Dear Lee,

A non-collector friend called the other day. She wanted to buy an Art Deco bronze from an online shop and wanted my opinion. She had tried to reach the dealer for more information and never got an answer.
I checked the dealer’s site, the item and the price. The dealer included this frightening list of rules:

  • We do not accept credit cards or PayPal.
  • Make all checks/money orders payable to [a woman’s name, not a shop name].
  • Items are final sale. We do no [typo] send items out on approval.
  • We try to buy merchandise in the best available condition or to restore it to perfection—we buy (some) items that have flaws that we do not restore. These items are always noted as such and are priced accordingly—do not ask for additional discounts—age and patina on a vintage item are expected and desired—in the antique and auction world it is acceptable to have up to 30% of a piece repaired before affecting the value.

At the end of the rules is a section about shipping damage: “It is your responsibility to examine items on receipt. Any damage must be reported to us and the shipper within 24 hours of receipt.” The instructions also say the customer must file any damage claim with the shipper.

We could not find a phone number, so we emailed the dealer a series of questions and asked for a number to call so we could discuss the piece. Her answers did not clarify anything, and we never did get a phone number. Although the pictures of the merchandise looked fine online, we were afraid her rules worked against a dissatisfied customer.

We did more research. The shop uses a UPS store as its address. There is no real shop—but many online sales are placed by people who work from home. We told our friend we could send someone to look at the expensive piece she wanted to buy, but she was in a hurry and, without telling me, ordered the piece and sent the dealer a check. She received the piece and she’s happy with it, but the dealer has not yet sent the provenance our friend requested.

Since then we have seen three other online shops with the identical Art Deco bronze for less money.