Palmer Pekarek

Antiques marketplace Ruby Lane has decided to shelve its gift card program, which soft launched earlier this month. The gift cards could be used for purchases in any Ruby Lane shop and were designed to increase sales throughout the site.

Antique and collectibles shoppers are now using Skype to communicate in real time with dealers as they shop on RubyLane.com. Company spokesperson Palmer Pekarek said many of Ruby Lane's sellers have enabled Skype in their shops so they can provide answers to questions and develop relationships with shoppers. Both buyer and seller must have Skype to communicate via instant messaging and can also engage in video conversations.