Rob from Parade Antiques sells items in the area of collectibles, memorabilia and antiques. Based in Plymouth, the business was established in 1997. Around five years ago, Rob started the Company’s eCommerce business alongside friend and business partner Alex. Parade Antiques trade through their own website and through eBay and are based in an old early 18th century warehouse near the waterís edge of Plymouth.
“The online sales kinda started around five years ago when we went into a family run antiques shop and started selling online for them.”
“They didn’t have an online presence and we seen a niche that needed to be filled.”
“Very quickly it was apparent that it was a model that was going to work”
“So long as you’ve got the right attitude towards the work I guess it doesn’t matter what you’re doing.”
“The shops been full of unique, one off items and that’s not really the easiest thing to retail online.”
“To a certain extent the photography is the most important thing of all because the way that we work is we now have three or four different shops and art galleries will send us their items and we sell them through a commission basis so we’ll demand a product description and price but it’s the photography itself that really sells the item.”
“You have to picture every angle, every dent, every chip, every aspect of the piece to make sure that they can see it from the other side of the World as best as possible.”
“Over the last three years we’ve really made some leaps and bounds because we’ve been able to invest more in our equipment.”
“We decided with Amazon because we are one off items the nature of Amazon is more multiples rather than just selling one thing.”
“We give people enough time around the World to send it back to us if they’re not happy.”
“We have a large amount of packaging going out on a weekly basis and all of it goes fully insured and fully tracked.”
“You have to do what you can to protect your interest without costing yourself a fortune.”
“I’d like to spend more time on social media to be honest but seeing as there isn’t that many of us here I think social media could be a full time job for a person, just running it for one business.”
Best advice: “Make sure it’s viable, don’t waste your time, your effort, your money unless you can see it paying off at the end.”
What do they offer?Parade Antiques offer a wide range of stock including artwork, china, glass and ceramics, antique furniture, silver and jewellery, coins and medals, toys, advertising, railway and motoring, maritime, ethnic items, entertainment memorabilia, science fiction and much more. Catering for all budgets, Parade Antiques offer products at various price ranges and the Company is committed to providing a great customer service experience. Their success stems from ensuring that all items are labelled with an accurate description and price. Parade Antiques are always available to advise customers on anything they wish to buy (or sell) and allow them to handle the items.
Listen Online: http://bit.ly/1KGajBF
Make sure it’s viable, don’t waste your time, your effort, your money.
Rob from Parade Antiques sells items in the area of collectibles, memorabilia and antiques. Based in Plymouth, the business was established in 1997. Around five years ago, Rob started the Company’s eCommerce business alongside friend and business partner Alex. Parade Antiques trade through their own website and through eBay and are based in an old early 18th century warehouse near the waterís edge of Plymouth.
“You always have to try and achieve a profit on every sale.” Alasdair from Badger Inks
Alasdair has been trading ink cartridges online since 2009 through eCommerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay and through his own website badgerinks.co.uk. He is based in East Sussex with a small team around him. Alasdair has recently started a bricks and mortar business alongside his thriving online business selling brands such as Canon, Epson and Lexmark.
It’s an art form in capturing the customer and keeping them buying from you again and again
With over 15 years in the business Andy has perfected his selling technique on online platforms such as eBay, Amazon and his own website. Printer Basics is located in Cheshire UK and was originally a mail order service but was updated to a eCommerce website as the times changed!
