MAKING A PURCHASE

Purchasing an item from our site is simple! When you see something you like, add it to your shopping cart, click “Checkout” then complete a few personal and financial details to complete your order.

If you have never purchased an antique before, please remember it is an antique because it’s old! We’re not going crazy – this sounds obvious, we know - but we have had customers who buy an antique for the first time expecting it to be very shiny and perfect, then call to say “it has a scratch on it” or “it has a dent in it”. Bear in mind that most of our lovely boxes and accessories are over 100 years old, many of them will have been loved & used and passed down through generations. So many of them will have small scratches, dents and small imperfections here and there. That’s why they’re antiques, and that’s part of their charm!

We understand that if you are buying an antique for the first time, or if you are buying one as a nest-egg, investment etc. that you have 100% peace of mind before you buy. We endeavour to describe and photograph each item as fully as possible, but if there is anything you wish to know before you part with your hard-earned cash, please give us a call and we will try our best to answer your questions.

If you are buying an item made of Tortoiseshell, Ivory, Horn etc. we can provide a CITES export licence on request. This covers you to export the item from the UK and import your item into your country. These cost £47 and can take up to 14 days to be processed by DEFRA.

PAYMENT We accept payment by all major credit and debit cards, except Diner’s Club. These are handled through a Secure Server for your security and peace of mind. *****Payments by American Express incur a 5% fee, all other credit cards incur a 2% fee*****. We are charged this by our payments processing company and, as we are a small family-run business, unfortunately we can’t afford to absorb these costs so have to pass this charge onto our customers.

RETURNS

We are confident that you will love your purchase from Hampton Antiques. However, if for some reason you are unhappy with your purchase, we do accept returns. Please make sure you call or email us first to confirm you are returning an item, we will then provide you with an authorization reference which you must quote and mark on, or in, your return package. Items must be returned to us within 7 days of receipt. You are responsible for securely packing the item (we recommend using the packaging in which you received your item), payment of return postage and relevant insurance costs. If we do not receive the item in the condition in which we sent it to you, or if we do not receive it at all, we will not issue any refund. If we receive the item safely and in its original condition, we will then refund the purchase price only, not postage & packing, return postage & packing, insurance costs or credit card fees. Please allow up to 14 days for your refund to be processed.

SHIPPING & PACKING

All items are personally packed by Mark with love and care! Please be aware that we often use recycled packaging, so please don’t be upset if your item doesn’t arrive in shiny new packing materials! Items are normally sent for dispatch within 48 hours of your order. For shipping/posting of your item, we use a shipping broker who we have used for many years and who will select the best service according to the item you’ve purchased, any service preferences you have and where you live. If you live outside of the UK, please be aware of the following: 1)that items can be held by customs for inspection before being delivered to you. 2)You may incur import taxes & fees over which we have no control and cannot be held responsible for. If you are not at home when delivery is attempted, the courier should leave a card to advise you. You should be given the option of collecting the item from the depot most local to you or requesting a more convenient delivery date.