For many, without a bricks and mortar store for branding and advertising opportunities, online stores invest in high quality and high priced shipping materials. Slick custom boxes, coordinated fill and promotional material to make unboxing an experience and show exactly how wise a customer is for making their purchase from XYZ Online Retailer.
My focus has always been the product over the hype and packaging, and I can't imagine that changing. I actually cringe a little anytime I hear people talking about their brand. 98% of the packaging for orders shipped from WithAPast is reclaimed, recycled or repurposed. I wrote a post about the reasons why a couple of years ago.
https://withapast.com/blogs/news/slow-shopping-packaging-carbon-footprints
Buying vintage is a smart and affordable way to find unique, memorable and well made items either for yourself or as a gift for that someone who has everything and is so very hard to buy for.
The climate crisis is so much worse now than it was when I started this online venture 9 years ago. Small choices we make like using truly recycled packaging, can make a difference if as consumers we start to insist on that choice.
For me, recycled, reused and repurposed packaging helps me keep my pricing low, and keep my focus on the product rather than the packaging. I guess that actually is my brand!
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As a result, prices on this site will change fairly regularly for all but US customers, based on the exchange rate. With the high exchange rate between the Canadian and US Dollar right now, we're offering a 10% discount on all orders shipped to a Canadian address, to help offset the current high rates. This discount applies when the US Dollar is at or above CDN $1.35. Orders being shipped to a Canadian address will be discounted by 10% at checkout when you enter the discount code 'Canada' at checkout.
It's also worth noting that for Canadian customers, shipping is always free on orders over $50.00. As many of us know when ordering items from the US or other countries, import duties and taxes due on delivery can be a very unpleasant and expensive surprise. Canadian import duties and taxes are extremely high in comparison to other countries. Since WithAPast is a Canadian company, there are no additional import duties or taxes payable.
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During the first few years of our operation, much of the inventory listed for sale on WithAPast has come from downsizing and estate sales, many of which have been within a 200 km radius of our location in Hamilton, Ontario. As is the case for many other small businesses, this past year has brought changes to the way we do business and in particular, how we acquire inventory. Although there are still a great many estate and downsizing auctions taking place, I haven't attended one since March, 2020.
This change in our supply chain would would normally lead to a significant shortfall in new product listings. Fortunately though, I've had a rather large backlog of items waiting to be cataloged, researched, photographed, edited and posted onto the site. There are many reasons for such a significant backlog and procrastination is just one of them :) Primarily though, I don't like to post new items unless I have a fairly good idea of what it is, where it comes from, and what its original cost might have been. Researching works of art is one of my biggest challenges.
As I make my way through the backlog and new items are slowly being added to the site, you can be assured that all of the items listed for sale have been safely stored in my home storage room for at least the past year. I wrote an earlier blog post about how to safely open and clean delivery packages during Covid-19. I feel very fortunate to have been working from home since early March, 2020. I expect that to continue into the Fall of 2021.
Hopefully this post will give customers some peace of mind as to the origins of all items listed for sale on WithAPast. If you have any specific questions about our process, please feel free to reach out via e-mail to withapast@gmail.com
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We will continue to ship orders out by the most efficient and affordable means possible and follow up with the shipping company when delays are encountered.
- WithAPast
]]>From The Huffington Post, March 18, 2020
Maija Kappler Full Article Can Be Found Here
Part of what makes the coronavirus pandemic daunting is how, even for those of us lucky enough to be healthy and safe, many daily routines have completely changed. There are all kinds of things we took for granted before that we now realize we have to pay extra close attention to.
One such thing: receiving deliveries.
From The Huffington Post, March 18, 2020
Part of what makes the coronavirus pandemic daunting is how, even for those of us lucky enough to be healthy and safe, many daily routines have completely changed. There are all kinds of things we took for granted before that we now realize we have to pay extra close attention to.
One such thing: receiving deliveries.
Whether it’s food delivery, groceries, or something ordered from Amazon, these packages were put together at some other location and passed through many hands before arriving at your door step.
Mail carriers and couriers are working harder with the increase in online shopping, and many of the restaurants that have closed are still offering takeout and delivery as a way to supplement their lost income. And lots of kind people are taking initiative to help their neighbours by picking up groceries, medication and other essentials, putting themselves at risk so that other people have what they need.
So, in this age of social distancing, how do we safely and responsibly receive a package? Here are some tips.
Luckily, delivery people leaving packages on your doorstep without actually interacting with you is already the norm in many cases. Most food delivery services are already doing it, or at the very least letting customers request it (often in the “notes” or “special instructions” section). The risk of transmission through food is very low, epidemiologist Stephen Morse told The Atlantic: “Cooked foods are unlikely to be a concern unless they get contaminated after cooking.”
Canada Post, too, is taking extra precautions by no longer requesting signatures when they drop off packages. Delivery orders of this kind are also relatively unlikely to transmit coronavirus, although you should still wash your hands after opening them, just as a precaution.
The contact-free delivery is more for the delivery person’s safety than your own: they’re particularly at risk, given how many people they interact with in a day.
So, if you’re ordering something for delivery, be sure to put in the work so that the deliverer doesn’t have to touch or interact too closely with you: ask them to leave the package at the door and knock or notify you, explain why you’re requesting that, and don’t pick it up until they’ve left.
The virus can live on cardboard, but a new study suggests that it disintegrates quickly on cardboard, unlike plastic or steel. So deliveries in cardboard boxes are unlikely to spread the disease.
But, if you want to take extra precautions, you could open your packages outside, using the method Kristen Bell laid out on Instagram.
Taking this route involves using gloves to open the package outside, putting the cardboard packaging in an outdoor recycling bin, and then wiping down the contents with disinfectant and bringing them inside.
Once you’ve taken your items out of the box or bag they were delivered in, get rid of the packaging — that’s what was out in the world the longest. After that, sanitize any of the surfaces in your home that the packaging touched.
Apartment and condo buildings with concierges are likely at risk too, because of how many people they interact with. If you have a concierge where you live, practice social distancing when you pick up your package for both your sakes, thank them for their work and make sure they have access to lots of hand sanitizer.
We know you’ve heard this approximately ten billion times by now, but just keep washing those hands. Wash them before you pick your deliveries up, and after. Wash them for 20 seconds, many times a day. It’s easy to do, and it’s one of our most thorough protections against the virus.
There's no doubt that purchasing previously owned items has less of an impact on the environment than purchasing new. In their 2017 report, The Secondhand Effect, Schibsted Media Group states:
"Shopping secondhand offers consumers an easy way to significantly reduce their environmental footprint. Schibsted has found a way to convert the environmental benefit from its users’ trade into numbers using data collected from eight of its marketplaces. According to the report, users Schibsted’s online marketplaces in Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Spain and Sweden have contributed to 16.3 millions tons of carbon dioxide savings by buying and selling used goods last year."
The product being sold though is only one part of the equation. Storage, shipping methods and packaging all contribute to the environmental cost of goods. Amazon recently revealed that it emitted 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2018, which really is staggering. A big percentage of that number comes from rush, next day shipping/delivery, packaging and delivery methods. There is a measurable cost to the environment for over packaged goods that are rush shipped to the consumer. That cost is huge.
To me, slow shopping is the thoughtful choice to purchase goods while taking into account the impact that choice may have on the climate. Previously owned items have no new production costs and have the added benefit of diverting costs associated with disposal.
Packaging and shipping are the other main factors and I'm fortunate to have friends, family and colleagues who work for large institutions and who collect packaging materials for me. A single order of institutional furniture results in bags and bags of protective foam and bubble wrap, 99.9% of which is perfect for wrapping and shipping the many fragile items that are sold on WithAPast. In fact, all orders shipped over the past year were packed with this reclaimed and re-purposed packaging. Just when I started to run low, some of my colleagues gifted me with seven industrial sized bags of previously used shipping and packaging materials!
So, while plastic is never my preference, reclaimed and re-purposed plastic bubble wrap and air pockets work well and do not in any way increase the carbon footprint of WithAPast. Your decision to purchase from our online store will have far less of an environmental impact than many others you could have made. Slow shopping in this case means that it won't arrive in a day or two, and the packaging may not be pretty or branded, but all things considered, it's a very good trade off!
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I very much support this initiative and have committed to diverting a portion of all original art sales toward a payment of resale royalty. The CARFAC proposal has not yet become law in Canada but they have proposed an amount of 5% of sales over $1,000 be remitted back to the original artist.
The resale royalty is intended to apply to larger galleries or auction houses and sales of original art at WithAPast, at least for the time being, are quite unlikely to reach the $1,000 threshold. I think it's important though to follow through with this commitment, recognizing that 5-10% of original art sales through WithAPast, is really just a token.
I've consulted with a number of people and organizations representing artists and the artistic community, and the advise I've been given consistently is to donate the small amount of funds I've set aside from art sales, to a charity of my choosing. So, for the short term, I'm going to do just that. And for anyone who is interested, I'll list the various charities selected to be the recipients of these small donations.
In June, 2019 I'll be donating the amount of $89.00 to the YWCA Hamilton's Walk A Mile In Her Shoes fundraiser, in support of Women in their Transitional Living Program.
]]>This venture was based on the very simple idea that there is value and much life left in many of the things we acquire and collect over the years. Particularly true when those items were created or manufactured with quality materials and workmanship. The challenge though is matching those quality items with someone who is looking for that particular item. Which is where an online store comes in. The entire world is your customer base.
There is a flexibility in online retail that brick and mortar stores simply don't have. Low overhead costs allow an online retailer to stock many different products to test the market. WithAPast has ventured into the sale of many different products that I would not have anticipated when I started three years ago. I expect to focus on fewer overall product categories in the next few years, now that I have a good amount of data on what customers and potential customers are looking for.
The amount of time that goes into each and every listed item on the site would likely surprise you. I know it continues to surprise me! That time spent on product research and listings, along with site optimization and ongoing maintenance is at least in part, my excuse for not updating this Blog more frequently. I'm hoping to dedicate a bit more time in future to updating more regularly. We'll see how that goes.
For now though, I'm taking this three year benchmark as an opportunity to thank those customers who have supported WithAPast these first three years. I hope we will continue to be of service over the next three. Thank you!
Pauline
WithAPast
Last summer when Pinterest announced the launch of Buyable Pins, one of the requirements for implementing their new initiative on Shopify stores was that stores had to sell in US Dollars. So, we converted this store over and at the same time, tried to convert our prices to reflect the change in currency.
The exchange rate from US to Canadian Dollars has jumped recently and it has been fluctuating between $1.31 and $1.35 in recent months. Rather than continually amending our prices to reflect the currency fluctuations, we've decided to offer free shipping on all orders over $50.00 shipped to a Canadian address, while the listed exchange rate is over $1.30. Hopefully this small change will help to offset the conversion shock.
Shipping charges will automatically be discounted from your order on checkout, when entering the discount code ´Ship Canada´ along with a shipping address in Canada.
]]>I'm thrilled with this initiative by Canada Post and, coming after the recent labour uncertainties, it's a great good will gesture.
So, if you're thinking of placing an order, and you don't mind waiting until the Tuesday after you place your order for it to be processed and shipped, you may want to take advantage of this offer. Simply type in 'Canada Post Free Shipping' in the Discount Code option during checkout, and shipping costs will be deducted from your order.
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In the event of a strike or lockout at Canada Post, we will be shipping packages to their destination via UPS, DHL or Purolator Courier. This is a more costly option than Canada Post however, so please e-mail us for an accurate quote on shipping before placing an order on our website.
We apologize for the inconvenience and remain hopeful that employees and management at Canada Post are able to come to an agreement before July 2nd. If that's not the case, we're hopeful that the issues will be resolved as quickly as possible.
]]>I wonder if the past disregard for these beautiful pieces is because they were created almost entirely by women and girls and they were used by women in the day to day running of the home. I really have no idea but I'm certain there is a women's studies thesis out there somewhere that can link this theory.
Needlepoint, weaving, knitting, embroidery, tapestry....all examples of skills that have historically been passed down through generations of women. The imagination, creativity, level of skill, and attention to the smallest of detail are evident when you look closely and try to imagine the time it would have taken to create these truly one of a kind works of art.
The era in which women were expected to have and to devote the time and effort in creating these pieces is long past but that doesn't in any way lessen my own appreciation for the lovely pieces they were able to create. From the simple stitch samplers young school girls worked on to practice and perfect their stitches, to hand tatted lace, elegant embroidered fabrics, and stitched/woven works of wall art, these pieces are becoming scarcer as the years go by.
The fabric arts for sale from WithAPast range from vintage to antique. Each is a beautiful example of a bygone time and an important historical nod to the work of women who came before us. Look closely at a sample of this creative and skilled art form when you have a chance. You'll likely be as blown away as I am when you pause and try to imagine the time and skill required to create these one of a kind treasures.
]]>This new venture of mine is almost a year old and the past months have given me the opportunity to fine tune the operational side and solidify my vision. Not much has really changed, to be honest. My primary purpose is quite simple and remains much the same as when I started. To give new life to well made, quality and previously owned treasures. By default, buying previously owned items also has much less of a negative environmental impact. Two of the main reasons for launching this start up.
I didn't really anticipate how much I would enjoy setting my own rules. I'm quite fortunate that I have an actual day job and am not completely reliant on income from this new venture to put food on the table. Again, because I set the rules, I get to choose how much time I spend going to auctions, estate sales, and the like as well as how much time I spend on all the other aspects of starting an online business. And there are a great many!
I get to choose to use the most environmentally friendly packaging available when shipping orders, because it matters. I get to choose to purchase the compostable, biodegradable, 100% recycled PaperNuts from a local start up, because supporting local businesses matters. I get to choose to help establish and to opt-in to a resale royalty payment initiative from the sale of art on my site, because it matters. The token royalty fee will hopefully benefit artists in some small way, for the resale of their work, even if the amounts are quite small. Because the actual dollar amount is not the point, and because paying artists fairly for their work matters. And I get to choose.
My inbox has been jam packed this week with teasers, notifications and other advertisements about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There have been endless countdowns all month from all the online service providers I use to run this site, reminding me of what I should be doing to maximize the potential to increase online sales during the next few days, and following holiday shopping season. While I did briefly consider that as a new e-commerce retail business I should probably wade in and join the frenzy of what is no doubt the busiest shopping season of the year, I very quickly decided to decline. Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales blitzes simply don't align with my vision for this site. I much prefer to offer well researched, fairly priced, quality items at all times of the year. That they've also been ethically sourced and shipped, is a bonus. And I get to choose!
]]>In the many, many, downsizing and estate sales and auctions I've been to, I can't seem to walk or scroll past Indigenous pieces without at least trying to win them. I'm not always successful but I do now have a very nice collection of art and sculpture.
I've hesitated to list these pieces for sale for a couple of reasons. Most of them feel quite personal to me and I'm somewhat hesitant to part with them. It also feels somehow wrong to make a profit from artwork that I had no part in creating or from an artist's work who is in no way benefitting. I suppose the same could be said for other vintage and antique items I've listed for sale but the difference for me is that manufactured pieces can't usually be attributed to a single artisan. Artwork in general, and Inuit art in particular, is often signed and the artist can usually be identified.
It's generally agreed that artists receive the least amount of money in the original sale of an artwork. When a piece is resold, prices often increase as the reputation of the artist and the market grows. Resale of that same piece can sometimes reach staggering numbers. The fact that collectors are willing to pay such amounts for these exceptional works is a wonderful thing. A testament to the skill of the art community in the Canadian north, and the quality of the works produced there. The artists who created these beautiful pieces however, don't receive any money when their art is resold. The sometimes huge returns go to the galleries, auction houses, brokers, etc., as they should for their part in promoting, organizing and increasing the awareness of this beautiful art community. However, nothing goes back to the original artist nor to the community that produces and supports these artists. That just seems wrong.
The Artist Resale Right entitles visual artists to share in the ongoing success of their art by providing them with a percentage (5%) of any resale of their art. Not an outrageous amount. $2.50 on a piece sold for $100 or $500 on a piece sold for $10,000. To date, 59 countries across the world have endorsed the Artist Resale Right and legislation has been adopted to ensure this right for artists. The Artist Resale Right has not been adopted in Canada nor in the United States, with the exception of California. So, artists in North American generally receive nothing on the resale of their work. Shameful really. There's much more information available on this subject in the links below.
CARFAC Help Bring the Artist’s Resale Right to Canada
https://www.carfac.ca/campaigns/artists-resale-right/
Recommendations for an Artist Resale Right in Canada, November 2010
http://www.carfac.ca/carfacwp/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/artists-resale-right-proposal-carfac-rev-nov-23.pdf
Canadian Artists Representation Copyright Collective
https://www.carfac.ca/membership/copyright-collectives/
Nunatsiaq Online: March, 2012 -Nunavut government supports resale royalties for artists
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_government_supports_resale_royalties_for_artist/
Resale rights for visual artists can only help to nurture and promote the artistic community, which in turn will hopefully allow artists to create a sustainable living through sales of their work.
In my tiny little world of online sales, I'm committed to establishing a system whereby 5% from the sale of any original art will be remitted back to the artist. I'm not quite sure how I'll do that yet, and it would be a whole lot easier if I could simply file a return of sales along with any funds owing to a governing body, but I'm confident I can find a way and I'm open to suggestions. This will likely represent a minuscule amount of real money, but it's more a statement of support for a long overdue initiative. Ethical buying and selling....what a concept!
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With one of my first ever pay cheques, from my very first full time job, I bought a small work from a tiny local gallery. I still have it some 35 years later, although the gallery is now long gone. It evokes some of the very same feelings today that it did when I first brought it home, along with a few new ones. Which is exactly why I bought it, and have hauled it along with me where ever I've moved, hanging it on a new wall in each and every place I made my home. I've continued to buy small pieces of art over the years, based entirely on what I like and how the piece makes me feel.
Art really doesn't have to be expensive. Some of my favourites were picked up from street artists from where ever I happened to be travelling, at music festivals, craft shows, and more recently at auctions. The common thread is always that each piece makes me feel something....happy, thoughtful, wistful......To me the sole purpose of art is elicit emotion or make a connection of some kind.
So, I don't really get the appeal of mass-produced factory art. The Ikea furniture of the art world. Not that there's anything wrong with Ikea furniture....it's just not really meant to endure beyond the average length of time it takes to complete a university degree. Disposable. Superficial. Mass produced. It lacks that special something that an artist infuses into their work . It seems to be less about making a connection and more about matching the furniture. There really is no comparison though to an original work, conceived of and executed by an artist with the talent and skill to connect people and make them feel something. What a cool way to make a living.
]]>For the most part, I buy things that catch my interest and capture my imagination and I assume they will do the same for others. Sometimes they do. Not always though. My end goal is to purchase items I'll be able to sell and it seems I have the most success buying and selling what I like.
My approach is probably a little unorthodox but I buy what I can afford, what I like, and what looks a bit different. Usually in that order. The treasure hunter part comes in when I get my purchase home and do some research into what it is and where it came from.
The computer geek in me gets an enormous sense of satisfaction from solving the puzzle of what something actually is, where it originated, how old it is and what the value might be. The history buff in me is thrilled to discover a bit about the history of a specific piece, what it may originally have been used for, and a bit about the time and place it was produced in.
A few months back, I bought a sculpture from an online estate sale. There were only a few photos of the piece and they were not the best quality. The description of the piece was very vague, simply stating 'Stone Sculpture - Heavy' and the dimensions were incorrect. Something about this piece captured my imagination, in spite of the lack of detailed, quality photos. Very few people seemed to be interested, and I had the winning bid. It was fairly challenging picking it up and getting it home as I was very surprised to discover it was much larger and heavier than described in the listing. It weighs 137 pounds, to be exact. It was also much more beautiful than was evident in the listing!
The size and weight made it difficult to research and I was told, after sending photos to a few people for appraisal purposes, that likely its highest value was in my own appreciation of the sculpture. A kind way to say that it has no real value, I think. I was intrigued though and wanted to know more about the sculptor and where it came from. So, I did my own research and after many, many hours of searching, I've discovered the origins of the piece that makes me smile every time I walk past it.
It's a lovely example of Zimbabwe Shona sculpture, so named because they are created by the Shona of Zimbabwe. The Shona people have been hand sculpting stone into works of art for nearly a thousand years. The name Zimbabwe is derived from the Shona word which means 'house of stone'.
Even more exciting to me, was learning that the piece I wrestled to get into my house and struggled to research, was created by the one and only, Colleen Madamombe. Ms. Madamombe, who died in 2009, was one of only a handful of women sculptors in Zimbabwe, and often considered among the very best. Her sculptures are said to highlight the special qualities of Shona women, as well as to communicate the inequities that affect their lives and status.
The feminist in me is a bit in awe that one of her sculptures is at this moment, in my living room. How cool is that? Most certainly a treasure found!
]]>I like brand new things as much as anyone, but I'm increasingly frustrated with our throw away culture. We each have the opportunity to reduce our impact on the environment with every purchase that we make. Quite simply, purchasing a beautiful, vintage, hand cut crystal bowl from the 1930's or 1940's, will have a much smaller environmental impact than buying a replica, which has been mass produced off-shore in a factory with questionable materials and labour practices, over-packaged, shipped and then trucked to your local big box store. My primary goal with this site is to give new life to some unique and beautiful items, while reducing the environmental impact of some of our purchasing decisions.
There is a simple beauty in each and every item listed on this site, that's embellished by its deep history. The products offered on With A Past were created by artisans and master craftsmen & women, in a time before mass production practices of today. Quality and workmanship are two reasons why these items have outlasted their generation. In many cases they have been lovingly collected and cared for by families through a generation when home furnishings and décor were expected to last a lifetime. All of the items you'll see in these pages have exceeded that expectation.
]]>All of the items for sale on this site have come from various downsizing auctions and estate sales. I'm fairly new at this game and am still learning the ropes, but I find these auctions a mix of fascinating and bittersweet. I love watching and learning from both the professional and casual buyers, and feel a little like I'm on a successful treasure hunt every time I'm the high bidder on something.
Knowing the things up for sale have come from homes where they were collected and cared for over a lifetime, has me imagining the history and stories behind each piece. I'm amazed that these items have stood the test of time and continue to have much life left in them. Finding new treasures and knowing that they might be enjoyed for another generation, in perhaps a very different way than in their first life, makes me quite happy. And, selling these found treasures here on this site, keeps me from becoming a hoarder. Win, win :)
The information that accompanies each item is as accurate as I can find in my online research. Prices listed are at or below the prices of similar/same items in stores and on different sites. My primary goal with this endeavour, aside from feeding my own competitive streak, is to extend the life of some classic, beautiful things, through re-using and re-purposing. Will it ultimately have any effect on the melting polar ice cap? Who knows. It certainly can't hurt!
If you have questions about any of the items listed on this site, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at: withapast@gmail.com or pauline@withapast.com
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