Buying Crystal from The Crystal Lodge (London) Ltd

Stock levels

We are a stockist of retired Swarovski crystal and NOT a brokerage. Everything listed as “in stock” on our website is owned by us and is available for you to purchase immediately. If there is only one item and you purchase it – it is yours, and the item will become listed as “Express an interest” on the website until we restock. As soon as your payment clears, we will send you the item. In most cases, despatch will be on the same day or the next day. Yes, its as quick as that! For UK clients, this means that if you order early, we can post to you same day by Special Delivery, and you will receive the item next day before 1pm!

Can’t find the pieces you are looking for?

If an item is shown as “Express an interest”, it means we were currently out of stock of that particular item. However, because we want to keep the website full of photographs and information for reference, we leave the item information there. Select this option, complete the short on-line form, and automatically alert us that wish to purchase the piece/s of crystal selected – you do not need to complete any method of payment as no money will be taken from you at this point. We will then search for the item on your behalf, alerting you when it becomes available, and you will have the option of purchasing it before it goes into general stock. For most items, we can find them very quickly as we have various collections on our books, and its just a case of talking to a seller and asking them to send their items to us. For rarer items, we will enter the details onto our database and as soon as we find that item, our database will alert us as the item is put into stock, that you are seeking this item and we will give you first refusal.

Crystal Detective services

If there is a piece you are looking for which you cannot find on our website, then please contact us with details of the piece you are seeking so that we can look for it on your behalf. While we stock large amounts of crystal, it is possible that, by their very nature, the rarer, more sought-after pieces don’t turn up in collections for a while, and we have to wait longer than usual until we can find someone willing to sell us that piece. So, again, this is where our “wanted” list system can help. Simply let us know which piece(s) you are seeking, and we will actively seek it out for you. We have “crystal contacts” around the world who will help us locate items.

There is, of course, no obligation on your part, but we would ask that you are realistic about the piece(s) that you add to your “wanted” list. If you decide against purchasing the piece, we can then offer it to the next person on the list. Some really wonderful pieces are sold this way each year – they never reach our Price List, so it is good way to get to the front of the queue! If you should change your mind, or find the piece you wanted yourself in the meantime, please remember to let us know so that we don’t contact you about this piece in the future, and can offer it to another collector.

Security marking

To avoid fraud, all our crystal is marked with a unique security symbol. This will come off easily with soapy water. However, if you wish to return the crystal for any reason, we will not accept it unless it still displays our original mark. If you purchase a piece from our non-mint/non-perfect section, these are sold “as is” and may not be returned.

Postal Charges

We do not charge for postage and packing for orders within the UK. The price you see is the price you pay. All values are in GB pounds sterling, and all payments must be made in GBPs.

Refund Policy

You have the right to cancel within seven days of receipt of the goods. If you do cancel your order, we will return your full payment upon the return of the items.

International Orders

We are happy to accept orders from outside the UK, just place your order and pay flat rate shipping charge of £7 for Europe and £10 for outside Europe. The Crystal Lodge (London) Ltd accepts no responsibility for any customs charges incurred. If you need to do a quick currency conversion ahead of purchasing, here's a website where you can perform a real time currency conversion: www.xe.com.

Customs and duty charges outside the UK

Please be aware that any items which The Crystal Lodge despatch to buyers outside of the European Union may be subject to customs/import duties when they reach the destination country. If you are ordering from outside the EU, you should research how much this could add to the cost before purchasing, as sometimes this can add 1/3rd to the cost of your items. Please do not ask us to undervalue the insured value or customs value of a parcel as for us to do so would be fraudulent, and if the goods were damaged in transit, we would be unable to make a full claim as a result.

Inspection and Cleaning

Every piece of crystal in stock has undergone our thorough in-house inspection and cleaning process. Any item with even the most minor imperfection is graded as “not perfect” – only top quality, mint items pass our inspection process – guaranteed.

Not perfect pieces

Inevitably buying collections means that we will find non-perfect pieces. However, these will be listed entirely separately from the perfect stock, graded for level of imperfection and priced accordingly.

We grade using 4 levels of imperfection, as follows:

Grade A = Minute damage or damage that can’t be seen when displayed.
Grade B = Small amount of damage.
Grade C = Noticeable chips and scratches.
Grade D = Deep chips and scratches.

Payment

We accept all major debit and credit cards for mail order/telephone and internet purchases, with the exception of American Express. We may take this card in future, but for the moment, we have no facility to process the payments. There is no additional handling fee/surcharge for using your credit card or debit cards at The Crystal Lodge.

We can also accept cheques from UK buyers, which should be made payable to “The Crystal Lodge (London) Ltd”. Cheques must be in GB pounds.

Despatch

Crystal is despatched on most days of the week, and for items which are “in stock” we aim to despatch same day or next day to you wherever possible, providing your payment has cleared.

For UK clients, the majority of our orders will be sent by Special Delivery, occasionally recorded delivery. For overseas clients, a “signed for” service will be selected. We always used a signed for service for crystal.

Security/Privacy

We purchase crystal from sellers and stock it – we actually own the crystal that is for sale - so your transaction is solely with us – no third party is involved.

We take security very seriously. Our website has the latest secure technology to keep your information safe.

We comply fully with the Data Protection Act and are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, which ensures that we handle your personal details safely and securely.

We never pass your details to anyone else.