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Company Timeline
Shop owners like Pia Stratton, of Pia's Antique Gallery, have worked in partnership with Ruby Lane for close to a decade. An entrepreneur, like most of our shop owners, Pia relies on Ruby Lane for most of her business and has built strong relationships with her customers that are based on trust and fine collectibles. It is this kind of entrepreneurial spirit and ongoing dedication to quality and service that started Ruby Lane and continues to make it what it is today.
Ruby Lane's humble beginning is simple: In 1998, I was collecting 1950's dishes and found it cumbersome to complete a set. Searching shops online was difficult and often proved fruitless, especially since the Internet was in its infancy. With a desire to help others find antiques and collectibles via the Internet with ease, I worked together with my co-founder to launch Ruby Lane. We began at my kitchen table with nothing more than a single server and couple of computers. The idea was to create an easy to use online community of shops that showcased only the highest quality antiquities and collectibles and made us the one-stop shopping destination for them. Starting with just one shop, Ruby Lane has steadily grown to host more than 2,000 shops today. Our philosophy, as reflected by our shop owners, is to provide the ongoing quality and support necessary to ensure the best possible shopping experience. Our growth is reflective of this continued commitment. In fact, most members of our customer service team are veteran shop owners as well as regular Ruby Lane customers. Their unique background allows them to answer the types of questions that are unique to our marketplace, and to help ensure the high level of quality control throughout the site.
Looking back I remember when the site was first being constructed, we searched for a name that had value, reflected quality, and that was memorable. Each time we set out to associate a name with the site I would be reminded of my mother Ruby and how she reflected all the elements we were trying to convey. By using my mother's name, I have been able to assure shop owners, their customers, and our team of Ruby Lane's high ethical and business standards.
We at Ruby Lane are proud of our accomplishments over the past 10 years and proud of our customers' successes. Mostly we look forward to serving our shop owners and their customers for another 10 years as we continue to innovate and to strengthen our website with their help.
A sincere thank you to all of our shop owners and their customers for helping to build Ruby Lane into the most respected online venue for enthusiasts of antiques and art, vintage collectibles and jewelry! Special celebrations will take place throughout 2008 that both buyers and sellers may take part in!
Sincerely,
Tom Johnson, President and CEO, Ruby Lane Inc.
Continue down Memory Lane with Tom and the Ruby Lane team by viewing the Ruby Lane Milestones page, which contains a timeline of historical events along with some fun facts that many old-timers may remember.
1997
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Idea for online Antique & Collectibles web site comes together at founder Tom Johnson's kitchen table in his 1906 San Francisco flat. The first equipment includes 2 laptop computers and a two home-built servers. The company is privately funded by its founders; no VC funding is used.
1998
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Original company names considered include Ruby June and Ruby June & Friends.
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The original site hosts Antiques & Collectibles. It also includes a Global Search Engine that extends beyond Ruby Lane. There are 7 shops on the site and 366 items listed. 27 items are sold in the first week.
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The first item listed was a Regency Arm Chair for $650.
1999
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At this point the site indexes over 1.5 million items in 2,000 categories, including those of eBay, Antique Networking, Boxlot, TIAS, and their own fast-growing community of shops.
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Ruby Lane begins offering the ability for shops to submit their items directly to any number of online auction sites for free.
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eBay results for Antiques & Collectibles are shown in the Global Search results on Ruby Lane.
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On this date there are 288 shops on the site and approximately 10,000 items listed.
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The report places their visitor growth at 38% per week.
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eBay decides to pull agreement as it closes its site off to all aggregators.
2000
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Allows buyers to give and receive real time feedback as to whether or not an offer is accepted. To use the program, buyers visit Ruby Lane's site and make an offer on an item of their choice. Using proprietary software developed in-house, the Make An Offer program automatically counters the offer in seconds, based on the criteria set by the individual shop owner.
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Ruby Lane decides that good quality arts & crafts items would blend nicely with the antiques, collectibles and fine art already on the site., Ceramics and glass, handmade quilts, home furnishings, jewelry, and metalwork begin to be offered.
2001
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The new program consists of a 25 cent listing fee for each item, then 25 cents per month, with a minimum of $15 per month, and no commissions.
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It offers promotional items to buyers and shop owners.
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The tool offers detailed hourly and daily statistics, designed to help maximize auction sales by providing information on when people are viewing an auction.
2002
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The promotional emailing to opt-in subscribers where all Ruby Lane shops may list a single unique item.
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This program gives shop owners the ability to showcase their individual shops in targeted antiques and collectibles publications for a fraction of the cost of doing it themselves.
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The newsletter which is designed to cater to enthusiasts of Fine Art and Arts & Crafts.
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With 825 shops, Ruby Lane closes its charter shop program to new shop owners. The Charter Shop program rewards shop owners who add or sell 50 items per month with a 50% discount on all fees.
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Ruby Lane incorporates to help manage growth responsibly and to safeguard the continued operation of the business thereby protecting the interests of Ruby Lane and its swiftly-growing community of shop owners.
2003
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To date, the only employees were the co-founders, along with hired contractors.
Exclusively on Ruby Lane
Program offers heightened exposure to shops who choose to sell exclusively on Ruby Lane.
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Designed to ensure that items presented for sale are authentic, and accurately represented.
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These ads are designed to target enthusiasts of Fine Art and handcrafted items.
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There are 1,397 shops on the site with approximately 200,000 items listed
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Designed to ensure satisfaction and for the protection of both the buyer and shop owner.
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This new page goes live in time for the Holiday season.
2004
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Introduces SHOP.SELL.RELAX, the Ruby Lane Advantage and the new Jewelry Lane which includes Antique, Collectible, and Artisan Jewelry
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It later adds advertisements in InStyle Home, Country Living magazine and House Beautiful.
2005
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Despite the woes and closings of some online sites, Ruby Lane has weathered the times successfully. Never VC-funded, the site boasts superior technology, and credits an aggressive, but responsible, approach to marketing and expansion for their overall health.
2006
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Shops can post items to get feedback from other Ruby Lane shops on their identification.
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Artisan Jewelry remains on the site and continues to grow as it becomes part of the Jewelry Lane.
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Customers are now able to chat directly with a member of Ruby Lane's Customer Service team to receive on-line assistance.
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2007
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Tutorials are designed to show visitors and shops how the site and its many features work.
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Additional Featuring options are included in the update.
2008
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This site is designed to complement the Ruby Lane site, offering a wide range of articles on topics relating to antiques & art, vintage collectibles and jewelry, as well as loads of tips on how to succeed as a seller in the online marketplace. It serves as a participatory venue for all visitors, both Ruby Lane sellers and shoppers.
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In celebration of this milestone a series of promotional events were planned throughout 2008.
| Then | Now |
|---|---|
| Number of shops at opening: 7 | More than 2,000 shops |
| Number of items listed on the site at launch: 366 | More than 360,000 items are currently listed on the site |
| Number of registrations on opening day: 0 | Registered Users: over 1/2 million |
| Number of employees at launch: none, just 2 founders | Number of employees: 15 |
| Number of items sold in the first week: 27 | Average number of items sold weekly today: 3,600 |
| Average number of items added daily during the first year: 100 | Projected number of items to be listed in 2008: 750,000 |
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