Dealers In Depth News March-April 2018

Wonderful Things Are Happening at GoAntiques!

 

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
—Henry Ford

 

GoAntiques fills a critical need in our industry’s eCommerce market. We target buyers who want a range of antiques, vintage, collectibles and decor, in a broad range of prices.  GoA Buyers range from seasoned and accidental collectors, to designers and HGTV influenced antique and vintage decor lovers.  Sellers come to GoAntiques, needing a host site that provides a foothold in eCommerce–one that still affords Sellers the ability to maintain relationship with their customers, to retain some control over their storefronts, and not only to survive, but to thrive.

 

On March 1, 2018, Gemr, deciding to redouble focus on their primary website, sold the GoAntiques business to a newly formed team of industry experts, led by me, Minto Thorsen.  You may remember me as the antiques & vintage specialist, content and Dealer’s Newsletter writer. GoAntiques’ team includes long term specialists in art history, interior design, antiques & vintage purchase, sales & appraisal, as well as media production, software design, and business.

 “The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.”— John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Our goal, over the coming months, is straightforward: to attract more buyers to the site, to make the site a pleasure to use, for both Buyers and Sellers, and to inspire everyone to “GoAntiquing!” with us.

 

We know that today’s internet savvy buyers are won over with social media inspiration and influence, and they buy online. We are meeting these buyers where they live, creating new content daily, across three social media platforms. You can see what is inspiring to potential buyers, by following these channels:

• Instagram: Go_Antiques
• Pinterest: GoAntiques
• Facebook: GoAntiques

 

Savvy sellers recognize that eCommerce is a tidal force. They often struggle to adapt to this impersonal new wave of technology. Most hosting sites offer little personalized Seller support, instead charging ever higher fees for sites policed by bots. GoAntiques is the exception. We will make GoAntiques exceptional.

 

“The beginning is always today.”
—Mary Wollstonecraft 

 

March Improvements Include:

• Massive Social Media Growth:  including over 170K average monthly views on GoAntiques’ Pinterest boards, up over 500% in less than 2 weeks, and over 13.2k followers on GoAntiques’ Instagram channel, which is driving traffic to the site.
• New Item Upload Listing Categories: new choices added, including:
  • Natural History, Kitchenalia, Architectural, Ephemera, Medical & Scientific, Folk Art, Ceramics & Porcelain, Replicas, Carpet & Rugs
    • Carpet & Rug Subcategories : Traditional/Handmade & Oriental Rugs, Contemporary Machine Made Rugs, Hide & Sheepskin, Folk Art & Hooked.
• New Item Upload Listing Departments: new choices added, including:
  • Vintage, Mixed Era, Contemporary, New.
    • NOTE: Until Sellers implements these new Categories and Departments, by editing their existing inventory, and adding new inventory with these selected, these Categories and Departments will appear empty.  
    • Visitors/Buyers can, of course, still search by item type, however, those items edited into these categories, by Sellers, will likely be the first a prospective buyer sees.  
    • Email form between buyers and sellers: “Contact” tab is changed to “Help” to avoid confusion. This tab sends a request for help to the Support Center.
• Email form between buyers and sellers improved: “Contact” tab is changed to “Help” to avoid confusion. This tab sends a request for help to the Support Center.
• Sellers Billing page: changed Expiry Date loading field to use drop down selection.
• Main Landing Page: Help tab leads to Improved Support Pages and Contact Information.
• Etsy Bulk Upload feature: Now smoother, and bug-free.
• Updated Contact Information throughout the site.
• System Performance Enhancements and Alerts added.