Terms of sale

Effective September 4, 2026

The short version: we sell tea, we ship it from Hawaiʻi, we stand behind it, and Hawaiʻi law governs. The longer version follows.

Who you're buying from

Aobaki, LLC, a Hawaiʻi limited liability company at 431 7th Street, Lanai City, HI 96763, mailing address PO Box 631255, Lanai City, HI 96763 ("Aobaki", "we"). These terms apply to every purchase from aobaki.com, by email or phone, and to wholesale invoices we issue. Purchases through a marketplace such as Faire are also governed by that marketplace's terms.

The product

Our teas are food products: matcha and hojicha grown and milled in Shizuoka, Japan, packed and shipped from Lanai City, Hawaiʻi. They are food, not medicine and not dietary supplements; we make no health claims for them, and nothing on this site is medical advice. Matcha contains caffeine, and hojicha contains less. If you are pregnant, nursing, or sensitive to caffeine, ask your doctor how much is right for you.

Keep tea sealed, refrigerated, and out of the light. Best-by dates are printed on each package.

Prices, tax, and payment

• Prices are in US dollars and may change without notice. The price at the time you order is the price you pay.
• Hawaiʻi general excise tax (GET). Hawaiʻi taxes us, the seller, on what we sell. For orders delivered to a Hawaiʻi address we pass that tax on to you and show it as a separate line at checkout or on the invoice: 4.712% of the price for retail orders, and 0.5% for wholesale orders when you have given us a completed Hawaiʻi resale certificate (Form G-17) before we invoice; without one we pass on the 4.712% retail rate. The price you see plus that line is the total you pay.
• Orders we ship to an address outside Hawaiʻi are exempt from Hawaiʻi GET, so no GET is charged on them and no certificate is needed. If we are ever required to collect sales tax for the state we ship to, it will be shown at checkout before you pay.
• Retail orders are paid in full when placed. Wholesale orders placed directly with us are paid in full before they ship; we do not offer net terms. Cafés and shops that want payment terms can order through Faire, which offers its own terms and pays us directly.

Shipping

• We ship from Lanai City, Hawaiʻi, normally by United States Postal Service Priority Mail, within the United States only.
• We usually hand orders to USPS within two business days (wholesale orders within five). The Lanai City post office is closed Sundays and open only briefly on Saturdays, so an order placed Friday afternoon generally leaves Monday. USPS Priority Mail from Lānaʻi usually reaches the mainland 3 to 7 days after that, but USPS does not guarantee Priority Mail delivery dates and neither can we. Your tracking link shows where the package is.
• If we cannot ship on time, we email you a new ship date and you may cancel for a full refund. If the new date would be more than 30 days late and you do not tell us to keep the order, we cancel it and refund you. Refunds for cancelled orders go out within 7 business days, or within one billing cycle for card payments.
• We send tracking by email when your order ships. Until the carrier delivers to the address you gave us, the package is our responsibility: if tracking shows it lost or it never arrives, tell us and we send a replacement or a full refund, your choice. Once the carrier records delivery at your address, the package is your responsibility, including theft from a porch or mailroom; if a package shows as delivered but you cannot find it, tell us within 7 days and we will help you file a USPS claim.
• Please give us a complete, correct address. If a package comes back to us because the address you gave was wrong or incomplete, we reship it for the cost of postage or refund the price of the tea without the original shipping. Keep the box and packaging of anything that arrives damaged until we tell you it is no longer needed; USPS may ask to see it.

Returns and refunds

Our returns and refunds policy is part of these terms.

Your details and communications

Keep the contact details on your order or account accurate. By ordering, you agree that we may email you about your order, and call or text the number you gave us if there is a problem with delivery. Marketing email goes to people who signed up and to businesses we think would like the tea; every marketing message identifies us, includes our postal address, and has an unsubscribe link that we honor within ten business days. We do not send marketing text messages.

Our responsibility

We warrant that the tea we ship is the tea you ordered and that it arrives in good condition. If it doesn't, your remedy is a replacement or a refund as described in our returns policy. To the fullest extent the law allows, Aobaki's total liability for any order is limited to the amount you paid for that order, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses. Nothing in these terms limits rights that consumer protection law gives you and does not allow to be limited.

Content and trademarks

AOBAKI is a trademark of Aobaki, LLC, whether or not registered. The text, photographs, and design of this site are copyright Aobaki, LLC. You may not use them commercially without our written permission. Retailers who stock our tea may use our name and our product photos, unaltered, to describe and sell that tea for as long as they stock it. If you repackage our tea into your own containers, each container must be marked "Product of Japan" and carry the labeling US law requires; you are responsible for your own labels.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Hawaiʻi. Any dispute that cannot be settled by talking to us will be brought in the courts of the State of Hawaiʻi sitting in Maui County, and you agree to that venue. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.

Changes

We may update these terms by posting a new version here with a new effective date. The terms in force when you order are the ones that apply to that order.

Contact

Aobaki, LLC · 431 7th Street, Lanai City, HI 96763 · Mail: PO Box 631255 · kert@aobaki.com · 808-563-5007