If you have come across our site and hopefully found the items you are looking for your next question will normally be, should I, or should I not, buy these items from this supplier. As any user of the Worldwide Web you should of course be cautious before handing over any money so we though that we should provide some information that may help re-assure you.
This is the big concern for any web site user - Willl I get the goods I paid for? will my card details get "ripped off"? what comeback have I got?
At Classic Spares Network we use PayPal to process all credit card payment. PayPal is probably the biggest on line system for handling credit card transactions and as part of E-Bay has the lead in this area. When you choose to pay by credit card and push the button on our site you are then taken to PayPal's site. As supplers we never see your credit card details and receive notice from PayPal that we have recived payment. As PayPal controls these funds you can contact PayPal directly should you feel there is a problem with your payment.
This is a truly safe method of making payments and you are far less likely to be de-frauded using this method that handing your credit card over in a shop!
Of course PayPal also protects us from those deliberately trying to de-fraud suppliers. We will be informed by PayPal if there is anything suspicious regarding your credit card details and we can decline the transaction. Additionally if a customer reports a problem to PayPal they will investigate the matter. Where customers claim non delivery or other problems which may be incorrect PayPal will mediate and decide on this. As Classic Spares keeps written proof of postage of all items we can prove that products were despatched and when and this greatly reduces the chance of customers being able to de-fraud us.
For more details on PayPal and the safety it offers you please click HERE
We do of course also take money by cheque, postal order or cash. This of course does involve more risk for you as a purchaser however we have our reputation to protect and do not intend risking this over the relatively low cost of the items we supply. We therefore do reccomend PayPal for all transaction if possible but realise that some people do not wish to use credit card.
Classic Spares Network was originally set up by me as a hobby to try and sell some of the Autojumble items I have gathered over the years. Based in the North East of Scotland there are limited numbers of Autojumbles to attend and rising costs of petrol and a very limited number of customers began to make it impractical. Therefore I set up a web site to list all my autojumble in the hope somebody would come along and purchase it. We still have Autojumble on the site and still sell a few items but I am afraid E-Bay has somewhat overtaken us in this market!
Our range of CD automotive manuals and parts lists and catalogues has now overtaken sales of Autojumble and are our main items. Originally I acquired many of catalogues to identify and sort my own pile of Auto Jumble but then decided to see if they would sell on the site. This turned out to be pretty successful and we have gone from acquiring data from exising sources to developing our own products. As my main interest is classic vehicles my aim is to add products applicable to the classic market, our Ford Transit MKI and Ford Capri MKII & III manuals being a typical example.
As this site is run as a hobby and I have a day to day job to deal with and have the occassional holidays please bear with us if you do not get a reply by return. We cannot get to the Post Office every day, sometimes only once a week, so please keep this in mind if ordering goods or needing them in a hurry. (And if the guy from Sri Lanka who ordered a CD on the 1st of January then complained on the 3rd that it had not been delivered is reading this please **!!** off and purchase from somebody else next time)
We have been around a few years now and you are welcome to check this at the Internet Archive. This is a great site where you can check what a site looked like many years back. This "Wayback Machine" (There title not mine!) may look just like fun but it is a useful way of seeing just how long a site has been in existance and a good test for any website or supplier you are dealing with.
If you type our address into their system you should get to "http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.classic-spares.net" where you can look at our site way back in 2003 when we first established our classic-spares.net domain. At that time I was still re-directing to my free Tesco homepages! You can go even further back by checking this original web site and by typing in "http://homepages.tesco.net/~classic.spares/" you will then arrive at our original site way back in 2001.
Seven years of history may not sound a lot but in Internet terms this is a millenium!. (As a comparison try www.ebay.co.uk in this site and you find they were only established in 1999, only 2 years before Classic Spares Network!)
I hope this little insight into who we are re-assures you as a customer a bit more.
Our approach is to provide a quality product. There are many suppliers out there who will sell you a blank CD with the title scribbled on it shoved in an envelope with (hopefully) a bit of packaging round it. This may, or may not, work when you get it when you complain they have not got the time, or interest, in replying to you.
If this is what you require and are just looking for the cheapest possible source for a manual then thats fine. I would rather supply one quality manual properly packaged and tested presented in a manner the customer can put on his bookshelf than half a dozen cheap CD's slung in the post. I may not make the same amount of profit but I will be sure that my customers are gettig a product that works and looks good. If there are problems then I still have the time to try and sort these out with my customers.
As mentioned this is more a hobby for me. Yes I do need to make some money at it and its certainly nice to make a profit but I am not dependant on this for my income and will never manage to retire on my sales of CD's. However I wish to be known as a quality supplier and therefore wish to ensure I still have the time to make this happen.
We are always pleased to try and answer questions so please drop us an E-Mail. Many CD's we have are not yet up on the site as of course my time is limited so if you have a specific requirement you cannot see let us know, we may still be able to help.
As with any suppliers we have some terms & conditions so please check these out before making your purchase - Click HERE By understanding these you will better know what your are getting, when/how it will be delivered and how we operate.