From selling Antique Postcards on eBay to a 50-dealer Antique Centre: Sims Vintage Antique Centre in Wooton Wawen.

After working in Technical Analysis and Software Design for Virgin Media & UCAS, Phil Sims took a chance on buying and selling online to create a more flexible lifestyle. 

For Phil, it all started with selling antique postcards on eBay. Working from a small rented office in a local building he would spend long hours sorting, uploading, and shipping products to customers. The business grew to a successful volume but he soon found the long hours and monotonous tasks to be unsustainable. He recalls “It was when I knew who was walking around the corner just by the sound of their steps or the bark of their dog that I knew I needed change”.

This led him to opening an antique centre to keep the buzz of buying and selling but with greater variety and a sense of community. The antique centre model also provided a sustainable business model to support his own passion for buying and selling. 

Sims Vintage Antique Centre is owned and operated by Phil Sims and his wife, Terri, who have successfully grown the business over the past 10+ years. The store has recently relocated to a larger building on the Yew Tree Farm Shopping Village in Wootton Wawen. After significant investment and renovation the new building opened its doors on February 10th, 2024, providing customers with a huge selection of choice from over 50 antique and vintage traders. 

We asked Phil some questions about the success behind Sims Vintage Antique Centre.  

1. What was the most challenging part of getting started?

“The long hours spent setting up and growing the business was very demanding and meant a big sacrifice to family and social time. However, family and friends understood what I was building so I felt very supported, nonetheless it was a hard time.”

1. What do you think makes your centre a success?

“I’ve seen a lot of centres open and close in the surrounding area since opening Sims Vintage. It’s really important to get the business side of things right including the systems and operations that support the dealers in the centre. I spend as much time on running the business as I do buying and selling." 

1. What’s your favourite part of running Sims Vintage Antique Centre?

"It may sound cliché, but to meet such a varied group of dealers and customers and never knowing what may walk through the door next gives me a real buzz!" 

Sims Vintage Antique Centre use Antiquely to manage a list of 50 dealers, track sales, and provide reporting. To find out more about how Antiquely can save you time and help your dealers succeed, request a copy of our ‘Guide to Point-of-Sale for Antique Centres’ at the link below. 

Request a Copy

How to Use Instagram for Antique Centre Marketing

At Antiquely we’re all about embracing new technologies to make business better for antique centres and emporiums. In today’s digital age, social media is an essential tool for connecting with potential customers and when it comes to antiques and interiors, Instagram stands out as the perfect platform to showcase the unique charm and timeless beauty of vintage treasures. With its visually driven nature and large user base, Instagram offers an ideal opportunity for antique centres to reach a wider audience and boost their visibility on behalf of their traders.

In this blog post, we explore why Instagram is an excellent place to market an antique centre, provide valuable tactics to help promote your store, and share examples of how others are doing it to provide some inspiration.

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Why Instagram is the perfect platform for antique centres:

1. Visual Appeal: Instagram is a highly visual platform where stunning visuals and aesthetic appeal play a significant role. Antique centres can leverage this aspect by sharing high-quality photographs and videos of their unique pieces, creating a captivating feed that attracts followers and generates interest.

2. Niche Audience Fit: Instagram boasts a diverse user base, with a significant portion showing interest in history, culture, and unique aesthetics, including some of the UK’s leading interior designers. This aligns perfectly with the target audience of antique centres, as they cater to individuals passionate about preserving the past and appreciating timeless craftsmanship.

3. Storytelling Opportunities: Instagram's features, such as captions, Stories, and IGTV, allow antique centres to narrate the stories behind their artifacts and showcase the enthusiasm, expertise and knowledge of their staff. By sharing the history and provenance of their pieces through the unique personalities of team members, antique centres can create a personal connection with their audience, fostering trust and building a loyal community.

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Instagram Marketing Tactics and Inspiration for Antique Centres:

We’ve outlined some tactics to promote your antique centre on Instagram. The more of them you use, the greater reach and engagement you’ll get, but selecting the tactics that suit your brand and being consistent is the best way to get started. We’ve included some examples of antique centres we’re currently admiring on Instagram to provide some inspiration:

• Captivating Visual Content: Invest in professional photography or hire a skilled photographer to capture the essence of your antique centre's collection. Use well-composed images that highlight the intricate details and unique features of each piece. Experiment with different styles, angles, and lighting techniques to maintain a visually engaging feed.

See how the team at The Malthouse Collective capture beautiful imagery consistently across their feed. https://www.instagram.com/themalthousecollective/

We’re also a big fan of the photography at Antiques Emporium Griffin Mill https://www.instagram.com/jennipadley/

• Engaging Descriptions: Craft compelling and informative captions for each post, providing insights into the historical significance or artistic value of the featured item. Encourage interaction by asking questions, inviting followers to share their thoughts or memories related to similar pieces.

Hemswell antique centres pride themselves on sharing knowledge about their stock, making for an interesting follow: https://www.instagram.com/hemswellantiquecentres/

• Collaborate with Influencers or Other Businesses: Partnering with Instagram influencers who share an affinity for antiques and vintage aesthetics can significantly expand your reach. Seek out influencers or micro-influencers within the niche who can promote your antique centre to their engaged audience, increasing brand awareness and driving traffic to your store. Alternatively ask local businesses to promote your page for quid pro quo.

Hudson’s Home and Antiques recently opened their store with the help of TV personalities and used their dealers to increase their reach on Social Media https://www.instagram.com/hudsons_stratford/

• Utilize Hashtags: Research and employ relevant hashtags such as #antiques, #vintage, #collectibles, or location-specific tags to enhance discoverability. Monitor trending hashtags within the antique and vintage community to stay relevant and tap into wider conversations. Create your own hashtag and invite your customers to share their finds with your store tagged.

Masters of the hashtag, Vintage Trading Post use hashtags to tap into trends and build their community; https://www.instagram.com/thevintagetradingpost/

• Run Contests and Giveaways: Organize Instagram contests or giveaways to create buzz and encourage user-generated content. Ask followers to share their favorite antique-related stories or images using a specific hashtag and offer a unique antique piece or store voucher as a prize. This approach boosts engagement, increases follower count, and generates organic reach.

See how the team at The Packhouse, Farnham, use contests and quizzes to engage their followers or ask their followers to tag a friend. https://www.instagram.com/packhousefarnham/

• Build a Personality with Video: Video is the most effective format for building a personality on social media and can gain significant organic reach. Find people in your team who can tell great stories about the items in your store and build a personal connection with your followers whilst gaining new ones.

Sherborne Antiques Market shares some brilliant videos telling the story of items in their store as well as the restorations they’ve been working on. https://www.instagram.com/sherborneantiquesmarket/

On The Sqaure Emporium are the kings of editing engaging videos hosted by their team, follow them for video inspiration. https://www.instagram.com/on_the_square_emporium_/

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In conclusion, Instagram offers an unparalleled platform for antique centres to showcase their collections, engage with a passionate audience, and ultimately increase sales. At Antiquely, we believe adopting new technologies in the antique sector can help you save time and improve sales. That is why we created a store management and point-of-sale software specifically for antique centres to save you time on administration and spend it on other things, like promoting your store on Instagram.

Request a copy of our Guide to Point-of-Sale for Antique Centres at the link below:

Request a Copy

Which point-of-sale is best for your antique centre or emporium?

Whatever the size of your antique centre, you've probably already considered the switch from pen and paper to a point-of-sale system. You may have even tried one and switched back.

The best solution depends on how many dealers you have, whether you have dedicated shop assistants or rely on the dealers to cover the sales desk, and whether you have barcoded items for sale such as chalk paint or occasion cards.

We’ve listed three solutions and their pros and cons to help you find the best solution for your antique centre or emporium:

1. Good-old Pen and Paper

Sometimes simple is best. Noting down your sales on a sheet of paper can be the easiest approach if you have a smaller number of dealers and a single sales desk. It is often used when dealers are asked to cover point-of-sale as it requires little technical understanding or training. However, reporting is very manual and handwriting can be difficult to translate, so whilst there are no technology costs you may be spending hours per week inputting data into spreadsheets and correcting errors.

2. Off-the-shelf Retail EPOS

There are point-of-sale solutions available for retail stores which can be adapted for Antique Centres. These systems have a wide range of features including staff management tools, barcoding, and multi-cashier log-ins. They are useful if you have a larger volume of dealers and a team of shop assistants who can be trained to use the technology. However, none are completely customisable to suit the needs of antique centres. Often, you will need to ‘hack’ the set-up to track sales by dealer and there will be an element of manual reporting required to pass on sales information to your dealers. You will need to dedicate time to setting up the system to suit your needs and it requires a commitment from the team to learn how to use, but once in place it could save you time compared to noting sales by pen and paper.

3. Antique Centre Point-of-sale – Antiquely

Antiquely is a point-of-sale designed specifically for Antique Centres and Emporiums. Launching in early 2023 you will be able to download the app onto any mobile or tablet device. Set-up is simple and you can upload and manage a list of dealers with ease.

Antiquely enables you to track sales by dealer by inputting the item description and taking a photo of the item. The app includes live reporting, and you will receive an automated report at the end of the day. Your dealers will receive a list of their sales too, so they can keep your store stocked. Antiquely is designed to be simple to use so your team can quickly learn to use it. At launch it won’t have features such as staff management or multi-cashier log-in, but these are all planned to be added soon.

Every antique centre or emporium is unique and your needs may change over time. What’s important is you find the best solution to save time, reduce costs and make business simple.

If you would like to know when Antiquely is live, and to receive your first 30 days of premium for free, you can join the waiting list.