Best quality artificial tree?

[DoBug]

We may get an artificial tree this year and not sure where to look. Not looking for budget but of course a sale would be good. Want something that will last and look great. I was looking at balsam hill. There catalog looks awesome but internet reviews are not good! We are willing to put our own lights on

Any ideas?

 

[havaneselover]

I got mine from Tree Classics two years ago. It has real feel needles--it's a beautiful tree. I went with them because it had the exact size I needed. Balsam Hill is owned by the same company. I just saw a commercial for Balsam Hill and they are having a Black Friday sale. I also saw an Amex offer for Balsam Hill this week.

As far as the reviews go, I agree-they would make me a little nervous. I think Tree Classics reviews are very similar and I had a great experience with them.

If I had a bigger budget, I would have gone with Frontgate because they have exceptional customer service. My parents tree is from Frontgate and it's gorgeous.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Just purchased a Santa's Best tree from QVC this year. I got free shipping and it was an easy pay, which I like. Our last tree was from a local craft store, Beverly's, it lasted nearly 10 years and it cost me only $90 (9 foot tree). I was at the right place at the right time. Haven't put up the new one yet which is also a 9 foot. What I really liked about this one is how the lights automatically come on when each piece of the tree is put on, no looking for the plug. It also has these really cool light options. The tree can be all white or multi, a red and green feature, just blue feature then a bunch of twinkling modes.

 

[DoBug]

I got mine from Tree Classics two years ago. It has real feel needles--it's a beautiful tree. I went with them because it had the exact size I needed. Balsam Hill is owned by the same company. I just saw a commercial for Balsam Hill and they are having a Black Friday sale. I also saw an Amex offer for Balsam Hill this week.

As far as the reviews go, I agree-they would make me a little nervous. I think Tree Classics reviews are very similar and I had a great experience with them.

If I had a bigger budget, I would have gone with Frontgate because they have exceptional customer service. My parents tree is from Frontgate and it's gorgeous.

Thank you. I'll take a look at front gate. I think balsam hil may be ok if you don't get a lighted tree

 

[DoBug]

Just purchased a Santa's Best tree from QVC this year. I got free shipping and it was an easy pay, which I like. Our last tree was from a local craft store, Beverly's, it lasted nearly 10 years and it cost me only $90 (9 foot tree). I was at the right place at the right time. Haven't put up the new one yet which is also a 9 foot. What I really liked about this one is how the lights automatically come on when each piece of the tree is put on, no looking for the plug. It also has these really cool light options. The tree can be all white or multi, a red and green feature, just blue feature then a bunch of twinkling modes.

Hadn't thought of QVC. So I'll take a look. My sister shops at QVC a lot and is happy with quality

 

[havaneselover]

Thank you. I'll take a look at front gate. I think balsam hil may be ok if you don't get a lighted tree

The reviews on Frontgate's trees look awful this year. My parents tree was a flip tree (it's huge and they're older). I'm thinking Frontgate is using someone else to make its trees now (it's interesting because Balsam Hill is now selling Flip Trees???).

 

[DoBug]

Darn why is this so hard? I am just assuming that the hardware / target trees aren't going to be great

Poor DH. Always ends up laying in the freezing mud to cut down our trees!

 

[Serial]

We have a Balsam Hill "Vermont White Spruce" 6.5 feet unlit tree, which we bought on sale after Christmas 2013 and were very happy with when we put it up last year. We just got tired of all the critters that come with real trees and the mess that's left behind every year. We also didn't want a pre-lit tree because we prefer picking out our own style of lights and have read stories about pre-lit lights burning out.

I believe Balsam Hill had an "up to 70% off" sale after Christmas, and they're running an "up to 50% off" Black Friday sale right now. The sales don't really mean anything because I don't think Balsam Hill ever sells their trees at "full price." Just for reference, it looks like Balsam Hill is selling our tree for $399 right now. We bought our tree after Christmas for $329+tax with free shipping. (I don't know if Balsam Hill charges tax outside of California, where we live and they are headquartered).

The nice thing about Balsam Hill's many varieties of trees -- particularly their signature trees -- is they have a high percentage of "true needle" foliage, which are twigs and needles formed from injection-molded PE plastic that look very real. There still are some fake looking wire and PVC foliage, but those are only on the inside of the tree that you barely see and used to make the tree look full. The tree does need to be "fluffed" during assembly every year to shape it and make it look full, and the process is kind of a pain, but the results are quite nice. My only complaint about our tree is that the twigs aren't really separately painted brown and the needles are a bit too dark green throughout the whole holiday season. Once we decorated it, we hardly noticed. This was a bit of an impulse buy, but if we had more time I probably would've ordered Balsam Hill's sample box to see all the different needles. I believe Balsam Hill will credit the cost of the sample box if you subsequently purchase a tree.

We also considered Frontgate, whose trees look very nice and I'd say even more realistic than Balsam Hill's trees online, but we couldn't find a tree that suited us. I recall that Frontgate's trees start at 7.5 feet and are all pre-lit; consequently, they were more expensive than Balsam Hill's options.

 

[DoBug]

We have a Balsam Hill "Vermont White Spruce" 6.5 feet unlit tree, which we bought on sale after Christmas 2013 and were very happy with when we put it up last year. We just got tired of all the critters that come with real trees and the mess that's left behind every year. We also didn't want a pre-lit tree because we prefer picking out our own style of lights and have read stories about pre-lit lights burning out.

I believe Balsam Hill had an "up to 70% off" sale after Christmas, and they're running an "up to 50% off" Black Friday sale right now. The sales don't really mean anything because I don't think Balsam Hill ever sells their trees at "full price." Just for reference, it looks like Balsam Hill is selling our tree for $399 right now. We bought our tree after Christmas for $329+tax with free shipping. (I don't know if Balsam Hill charges tax outside of California, where we live and they are headquartered).

The nice thing about Balsam Hill's many varieties of trees -- particularly their signature trees -- is they have a high percentage of "true needle" foliage, which are twigs and needles formed from injection-molded PE plastic that look very real. There still are some fake looking wire and PVC foliage, but those are only on the inside of the tree that you barely see and used to make the tree look full. The tree does need to be "fluffed" during assembly every year to shape it and make it look full, and the process is kind of a pain, but the results are quite nice. My only complaint about our tree is that the twigs aren't really separately painted brown and the needles are a bit too dark green throughout the whole holiday season. Once we decorated it, we hardly noticed. This was a bit of an impulse buy, but if we had more time I probably would've ordered Balsam Hill's sample box to see all the different needles. I believe Balsam Hill will credit the cost of the sample box if you subsequently purchase a tree.

We also considered Frontgate, whose trees look very nice and I'd say even more realistic than Balsam Hill's trees online, but we couldn't find a tree that suited us. I recall that Frontgate's trees start at 7.5 feet and are all pre-lit; consequently, they were more expensive than Balsam Hill's options.

Thank you that's great information. That's the tree we were looking at and it is on sale. Considering how temperamental all Xmas lights are it doesn't seem worth it to get a lighted tree

 

[GAN]

Thank you that's great information. That's the tree we were looking at and it is on sale. Considering how temperamental all Xmas lights are it doesn't seem worth it to get a lighted tree

We finally broke down last year and bought a Balsam Hill Vermont Spuce ...we loved a real tree, but we were very happy with the balsam. Most people that come to our house have no idea if it is real or not -so it looks pretty darn good. Also went with unlit -just makes more sense to not be relying on permanent lights going bad ...plus we enjoy putting the lights on the tree.

 

[NinaBella]

Those trees look lovely! My pre-lit tree the top tier isn't lighting up. Last year we put a string of lights on top. This year, I plan to go buy replacement bulbs to see if I can figure out which ones are causing the issue.

Question: Does Balsam Hill or the other websites have a better sale after Christmas? I didn't really plan to replace our tree as it is a nice tree, but not as nice as the Balsam Hill. Maybe if there is a better after Christmas sale, I might consider purchasing one for next year. If not, I might put it in the budget for next year anyways. My kids have allergies and we live in Florida so we always do artificial. I grew up with artificial trees as well.

 

[smile145]

If you decide to go with Balsam Hill, right now there is an Amex offer for $100 off $500 or more purchase.

 

[NinaBella]

If you decide to go with Balsam Hill, right now there is an Amex offer for $100 off $500 or more purchase.

How do you get the $100 for Amex? I have an Amex card that I currently do not use (trying to pay off). I didn't order the tree yet. I picked out a couple I liked. Their "Black Friday" 50% off by midnight has turned into a Cyber Monday sale now. LOL.

Does anyone know if I wait until AFTER Christmas if they will have more than 50% off?

 

[havaneselover]

How do you get the $100 for Amex? I have an Amex card that I currently do not use (trying to pay off). I didn't order the tree yet. I picked out a couple I liked. Their "Black Friday" 50% off by midnight has turned into a Cyber Monday sale now. LOL.

Does anyone know if I wait until AFTER Christmas if they will have more than 50% off?

When I log in to my Amex at the bottom are offers. I have 84 on one of my cards. One is for Balsam Hill. You add the offer then use your Amex to pay for it and you get a statement credit (almost right away). It may be targeted or it may be one that you can add through Twitter (I've never done that).

One more thing--I don't know if Balsam Hill's trees come with a good storage bag, but last year I got a Tree Keeper bag at Dillard's half off. It makes taking the tree down and putting it back up so much easier.

 

[Mfisc]

I would Recommend getting a Tree without lights and doing your own... or if you want pre lit do the LED ones.. The reg light strands will Fail at some point and they are PITA to change.. Even if covered by Warranty most Venders will just send you the new strand and call it a day. (they are not easy to take off the old ones and also very hard to install the news ones to match rest of tree)

If you have the Reg light bulbs strands anywhere in your house I recommend the Lightkeeper PRO ... Greatest thing ever. If you don't have already, pick up after Christmas for Pennies on the dollar... I have fixed so many peoples tree's with that thing (and anything else with lights) I have never used the LED one so cannot speak about that one.

I would say get a Real tree this year then week OF Christmas pick up a Fake for 50-75% Off the Sale price (not the normal 50% or so of MSRP they are during the season I hate those BS sales that all these places do) most places will Mark these down before the Holiday since the Tree season ends earlier.

 

[Alexle2007]

I just put up the 9ft tree that I got after Christmas last year from Home Depot and it looks awesome! It did come with lights (which I prefer) and I am debating whether to put any decorations on it or not since it looks so pretty right now without any. It did take about 2 hours to fluff. I am hoping to score a 12 ft tree after Christmas this year. The 9ft looks great in my 2 story foyer but a 12 ft would look even better

 

[Serial]

Question: Does Balsam Hill or the other websites have a better sale after Christmas? I didn't really plan to replace our tree as it is a nice tree, but not as nice as the Balsam Hill. Maybe if there is a better after Christmas sale, I might consider purchasing one for next year. If not, I might put it in the budget for next year anyways. My kids have allergies and we live in Florida so we always do artificial. I grew up with artificial trees as well.

We bought our 6.5" unlit Vermont White Spruce tree right after Christmas 2013 when Balsam Hill ran an "up to 70% off" clearance sale. In real dollars, we paid $329+tax with free shipping. I see the same tree selling for $399 right now during an "up to 50% off" sale, but I don't know if Balsam Hill charges tax outside of California, where they're based. From my emails, I see Balsam Hill ran an "up to 60% off" sale right after Christmas last year. I agree with Mfisc that these sales are kind of BS because I don't think these trees ever sell for full retail or are ever cleared out. Balsam Hill sells these trees year-round and I could have sworn I saw a "Christmas in July" sale earlier this year that had our tree offered at $329.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

We have a GE Fresh Cut Frasier Fir. I thought mine looked great until I saw the Frontgate tree my DSIL got. That Frontgate tree is GORGEUOS! I love how it is not so triangularly symmetrical...it has branches that kind of stick out from the triangle shape, making it look more feathery and real. I LOVE her tree!