Ruby Lane For Antiques And Art, Vintage Collectibles And Jewelry

If you sell antiques and art or vintage collectibles and jewelry, you may want to check out Ruby Lane.

While Ruby Lane will not work for our Black Hills Gold products because they are new, it may be viable for many of our readers who deal in antique and vintage items.

Ruby lane offers video tutorials for their users:
Click here for seller videos.
Click here for buyer videos.

From their website:

Mission Statement
Ruby Lane, an e-commerce web site located at www.rubylane.com, has been designed to bring buyers and sellers of Antiques & Art, Vintage Collectibles and Jewelry together online, using the most sophisticated technology available. We have created a process that makes it easy and convenient for non-technical consumers to become a part of the growing trend of internet retail opportunities. We pride ourselves in our service, ease of use, and reliability for all of Ruby Lane's visitors; finding items quickly and easily is key to our business. Our strategy is to integrate the real world transactions of antiques and collectibles into the Internet's expanding global community. Borders are disappearing and communities are being built in the growing realm of online commerce; Ruby Lane enjoys being an integral and valuable part of the process.

Company Background
Co-founders Tom Johnson and Jim Wilcoxson established Ruby Lane in January 1998. Prior to that time, both had led distinguished careers, working as top-level programmers for companies that include IBM, Ford, Silicon Graphics and Platinum Technologies. Both founders exclusively financed Ruby Lane. In September of 2005, Tom Johnson assumed the helm as president of Ruby Lane, Inc as Jim Wilcoxson departed to pursue other interests.

The impetus for establishing a web site catering to the antiques and collectibles world grew out of Johnson's love of 50's California Pottery (he has complete sets of Franciscan "Autumn" and "Trio"), many pieces of which were acquired via the Web. Combining these passions with knowledge of the world of high technology was a natural progression. Following the great retail tradition of naming businesses with a family name (think Bloomingdales, Neiman-Marcus, or Sotheby's), Johnson named the site in honor of his mom, Ruby.

Demographics
Visitors to Rubylane.com are proven prime e-commerce participants. As a group, they are well-educated, have disposable income, and most importantly, they are already comfortable and familiar with buying (and often selling) on the Internet.

Demographically, the majority of our visitors are candidates for products and services that include travel, financial planning, family and healthcare issues, and a variety of shopping categories. Advertising on Rubylane.com will give your product or service very effective exposure to a highly targeted and qualified audience.

Gender
Female 87%
Age 40-79 93%
over 24 99%

Income
Under $35,000 24%
Over $50,000 58%
Over $75,000 35%
Over $100,000 19%

Household
2 or more 56%

Collecting Enthusiast
more than 5 years 91%
more than 10 years 81%

Shopping Online
Both Buy and Sell 45%
1-5 hours per week 48%
more than 5 hours per week 15%
more than 10 hours per week 17%

Purchasing on Ruby Lane
$26-$100 per order 63%
Feel confident 90%

Site Traffic
Ruby Lane is constantly expanding its reach attracting new visitors each day. Ruby Lane has a significant presence and an increasing percentage of the marketshare in its market. These statistics are only for the main Ruby Lane web site at http://www.rubylane.com

Unique Visitors per Month 1,300,000
Average Stay 6:40 minutes
Page Views/Visit 8.6
As of December 2008 - source Google Analytics

Fees
Commission None!
Listing A one-time fee of 30 cents to list an item
Maintenance After an item has been listed, from the next month on, Maintenance fees are:
The first 150 items is 30 cents for each item, and then each item over 150 is 20 cents per item Minimum charge of 50 items, or $15 per month
Calculated and charged on the 1st of every month
First month's Maintenance fee waived for new shops
All items are counted, including Backroom, Sold, Sale Pending, etc.
Dealers with multiple shops are combined for accounting purposes
Advertising $20 per month per shop
Charged on the 1st of every month, not subject to Charter Shop discount
Used for advertising and marketing, both online and traditional, of Ruby Lane and its shops
Every shop pays this fee
Setup There is a one time $75 Setup Fee per shop
The Setup Fee is refunded if your shop is not approved
Discounts See special programs
For example, after the one-time $75 setup fee has been paid, and the listing fees for stock added, for a shop with up to 50 items, the minimum monthly cost of maintaining a shop on Ruby Lane is $15 for the maintenance fee and $20 for advertising, or $35.

Press Room:
August 24, 2009 - Auction Bytes Podcast - Ruby Lane's Growth Strategies
August 2009 - Real Simple Magazine - 'What Was That Website Again '
July 2009, Wave Magazine, Funky Shui Flair
July 2, 2009 - My Intimate Affair With Fashion Blog
June 24, 2009 - Xmarks Beta - Rubylane.Com Gets A 5 Out Of 5 Star Rating
May 3, 2009 Ruby Lane President Tom Johnson Remains Bullish On Antiques
April 22, 2009 - Antiques And Vintage Site Rubylane.Com Is The New Green
March 17, 2009 - Morningstar.Com - Stability And Leadership Account For Ruby Lane's Double Digit Growth
Mar. 17, 2009 - Market Watch - Stability And Leadership Account For Ruby Lane's Double Digit Growth
Feb. 2009 - The Dallas Morning News, Oscar Night Gems Found On Ruby Lane

Advertisements
Look for our ads in these targeted publications
Martha Stewart Living
Country Living
House Beautiful
InStyle Home
Wall Street Journal
Antique Trader
Antique Week
American Style
Art & Antiques
Maine Antique Digest
New England Antique Journal
The Bee