On-line Antique and Artisan Community Stunned by Rubylane, Inc. Actions

May 21, 2004 -- Ten shops at the on-line antique mall, Ruby Lane, were closed suddenly, without warning, on May 6th, 2004. The shop owners, some of whom had been charter members at the site, were left to scramble for their files containing pictures and descriptions. Purchase orders that were in progress were deleted. Customers who visited the shops were shown pages stating only that the shop was no longer at Ruby Lane.

The shopowners were not given a satisfactory explanation for the closures. Some received an email stating, "Ruby Lane has decided it is not in our best interest to continue hosting your shops on our site." These letters were sent after the shops were already closed and files were deleted.

The owners of the closed shops had one thing in common. They were all participants on a public message board, called FreeBoard Forum. There they had voiced their displeasure with Ruby Lane's management, prior to the closure of their
shops.

Mary Lu Wason, of www.LobsterLu.com, who hosts the public FreeBoard message forum, stated, "In my opinion, Jim Wilcoxson, founder and President of Ruby Lane, has done a disservice to the entire on-line community, by introducing more distrust between buyers and sellers. A customer at an online antique mall needs to know that the shop will be there the next day, when they place an order. A shopowner needs the assurance that they will be given time to make copies of their inventory files and accounting information, before their shop is closed. Beyond this, I think the right of freedom to express your opinion, in an independant medium, without fear of losing your lease, has been violated."

The staff of TIAS.com, another online antique mall, rescued what they could for the shopowners. Late into the night, the Tias team downloaded files from search engine caches. They helped setup the shaken shopowners and most now have a shop at Tias. They all have praise for the customer service at Tias.

The on-line antique and artisan community came together to help the fellow dealers. Opinions about other on-line malls, directions to salvage files and encouragements were issued via several message boards and numerous private emails. Several Ruby Lane shopowners who were not closed without warning, closed their shops themselves in protest at the treatment of their friends. The affected shopowners were amazed at the help and support they received. They are all happy to once again be open for business.

The following shops are now located at Tias (www.tias.com); Aurora's Attic Treasures, Coldwater Collectibles, Hudson's Loft, Maiden's Memoirs, Maren Dunn Antique to Modern, North Fork Pets And Antiques and Tear Drop Memories. Designs by Gayle Marie and StormRising Designs are now at Earthling (www.earthling.com). Earthstoner's Gallery of Jewelry is now at The Artisan Mall (www.theartisanmall.com).

Some shopowners may pursue legal charges against Ruby Lane, Inc. Affected shopowners include U.S. and Canadian citizens.

Discussions about Ruby Lane, Tias and other on-line selling venues continues at FreeBoard Forum. This forum is located at www.lobsterlu.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?

Contact Information:
Lobster Lu's Art and Antiques
info@lobsterlu.com
http://www.lobsterlu.com

FreeBoard Forum
http://www.lobsterlu.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?




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