Customer story

How Jerome Leadlay got his stock, invoicing and export under control

For an antiques and vintage dealer, the real work is not just buying and selling. Just as demanding is everything that follows: tracking stock, making invoices, preparing export documents, working out margins and, at year end, arriving at the right stock value.

Free up to 10 pieces, no credit card needed.

A long room full of antiques and vintage: tables, chairs, cabinets and mirrors on a wooden floor, with chairs hanging from the roof beams.
Crystal Palace Antiques in London, where Jerome Leadlay sells his stock to the public.

For Jerome Leadlay of Jerome Leadlay Antiques, that paperwork grew into an ever bigger problem as the stock grew.

Six challenges

1. Keeping track of stock

Every piece is unique. A classic stock list works while there are few items, but quickly becomes unmanageable with hundreds or thousands of one-off objects. It became ever harder to know at any moment:

  • which pieces were still available;
  • which had already sold;
  • where a piece was;
  • what the whole stock was worth.

2. Customs and export

International sales brought extra paperwork. For export, this information had to be correct and at hand:

  • commodity codes;
  • descriptions;
  • weights;
  • number of packages;
  • export information.

When that information is spread across spreadsheets, documents and e-mails, pulling it together takes a lot of time.

3. Invoicing

After a sale, the same information had to be entered again: item details already in the stock had to be processed once more for the invoice. That meant:

  • double work;
  • more room for mistakes;
  • time lost on every sale.

4. Selling in several currencies

Much of the trade is international, so prices regularly had to be converted. Done by hand, that risks:

  • wrong selling prices;
  • wrong margins;
  • differences between stock and invoice.

5. The margin scheme

For many antiques and vintage dealers the margin scheme is a necessary but complex part of the paperwork. For each piece it must be clear:

  • whether the margin scheme applies;
  • what the purchase price was;
  • what margin was made;
  • which sales fall outside the scheme.

At the end of the period, everything has to be ready for the VAT records.

6. Closing stock value

At every year end the same question came back: what is the stock worth right now? With data spread across several systems, that takes a lot of checking and searching.

The solution & the result

The solution

With Vintro Pro, each piece is registered once. The data stays in one place and is reused for:

  • stock tracking;
  • invoicing;
  • export documents;
  • commodity codes;
  • margin VAT;
  • stock valuation.

The result

The biggest gain was not a nicer stock list, but bringing several business processes together in one system. What used to be spread across files and documents became one way of working. That brought:

  • more control over the stock;
  • a clearer view of the stock value;
  • less paperwork when invoicing;
  • simpler handling of export sales;
  • better tracking of the margin scheme;
  • less risk of mistakes from entering things twice.

“Before I used Vintro Pro, the big problem was the hours of admin. I created every product again and again: for the invoice, for customs, for stock management. Now I create a piece once, and the invoice, the customs papers and my stock all take it from there. Those hours are gone — an enormous time saving.”

Frequently asked questions

Who is Jerome Leadlay?

A British antiques dealer who trades in antiques and vintage as Jerome Leadlay Antiques.

Which processes does Vintro Pro bring together?

Stock tracking, invoicing, export documents, commodity codes, margin VAT and stock valuation.

Do I have to enter each piece more than once?

No. Each piece is registered once, and that data is reused for stock, invoice and export.

Ready to take control of your stock?

Free up to 10 items, with no end date. No credit card needed to start, and you can stop at any time.