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New website (almost!)

Regular visitors to my website may notice some changes. For the past month I have been relisting all of my stock onto a new eCommerce platform (as well as adding lots of newly acquired stock which had been backlogged!)

The aim as always is to make it easier to find what you want within my ever increasing inventory. For instance, say the condition of the window you were looking for was “framed” and had to be “glass in perfect condition”, the size range had to be “650mm max length”, the style had to include a “tulip” flower pattern and the colour you wanted was “red”.  You will now find search filters for these attributes within my main windows category. Example:

You will find that I have created attributes for all sorts of styles such as “art deco”, “handpainted”… My biggest tip is that you’ll get a better experience on a desktop computer rather than any kind of handheld device! You will always find a desktop gives much better navigation of my site and allows greater appreciation of the photos. (If you have to use a phone/iPad, you’ll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the filtering options).

 It is hoped the website is more clearly defined for my three market groups:

  1. private buyers who just want “a window
  2. fixers/creatives who need spare parts
  3. international trade buyers

Another thing I am very pleased about is that if you are viewing from one of the following countries/world zones you should be seeing the sale price in the same currency: USA, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Japan and Australia. 

If you are not seeing the sale price in your currency please let me know!

There will inevitably be teething trouble with my changes but overall I think it a vast improvement. There is now a shopping cart facility (hooray!) This is very convenient if you will be collecting multiple orders but it does not automatically calculate a discounted/combined shipping price for multiple orders. It simply adds the shipping prices into one total! Therefore you will still have to contact me for a combined price if it is likely the items are compatible for combined shipping.

I now exclusively operate as an online trading business (people can still collect after payment has been made). Hence I have made these improvements. In my opinion this is the future of antique dealing. If it was not changing before 2020 it sure has now!

The other reason I have opted to sell exclusively online is that I am disgusted with big online trading platforms like Ebay.  I am fed up with the condescending advertising campaigns such as “small businesses keeping the country going” and “in it together”. These multinationals are always pretending to be the friend of the artist (Etsy) and other types of small business. Like any big marketplace the owner takes advantage of consumer demand and changes the rules like a rug being pulled from under sellers’ feet. I could write a whole set of blog posts about this but will leave it here and just refer you to my PayPal blog earlier this year which touches on a similar theme.

Thanks for buying directly from small independent business!