When we opened this web-site in April 1996 we hoped to use it to extend our contacts with our more distant customers and keep in touch with them between visits to the UK. Since then Internet buying took off and we were pleasantly surprised by the number of new contacts and customers which this website has brought us — and by the comments about the site and our service. This page sets out how we operate and why our working within a market environment is important for you, the customer.

Buying from us

You may already have checked on how we operate. Because there are many similar dealers competing in the market, our prices have to be competitive. All our goods carry price-tags and these are the selfsame prices which you see quoted on the web. So, because we operate in a market our web-customers benefit too.

Selling to us or through us

Not only does our location at the centre of London's largest and busiest antiques market ensure that all our stock is seen by the English dealers — most foreign dealers and the more knowledgeable collectors make sure that they include at least one visit to Portobello Road during their stay in London.

So, if there are pieces in your collection which you no longer need but which are antique and in very good condition, or if perhaps you have inherited pieces such as you find in our pages, we would probably want to buy them. Alternatively, we might arrange to sell them for you on commission.

Do please consider getting in touch with us. There is no problem if we can get to see the pieces themselves. Unfortunately it simply is not practical to buy things sight unseen, however good the photographs. Nor can we give valuations on such a basis: if you have ever received condition reports and scans from us you will appreciate the enormous care we have to take with each item.

Because we operate in a market environment, we just 'have to try harder'! There is an awful lot of junk in every market for each treasure one comes across, so we need to be more careful than many a West End shop.

Why Portobello Road

Among the advantages are:

• Freedom to roam for 6 days a week;
• Close contact with dealers from all over the country on our one trading day;
• Expandability and flexibility if we ever wanted to move. In the event we have moved just once since 1970 and are very happy with our present site.

The disadvantages are:

• We can only see customers once a week;
• We only have access to our stock once a week;
• The very flexibility of the market situation gives rise to doubts as to the stability and probity of an enterprise located in a market.

To counter this from the outset, we have established a reputation throughout the Trade for
absolute integrity coupled with the highest possible degree of service to our customers.

We offer:

• the right to return any item within a reasonable space of time, for whatever reason --- and we give a full refund provided the item has not altered in any way;
• to hold items against a deposit;
• to research objects, including their provenance, origin and any heraldic connections. Our son, Luke is a keen historian and, though he has a job elsewhere too (in the silver trade!), he still enjoys helping out with the archival and genealogical research;
• to purchase at auction on commission after providing full condition reports;
• to sell on commission such items as fall within our normal range and to advise on the most advantageous way to dispose of other items. While in our care any items are of course covered by our insurance;
• to set out clearly the commissions charged and make sure these are agreed before any costs are incurred.

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