Past Times Reviews

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Good Points: Good prices, good returns policy, good quality items, safe shopping, reliable service.

Bad Points: Very slow site.

General comments: Past Times is a shop you'll find on the high street if you're lucky enough to have one near you, otherwise you can find them at their rather excellent website instead. In actuality, you are probably better off shopping online because they stock a far larger range there than in their shops, particularly in terms of the more bulky items like furniture and garden ornaments. The offline shops tend to specialise more in the smaller giftshop style items and often don't have the full range of those either.

So then, take a mooch on over to:

http://www.pasttimes.com/

...and have a look around. If you're shopping from the UK make sure you have clicked on the UK flag on the top right of the homepage or you'll be getting all US prices etc. which you'll probably not be wanting, unless like me, you have friends and family there who you buy gifts for in which case the duality of the website nationality is a godsend in terms of postal charges! Once you're sure you're in the right place, you can have a look around.

~Navigation~

One of the things I'm not keen on with this site is the navigation. For a start it's very slow, to the point that with my 56k modem I've just timed a single page load to be in excess of a minute!! It's not usually quite *that* bad but this is certainly one of the slower shopping sites I've visited. This problem isn't helped by only a few products being shown on each page so if you want to look through an entire section you are talking of multiple page loads. On the good side, each category is clearly specified and it, and its sub-sections, can be accessed through a variety of different means, so getting to where you want to go is a doddle.

~Products~

Past Times specialises in, as the name suggests, items with a feeling for the past. That's not to say the tacky kitsch items like lava lamps and glitter balls which you can find just about anywhere these days, but things like Art Deco style jewellery, Victorian furniture, items recalling Imperial India...things with style from a bygone era not tack from the 60s! These are the kinds of things which are not only highly attractive but which make the perfect gift for a loved one. You'll have to look around to see their range, it's difficult to describe in a few sentences! Each item in the catalogue comes with a good-sized picture and full description of what it is, what it is made from, which period etc. it is meant to recall and often, a story associated with its design. I recently bought some Celtic style silver jewellery from here, for example, where the knotwork design was taken from the book of Durham.

~Ordering~

Ordering is simply a case of adding things to your shopping basket as you peruse the items(one click and it's there) and checking out when you are ready. All major credit cards are accepted as you'd expect and you can rely on the company as a respected high street name so you have a little peace of mind as well. You'll need to be registered with the site before you order but that's painless and they do not spam your email address with special offers and newsletters once you are registered. My orders have always been complete from them and have arrived in timely fashion and in case you do have any qualms they guarantee if you are not satisfied you can return an item for a refund, no questions asked.

~Quality~

Probably the most surprising thing about the items on sale here is that, not only are they really well made, but they are also very well priced as well. As I mentioned before, Past Times prides themselves on price and quality and if you aren't satisfied with what you receive then you can have your money refunded so there is really no risk on your part from ordering online from them.

~Overall~

Aside from the terrible slowness of their site, I can not fault Past Times as a business. when I'm looking for gifts, particularly for female friends and relatives, this is always my first port of call. I find their prices excellent and their stock to be the most consistently novel and unusual around and would recommend using them to anyone.