Antique Shop Website Example: Old Brass Antiques

Antique buyers are cautious for good reason, so an antique shop's website succeeds when it tells them exactly what they are looking at. The sample opens with a pocket watch ticking over a photograph of the shop, a quiet hint that the clocks here are serviced and running. Every product card gives an age as the dealer's own judgment, such as about 1890 or 1840 to 1860, and names repairs, replaced parts and marriages. Smaller pieces carry a price, a choice between collection and insured delivery, and an Add to bag button. The longcase clock is too big a decision for a single click, so its card swaps the price for Enquire and leads to the form where viewings and carriage are agreed. This candour is what lets a stranger buy an old piece from a screen.

Halfway down, the page turns to how the shop works, which matters as much as the stock in a trade built on judgment. A section on dating describes how an age is reached and promises that every repair is written down before a sale. A short table defines four condition words, so two cards can be weighed against each other fairly. The workshop section prices a clock overhaul and explains how the shop buys pieces and searches for them on request. The questions answer the ones dealers hear daily, including why the shop will not handle ivory or tortoiseshell, whose trade is restricted by law in many countries. A website for an antique shop that covers these points earns trust before the first visit.

The shop floor, the bench and the wanted list, room by room

Old Brass Antiques is laid out like a walk through the building, and the rows below follow that walk floor by floor.

Page	What it opens with	Its sections
Opening view	Furniture, clocks and china with a long past	See the pieces · Ask about a piece
Shop	On the shop floor this week	Mahogany side table $680 · Brass carriage clock $520 · Printed plate $45 · Cut glass decanter $140 · Pine blanket chest $390 · Longcase clock by enquiry
How we date	How a piece is dated and described	Age as our judgment · Repairs and marriages named · No restricted materials
Condition	What our condition words mean	Excellent · Good · Fair · For restoration
Workshop	The workshop, buying and searching	Clock overhaul · Furniture repair · Selling to us · Searching for you
Gallery	Through the two floors	Clock room · China cabinets · Furniture · Brass and copper · Clock bench · Collectables case
Questions	Before you buy or sell	Dating · Ivory and tortoiseshell · Papers and history · Large deliveries · Returns · Selling to the shop
Enquiry	Ask about a piece, or offer one	What it is about · Which piece · A day to call in · Name and email · A description in words

Dates, condition words and restricted materials: what a dealer must put in writing

An age on every card, given as the dealer's judgment

Few antiques come with a certificate, so the age on a listing is nearly always an expert opinion. Saying so openly, with wording such as about 1890 or we date it to the 1840s, protects both the buyer and the shop. A range is more honest than a single year when the evidence allows only that much. Reasons should be offered on request, from construction details to marks and patterns of wear. Buyers keep returning to dealers whose dates hold up, and that loyalty is worth more than any one sale.

Repairs, later parts and marriages named before the sale

Nothing sours a sale of an old piece faster than a repair the buyer discovers at home. Each card should list replaced handles, later hinges, reglued joints and any marriage, where parts of two pieces have been joined. A short table of condition words, from excellent down to sold for restoration, lets buyers compare pieces on the same terms. These notes also cut returns, because the piece arrives exactly as it was described. Candour of this kind is the strongest selling point an antique dealer has online.

A bag for small pieces and an enquiry for the large ones

Plates, decanters and carriage clocks can be bought on the spot, while a longcase clock needs a conversation about stairs, carriage and setting it up. In an AI Web Maker store, a smaller piece can offer collection or insured delivery as an option, the bag holds it until checkout, and the delivery fee is worked out there. A piece listed without a price shows an Enquire button, which opens the shop's enquiry form instead. Discount codes can be handed to regular buyers or trade customers and typed in at checkout. Splitting the stock this way keeps quick sales quick and large sales personal.

Clear words on ivory, tortoiseshell and other restricted materials

Trade in ivory, tortoiseshell and some other animal materials is restricted or banned by law in many countries, and the rules differ from place to place. A shop that states its policy on the page saves buyers, sellers and itself from awkward conversations at the counter. Many dealers simply refuse to buy or sell such pieces, which is the line this sample takes. Where a shop does handle items that need permits, it should explain the local rules in plain terms and check them with the relevant authority. A visible policy shows a buyer that the shop takes its responsibilities seriously.

A way in for people who want to sell

Most antique shops buy as much as they sell, and many of their best pieces arrive from house clearances and single visits. A section that explains how the shop buys, with offers made in writing and visits by appointment, brings those sellers to the door. The enquiry form should ask for a description in words, with sizes, marks and any damage, rather than a long phone call. A wanted list, where collectors leave details of what they are hunting for, joins the two sides of the trade. Shops that buy well online stay stocked with pieces their customers have never seen before.

Search checks run over Old Brass Antiques

Antique buyers search for the object, the material and the period together, as in brass carriage clock, longcase clock for sale or blue and white transfer printed plate. Naming each piece that way, with its dated range, is how an antique shop website meets them.

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