How to Buy Quality Teak Furniture Online and Not Get Scammed—13 Tips
Buying teak products—or any product—online is simple, easy and a great way to get scammed by unscrupulous sellers and con artists.
As a manufacturer and seller of teak furniture, furnishings and décor at TeakCulture.com I can tell you what I’ve seen and learned—so you don’t get scammed.
Helpful Tip #1
Let’s start off with who not to buy from.
Amazon is certainly a convenient place to buy everything from teak products (including ours) to everyday consumables like toilet paper.
But let’s focus on buying teak products on Amazon and then we can move on to other websites.
First, a little teak education…
Teak is indigenous to Southeast Asia, where the highest quality teak is grown.
However, because of teak’s beauty, durability, hardness, and also because it’s water-proof, insect, mold and bacteria resistant…
Companies began to cultivate it in other suitable tropical and sub-tropical climes, including Central and South America and even Africa.
Teak, however, does not naturally grow in China, at least not in notable quantity. And its quality is inconsistent at best.
Back to Amazon…
Whether you know it or not, more than half the companies selling on Amazon are Chinese companies.
And some sell teak products.
What does that tell you? Let’s not waste time—I’ll tell you.
When buying teak products from China you’re probably purchasing low quality teak, or teak imported into China from other countries—most notably Myanmar (Burma).
Though Burmese teak is very high quality—it’s also illegal in the United States and the European Union.
The reason: It’s Blood Teak
The Myanmar military junta funds its ruthless war against the Burmese people primarily from the sale of its teak.
To that end, its forests are being tragically decimated, and may soon disappear.
Read more here about avoiding illegal Burmese teak.
Here’s another reason to avoid Chinese teak sellers on Amazon
Far too many Chinese sellers have thousands of reviews for their products—which would be commendable, if they’re all real reviews.
However, too many of those reviews are either fake, or, if you read the reviews carefully, are for non-teak products like toasters, and lawn chairs.
How they’re able to insert reviews for garlic presses, for example, in reviews for teak furniture—without Amazon noticing or removing them—is a topic for another time.
But if you want a quick explanation, watch this YouTube video:
Some Chinese teak sellers, however, do sell toasters and lawn chairs as well as teak products.
What does that tell you? I’ll tell you…
These Amazon sellers, whether Chinese or not, do not possess any expertise or affinity for teak.
They’re just selling whatever they can get their hands on—cheaply.
To its credit, Amazon tries to kick fraudulent sellers, or at least remove fraudulent reviews and products, off Amazon—but there are just so many of these Chinese sellers.
It’s like playing Whack-a-Mole!
Get rid of one Chinese scammer, and 10 more pop-up—and frequently it’s the same outfit, now selling under a different name or names.
So how do you protect yourself from these sellers on Amazon or elsewhere online?
Helpful Tip #2
On Amazon, if you cannot find a company with a name or a brand that you can Google and read about—stay away!
The same applies to sellers (Chinese or others) on Facebook, Etsy, and especially TikTok (which is a Chinese company).
Not to harp too much on China—but they’re just so big and visible (a manufacturing behemoth) and their business culture (what they view as acceptable behavior)… well, let’s just say it’s un-American.
Bottom line: when you’re buying from an online marketplace, “google” the company before buying.
And don’t rely too heavily on Goggle’s AI “summary” of a company.
AI is known to “hallucinate”
In other words, AI will make stuff up—just to fill up the page and make it sound as if it knows what it’s talking about—when it doesn’t.
Helpful Tip #3
Read reviews with a critical eye.
If there are a bunch of reviews for a product that read like they were written by the same person—they probably were.
If the spelling or grammar are way off—not just a word or two, but the entire review—it makes you wonder if it was written by a real buyer of the product, and not an underpaid “foreign national” employed by a foreign-owned company.
Because of all these issues, and more, some online marketplaces are considering doing away with reviews entirely.
Apparently, it’s too hard and too expensive for these marketplaces to monitor all the hundreds of thousands of reviews for the tens of thousands of products they have listed on their websites.
Which is why many online marketplaces are beginning to employ AI to “moderate” or screen reviews—but often times, in error, AI will delete the good ones, and keep the bad ones.
Of course, if there are hundreds of reviews for a single product and every last one is a 5-star review—not even a 4-star among them—you gotta wonder...
Is the company cherry-picking the best ones, and not showing you the crappy ones.
Bottom line: reviews by people you don’t know are by themselves not enough. You gotta go deeper.
Helpful Tip #4
Following up on tip #3… if you know someone who bought a teak table, for example, from XYZ company—quiz them about the table (the look and feel of the wood, the construction, etc.) and their experience buying from the company (was the company’s website helpful, responsive, etc.).
Then again, one person’s opinion, even if they’re a close friend, is, in the last analysis, only one person’s opinion.
Of course, if you know a bunch of people—and I mean really know them—who bought teak products from XYZ company you might get great insights.
However, the likelihood of all your friends and acquaintances having the same opinion about XYZ’s products is highly unlikely—but certainly not unheard of.
So you need to do more…
Helpful Tip #5
If you find a teak product or something else you want to purchase online—from Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, etc.—go to the seller’s website.
But, despite your best efforts, their company name doesn’t show up on a Google or Bing search, or on any other search engine…
That’s a definite red flag as mentioned in Tip #2.
A company without a website is probably not a company.
Most likely it’s an individual posing as a company.
After all, today, anyone can set up a website for free and with very little effort.
So if you’re buying a teak item—and teak of course is expensive—you gotta wonder who this character is that you’re dealing with—and whether you should.
Is it worth the risk of losing your money, buying a “not really teak” item, or having your online identity stolen—including your credit card info.
Helpful Tip #6
Following up on tip #5… what do you want to see on a company’s website—a company that’s not a big, well-known brand?
However, there’s always the possibility that even though you think you’re on a website of a big brand name teak seller of expensive patio furniture—it could be a big fake website.
Teak furniture—5-piece patio sets, etc.—can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
So a sophisticated scammer will jump on the opportunity to spend $1,000 to build a “lookalike” website—and walk away with $10,000 or more.
What is the possibility of you running into a scam like that?
I’m only guessing, but I don’t think it’s highly likely.
However… there are fast and easy ways to check…
Helpful Tip #7
Scroll to the bottom of any page on a company’s website.
That’s typically where a company’s address will be found. If there is no address that could be another red flag.
But not necessarily. We don’t show our address on our website—because we only sell online. We don’t have a “brick and mortar” store.
So, in that case…
Helpful Tip #8
Look for a “Contact Us” link. No contact link—definitely a red flag!
Do they have a phone number you can call? No phone number and no “contact us” link—steer clear!
If, however, they have one or the other—contact them. Ask them a question. Any question related to the product you’re considering.
You basically want confirmation that someone on the other end speaks English, and sounds informed and attentive to your needs.
If emailing or using a chat function, or leaving a voice mail, see how long it takes, for them to answer. You should receive a reply within 24 to 48 hours—max.
And the sooner the better. Because if you buy the product and there’s a problem afterwards you want to be reasonably assured you’ll receive prompt support.
Helpful Tip #9
Does the website display trust symbols that let you know that the website you’re on, and information you input on the website, is secure?
We use TrustedSite:
We pay for this service that provides you, the buyer, with the following guarantees:
Barring a trust symbol, you want to see in the address bar this prefix: https://
Here’s our website with the https:// prefix:
Are these trust symbols necessary? No. But they’re reassuring for you the buyer.
Helpful Tip #10
Absolutely check their return and refund policy.
If they don’t have one—steer clear!
Teak ain’t cheap! So you want to know if there are any blemishes or damages to the item you bought—through no fault of your own—you can be refunded in full, or exchange the item for a replacement.
But you gotta read their return and refund policy carefully.
There will always be terms and conditions—so make sure you understand and are agreeable to the company’s stated promises and obligations.
And understand, too, what your obligations are.
As an example, click the link below to read our return and refund policy:
https://www.teakculture.com/policies/refund-policy
Helpful Tip #11
Is the teak in the item you want to purchase legally and sustainably sourced?
I mentioned Burmese teak earlier. Aside from the very important fact that it’s “blood teak” it’s definitely not legal and sustainably sourced.
Does the company you’re considering buying teak items from have certifications like FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative), which confirm the wood is legal and sustainably sourced?
Our teak is sourced from Indonesia. And the Indonesian government requires that teak exports be legal and sustainable.
Monitoring is done via the Indonesian Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu (SVLK) certification, also known as the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System (INDO-TLAS).
SVLK certification is required by law for Indonesian wood products to be exported.
And every shipment we import carries this certification.
Below is an example of the SVLK certification attached to every container of teak we import:
Helpful Tip #12
On the product detail page make sure the teak product you’re looking to purchase is fully described—so there are no misunderstandings.
The dimensions and weight should be listed.
Shipping info should also be stated.
Is shipping free? All our products have free shipping.
How long will it take to receive the product once ordered. We state 3-5 business days for all our products.
Is anything other than the teak itself included? Screws, bolts, fasteners, etc. if it needs to be assembled.
If so, do they include assembly instructions? You can even ask the company to send you the assembly instructions before purchasing.
Do they list any precautions on the use of the product? For example, we state that our teak shower mat should never be used in a bathtub; that food grade mineral oil should be applied to our teak cutting board before use, etc.
Are care and maintenance instructions included or readily available on the company’s website? We have various care guides on our website:
https://www.teakculture.com/pages/teak-care
https://www.teakculture.com/pages/cutting-board-care
Helpful Tip #13
Be wary—very wary—of extremely low-priced teak furniture, decor and accessories. As I mentioned before—good quality teak isn’t cheap!
If it is cheap—too cheap to be believed—don’t believe it!
It may not be real teak, or mature teak, or hi-grade (A or B grade) teak—it may even be some other wood dyed to look like teak.
However, there can be exceptions to that rule.
For example, we sell our teak cutting/charcuterie board at cost, and sometimes below cost (i.e., we lose money on every sale!).
Why would we do that?
In “marketing speak” it’s called a “loss-leader”.
The rationale being, after you see the beauty and quality of our board, we hope you’ll be inclined to purchase our other products. 😃
So, to restate in just two words everything you just read—caveat emptor!
Be informed. Be careful. And good luck!