages for any damage upon delivery.
If there is any visible damage on the outside of the package, take a photo of it before opening it. If the items inside are intact, there is nothing else to do. However, if you notice damage to the actual items inside, please also take photos of all of the individual instances of damage and send them to us. Once we have the evidence of the damage, we will either issue a refund or send you a replacement. Should you have any complaints, please use the Contact Us menu on our website or email us at.
In every package, we include a checklist and handling instructions. We always pack orders with the utmost care, but mistakes can still sometimes happen. Please take the time to check whether the checklist and the items you received match.
We do not accept any complaints after 10 days from the date of delivery.
We are also not able to refund perishable goods (tea, sweets, etc) or items that have already been used.
If we cannot deliver the ordered product for any reason, we will contact you about a refund or replacement.
Any refunds will be processed within 10 business days of the acceptance of the request for refund.
Please note that we are unable to give refunds for payments made over one month prior or partial refunds in general. If there is a need for such a refund, it can only be credited to your Sazen Tea user account in Sazen Reward Points.
Any refunds under 10 USD will be done in Sazen Reward Points.
Orders can be modified within 12 hours of being placed. This includes changing, removing, or adding items. If you wish to merge two orders, both must have been placed within 12 hours of your request. Address changes can be made before delivery documents are created, but once processing begins, modifications may not be possible. Changing the shipping country is allowed within 12 hours of placing the order, but may incur additional fees. Any refunds resulting from modifications will be issued in Sazen Reward Points only (1 point in USD system = 1 USD, 1 point in EUR system = 1 EUR, 1 point in JPY system = 1 JPY).
Modifying an order in any way is only possible up to a maximum of two times. Modifying an invoice is only possible once, within one month of the issue date of the invoice.
Replacing or canceling a purchased item or canceling an order before shipping is only possible within 12 hours after the order was placed. After 12 hours, we start with the preparation process, and we are no longer able to cancel or change the order.
Please carefully consider your purchase before ordering.
HOLDING A PACKAGE OR RESERVING ITEMS
Once an order is placed, at the customer's request, we can hold a package for up to 1 month. Holding packages for a longer time is not possible.
Reserving specific items is only available for tea tools and accessories, and only in cases where the payment is already made for the item. It is not possible to reserve tea or other perishable goods.
Once an item is reserved, the reservation is kept for up to one month. After that time, we can not guarantee that the exact piece will be delivered.
We offer a warranty and guarantee for our products as required by law.
Please be informed that under the laws currently in force, your purchase of our products qualifies as a consumer contractual agreement.
The item we have in stock might not be the same piece shown in the photos on the website. Handmade products are unique and slightly different from each other. If you are particular about either the size, the capacity, or the appearance, contact us, and we will share photos or the exact details of our available pieces in stock. We are not responsible for visual differences or variations in design.
We have made every effort to display the colors and images of our products as accurately as possible. We cannot guarantee that your screen display of any color will be accurate.
Breakage guarantee: If an item gets damaged in transit, we replace it (unless the stocks are exhausted) or issue a refund in Sazen Reward Points. Please follow the instructions above (“Refund and replacement”).
5. PRIVACY POLICY
Our Privacy Policy governs your submission of personal information through the store.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact us via the Contact Us menu.
We constantly strive to improve and provide the best service we can offer. We wish you a pleasant shopping experience.
Updated at 15:00 JST on June 3, 2026
