Frequently Asked Questions

Postage is charged when placing an order. This is based around the weight of the item + weight of the packaging.

If you have two or more items in your order, unfortunately it charges postage twice, but I will refund postage fees if I can reasonably package those two items into one box.

Once I have seen your order, I will package it and send it via courier to you, and you will receive an email confirmation with a tracking number.

#mail, #post, #postage, #courier, #shipping

At the moment, sadly, no.

In 2025 there were multiple occasions where I had a couple of international orders and quotes. They went a little like this:

• 🇨🇭 Switzerland → I had a relatively small box containing an item not too heavy. Initially, I received a postage quote of approximately £30.00. The buyer was happy with this, and I went to proceed. However, no matter what I did, I could not progress through the customs declarations. I ended up going to the Post Office, where I received a quote for approximately £60.00. I ended up refunding the customer as it wasn’t fair on them and I couldn’t reasonably take that large of a hit on my end.

• 🇮🇹 Italy → Surprisingly I didn’t have a lot of issues with customs declarations, and the item arrived in Italy. However, there were hidden customs fees that the customer needed to pay to receive the item. They paid it, and asked for a reimbursement. After receiving a photo of the receipt, we split the difference 50/50 as a fair compromise.

These aren’t the only instances, but are just a few that come to mind. I may change my mind on international postage in the future but for now the processes are far too convoluted and unpredictable.

#international, #postage, #worldwide, #global, #shipping, #mail

I get it - sometimes something just isn't for you or something just isn't working right. I try to capture any important information and details in the photos and text descriptions.

Typically antique shops don't accept returns, although a lot of them aren't online. If something is faulty (undescribed), give me a chance to take a look at it and if you still don't like it, I'll have a good think...

If it is something that is quite clearly evidenced, I won't be able to offer a return.

'Sold as seen' is a usual antiques policy for some reason, and I should probably follow that lead.

If something has broken in the post:

I am so sorry - I try to package fragile and delicate items well, but sometimes it just isn’t enough.

Before disposing or something (mainly sharps such as glass and crockery that can cause injury), please take a couple of clear photos of the damage, and preferably any damage to the box it has been sent in. These should help me if I am able to make a claim against a courier, or via postal insurance.

I should be able to then issue a refund for the damaged goods in question.

If it is an item that will not cause major risk of injury, I may ask for it to be sent back to me. In which case, I will set up a returns label which you can use to send the item back at my expense.

Try me, although I'm an independent trader as it were. Please don't try to take advantage, I try to price my items carefully in-line, if not better than competitors.

With some things there is a certain charm or desirability for originality, wear or patina.

One instance is coins - most collectors (not all!) consider coins to be damaged once they're cleaned. Specialist coins are often valued at least 50% or less than their uncleaned counterparts!

I'll clean some things up to a degree but never do anything to knowingly make something less desirable. It's individual preference at the end of the day so I'll leave those few items for the future owners to decide what they want to do.

Does your shop have a minimum spend?

No - although when testing I did find that card payments were a minimum of £1 (I didn't set this and I don't think I can override it).

This may be the case with PayPal too but I can't say for sure.

Item descriptionThe numbers that look like 00/000/00 are my notes to match a photo with a paper trail. It's commonly referred to as an SKU, or a Stock Keeping Unit in general retail (not that I knew that when I was setting up shop).

Basically it's an individual number for a specific item, sort of like a barcode but I'm not that fancy.

My own numbers have the meaning (using 01/002/03 as an example):

01 - The first notebook I use to jot down notes

002 - The second page of the notebook

03 - The third line of the page

This code is used throughout the entire buying / selling process to keep tabs on things.

Essentially 01/001/01 was my first item and it goes on from there. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's the order of appearance in my shop though!