Not so much, 'Frequently Asked', but below are answers to questions you may have about our service. If you cannot find the answer you seek, please contact us. We are always happy to help.
If you are purchasing an item as a gift for someone, we will be more than happy to accomodate your needs. Please contact us with details.
Also, during the Holiday Season, returns accepted through to mid-January as standard.
We have an extended return policy running over the festive period, for extra peace of mind if you are buying a gift. We understand that when buying a high value, unique item such as an antique, it is very important that the recipient loves what they receive. We promise you a hassle free return process, if you need it.
Please just let us know as soon as you can, if you need to return your purchase. For any reason whatsoever.
Terms and conditions of our 'Full Satisfaction Guarantee and Return Policy' apply. Except instead of the usual 14 day notice period, you have until mid-January to let us know you wish to return your purchase.
To buy an antique before you see it 'in the flesh' can be quite daunting, especially for those who have experienced a less than satisfactory service from other sellers. To enable you to buy with confidence, if when your item arrives you are not 100% happy with it, for whatever reason, you will be refunded.
Our Satisfaction Guarantee Return Policy is as follows:
* To initiate a return, simply notify us by email within 14 days of receiving the merchandise if you are not 100% satisfied. Once we have received your notification, we will email you back with further instructions. (We also offer an extended notification period during the festive gift shopping season - see separate FAQ on Extended Festive Season Satisfaction Guarantee and Return Policy for more details.)
* Returned item must be received by us in the condition it was sent. (Unless it was damaged in transit.)
* Wherever you are in the world, if the reason for return is something we did wrong, including damage in transit, you can receive a full refund. If we want the piece returned, we will cover the return shipping back to us. Please keep original packaging for the return shipment.
* If the reason for return is not something we did wrong, we ask that you arrange and pay for the shipping back to us. Any deductions we'd need to make from the refunded amount will depend on our outgoing shipping costs. Our shipping costs depend on the size of the item and where we have shipped to. See the table below for more specific information. If you wish to exchange your purchase for another item, rather than receive a refund, we should be able to come to a more favourable deal.
| Shipped to USA & Canada | We will not deduct our outgoing shipping costs from your refund in most cases. Exceptions might occur if an item is very large. |
|---|---|
| Shipped to United Kindom & EU | We will not deduct our outgoing shipping costs from your refund in most cases. Exceptions might occur if an item is very large. |
| Shipped to Everywhere Else | It is likely that we will have to deduct a shipping charge, to help cover our outgoing shipping costs. |
We guarantee that all items are exactly as described and pictured. We are 100% committed to ensuring you receive exactly what you are expecting - if not better.
If any discrepancy should occur, please refer to our Full Satisfaction Guarantee and Return Policy which basically says you can return any item for any reason. We issue an official Certificate of Authenticity that can be supplied on request.
Our website description together with the guarantee of a full refund if the item is not as described may serve this purpose. Our standard invoice that you will receive also guarantees the items authenticity.
However we are also very happy to issue an added Certificate of Authenticity guaranteeing age, origin and condition, if requested.
We will be happy to accept a layaway/installment plan.
We ask for a sensible first payment deposit straight away. You decide how much. The remaining balance can be paid in equal monthly payments until all is paid. Time limit 12 months.
Once we have received your final payment we will ship the order to you unless you advise us otherwise e.g. some customers ask us to 'accumulate'.
Yes. Visa, MasterCard and Amex are all accepted. The payment process takes place in a secure area of our website protected by SSL technology. Sending us card details - best advice is that sending cc numbers by email, even two emails, is insufficiently secure these days. So please phone your details through. We'll need the cc number, the expiry date, the card code (a 3 digit number found on the signature strip, 4 digits for Amex), and the Billing Address of the cardholder if different from your shipping address.
Yes we do. We accept credit cards, bank account and PayPal account balance payments.
USA: We email to you the mailing address to send a check. To pay by cash would be difficult. A US Dollar Money Order through the mail would be better.
UK: We email to you the postal address to send a cheque. To pay by cash you can either meet one of us at an antiques fair or visit us in Essex. Call 01245 425045 to arrange.
OTHER COUNTRIES: We email you the postal address to send a UK Sterling cheque or a US Dollars check.
Yes. You can pay by bank transfer. For GBP Sterling payments, we will provide our UK bank details. For USD Dollar payments, we will provide our USA bank details.
We pride ourselves in providing the best worldwide specialist online antiques shopping experience possible. We do everything within our means to alleviate problems with currencies, exchange rates, payment procedures, packing standards, customs procedures and shipping delays.
For our USA customers we are organized to ensure that the purchasing process is as trouble free as if you were buying from another state. Payments, whether by check or by credit card or by PayPal, are in dollars. There should be no delays in customs. Though, please bear in mind, if your order is over $2500 in value, customs require your SSN number to process the import.
For European customers the process is straightforward. Payment will need to be in GBP£ Sterling. We provide a rough estimate of your total cost, in your local currency on each item description page. And we have a range of payment options, such as PayPal, which can take the worry out of cross currency transactions. Shipping will be fast and there will be no VAT, customs duties or delays.
For every other country (we have shipped to 37 so far) we take pleasure in doing everything we can to facilitate a smooth experience for you. Please let us know when you place your order, if you have any specific requirements.
Our packing standards are extremely high. Delivery of the merchandise is fast, free, insured, and fully tracked requiring a signature on delivery.Our returns policy is fair and hassle free.
For most shipments we use the services below. Let us know if you have a preference for an alternative carrier, though surcharges may apply.
| Shipped to USA & Canada | Fedex International Priority |
|---|---|
| Shipped to United Kindom | Fedex UK |
| Shipped to the EU | DPD or UPS |
| Shipped to Everywhere Else | UPS. Upon request, we can use ParcelForce. |
Let us know. Then leave it with us to find out what is happening.
A delayed delivery can occur when the pick-up is late or a vehicle is delayed.
You can follow the tracking for yourself from the moment we book it in for collection.
It is unheard of for a parcel does go missing, but, if it did, we will give you a full 'no-quibble' full refund.
In our opinion, almost the only cause of damage in shipment is inadequate packing.
To avoid this happening, we pack to a very high standard and enjoy an excellent reputation for packing quality.
We use the box within a box method for extra protection when appropriate.
In the extremely unlikely event of an item being damaged in transit, we refund in full. (See also our 100% Satisfaction and Return policy.)
Check our feedback to gauge the level of customer satisfaction we are proud to enjoy.
Insurance cost as well as shipping cost is included in the price of an item.
We insure privately because most carriers do not insure antiques.
In the event of any problems, we will deal with them swiftly and fairly.
We will remove frame and glass free of charge on request.
Points for and against retaining glass and frame when buying a sampler:
*Retaining the old avoids the necessity of immediate re-framing which can be a delicate and costly exercise matching frame to sampler and finding the right frame for the proposed location. Time for reflection is sometimes beneficial.
*Old and rippled glass is very attractive, but is no protection against ultra violet light the worst of which is direct sunlight.
*A quality old original frame adds significantly to value. A poor quality or badly damaged frame will however have to be replaced before the sampler is fit to hang.
Please let us know. We are here to help in every way we possibly can. Options for contacting us include email and telephone. Go to our 'CONTACT' page for more information.
To find something in particular we have various sort and search tools available.
The first is the Advanced Search, accessible by clicking the SEARCH link in the top right of the website.
On the SEARCH page, you can filter on a specific sub-category and/or use keywords to find a piece.
Sorting tools at the top of the items pages allow you to sort by PRICE, FRESH (new to the website or price reduced) and NAME (item title)
Items on the website available for sale can be purchased online by anyone at any time.
Our policy is not to temporarily remove an item from the website while it is 'on offer'. Enquiries and offers are dealt with on a first come first served basis. BUT you should be aware that in the event of a clash an order from the website would take precedence over an enquiry or offer.
If you are a dealer and you wish us to place an item on HOLD for a short period, we will be happy to accomodate this.
We are always willing to consider a deal.
Our ability to offer a discount will depend on a number of factors: what it cost us to buy; how long each item has been in stock; the size of the order; and the payment method.
For very large orders (10 items or more) we would be very happy to put together a bespoke quote for you. The easiest way of doing this, is for you to add items to your CART and use the ENQUIRE button on the Shopping Cart page.
We add fresh Majolica, Samplers, Staffordshire Figures and R.Lalique Glass items to the website every TUESDAY at 10am Eastern Standard Time (EST), which is 3pm UK time. Other categories are listed intermittently, when we have something. 'Fresh' means new stock, or price reduced.
We send the 'heads-up' or 'notification' emails reminding you of the time of listing and the titles of the items to be listed a few hours before the fresh items become available.
To be first on the scene, sort the page you are on by 'FRESH' first and refresh the website at 10am EST, 3pm UK time on TUESDAY. Keep refreshing until the fresh items appear, which should be within 1 minute.
Some customers we meet at shows tell us they used to enjoy receiving our emails, but the notification emails stopped coming.
Sometimes the reason turns out to be they changed their email address.
Another reason can be that our emails are being swept away by overzealous email filters (many spam blockers work by filtering out emails from addresses not in your Address Book or on your 'Allowed' list.)
So - if our emails are not arriving and you wish to receive them there are two things you can do:
1. Please email sales@madelena.com with your current email address.
2. Please add sales@madelena.com to your Address Book or your 'Allowed' or 'Friends' or 'White' or 'Wanted' or 'Friendly' list whichever name your email provider uses.
Email us at sales@madelena.com if you have any questions or need help on how to do this.
We archive pictures of some of the items that we have professionally restored.
The exceptions are: samplers; pieces that were already restored when we bought them; and some of the older stock.
Please email sales@madelena.com if you would like to see a photo of an item as it looked prior to repair/ restoration.
DISCOVER ARTICLES & BLOGS
Read our 'Discover' articles and our blogs. These can be accessed via each of our category's, 'Find Out More About...' panels, at the top of each category's SHOP page.
We are all fully vaccinated here at Madelena. Our inventory is stored in isolation, only exposed to and touched by me - it has no contact with anyone else. Evidence also suggests that it is very unlikely the virus is spread through incoming packages or parcels.
Restrictions in England have been removed, but we will continue to follow the UK Government's recommendations and monitor for any changes. (https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus).
Sourcing fresh inventory continues to be challenging, but website listings will take place as and when we have fresh inventory to list.
Should government advice or our own circumstances change, we will keep you updated here.
Stay safe and well.
Our shop is our website. Our entire stock is available for sale online. Our detail pictures and condition tell you as much, often more than you could detect by holding the item in your hands.
If you'd like to see something in person, you are most welcome to arrange to meet us in Essex, UK. Please email us to make an appointment. Also, you can have something delivered to you and our satisfaction guarantee allows you to return anything to us, for any reason whatsoever.
We also set up at various shows in the USA and the UK, where you can see a wide range of our stock - see our NEWS & EVENTS page for our shows schedule. We love meeting our customers. Feel free to ask us to bring any number of pieces to a particular show. You will be under no obligation whatsoever to buy.
Authors and publishers struggle to explain and illustrate what makes an antique valuable.
It is harder still to explain the other factors that influence the price of an item.
Price Guides always tell you where their prices are coming from. Read carefully. Some use very broad price ranges. Some illustrate items from city shops with city prices and also from auctions with auction prices. Understand the difference.
Factors that affect VALUE are: Rarity. Age. Provenance. Condition. Appeal. Color. Quality of Workmanship. Artistic merit.
PRICES reflect value PLUS other factors:
SOURCE: Expect to pay less when buying from a house clearance. They may not know the value of what they've got.
When buying from auction houses expect to pay less or more. Less if you are the only bidder and there is no reserve and no hanky panky. More if determined bidders are against you. More if the auction house is bidding against you - they are allowed to bid you up even to an unrealistically high reserve. Also, condition is uncertain when buying from many of these sources. Despite their best efforts, they sometimes lack the expertise to find issues and report them.
LOCATION: Expect to pay more when buying from a shop in a city antiques centre. They have higher overheads to cover.
We do. We take Security and Privacy issues very seriously. We have always been very careful with personal details. We fully support the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force on 25th May 2018. We have taken all the necessary steps to comply with the rules.
Our full privacy policy can be viewed here. As this is quite a long document, I have summarised the key points below.
(Extracted from our Privacy Policy)
We use cookies for the following purposes:
(a) authentication - we use cookies to identify you, if you have chosen to, when you checkout on our website.
(b) personalisation - we use cookies to store your chosen shipping region, so you shouldn’t need to reselect each time you visit our website. If you chose (‘remember me’ tickbox), we also use a cookie to remember your email address on forms on our website.
(c) cookie consent - we use cookies to store your preferences in relation to the use of cookies more generally.
Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:
(a) https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en (Chrome);
(b) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-websitepreferences (Firefox);
(c) http://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/security/cookies/ (Opera);
(d) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorerdelete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);
(e) https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411 (Safari); and
(f) https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10-microsoft-edge-andprivacy (Edge).
