vorkel.r52.ru was the website of a Nizhny Novgorod wholesale-and-purchasing company run by sole proprietor A. I. Vorkel, which traded wholesale and retail in photo goods, clocks and watches, tights, batteries, and small household items. The office and warehouse were located in Nizhny Novgorod on Golubeva Street, 4; the phone numbers were listed with the city code 831: (831) 251-93-85, (831) 240-50-86, fax (831) 251-88-11, mail vorkel@vorkel.r52.ru[1]. The address itself belonged to the Nizhny Novgorod domain zone r52.ru. The first Wayback Machine record of this page is dated 6 June 2002, the last — 18 January 2021, with 80 records in the archive index in total[3].

What was sold

The homepage header presented the owner as the "wholesale-and-purchasing company of sole proprietor Vorkel," and the footer gave the proprietor's registration details: certificate series 52 No. 0051578 dated 28 May 1999[1]. The catalog was organized into product categories. In the 2015 snapshot there were twenty-one of them: watch accessories, audio cassettes, alarm clocks, video cassettes, calculators, memory cards, tights, laser discs and accessories, lighting equipment, tableware and household appliances, miscellaneous, flashlights, photo accessories, photo albums, photo film, photo frames, photo chemicals and paper, floor and table clocks, wristwatches, wall clocks and barometers, batteries and chargers[1].

Within less than a year the category list was reworked: by 29 March 2016 there were nineteen categories. Audio cassettes, video cassettes, calculators, "miscellaneous," and "photo accessories" had disappeared from the catalog; "gifts," "household goods," and "tripods, cases" had appeared. Some earlier names were rewritten: "watch accessories" became "straps, bracelets, watch accessories," "photo film" became "film," "photo chemicals and paper" became "chemicals, paper for photos," "lighting equipment" became "lighting"[2]. At the same time, the wholesale-buyers block gained the line "WHOLESALE-AND-RETAIL ONLINE STORE OF SOLE PROPRIETOR VORKEL A. I.," although the site header still called the business a wholesale-and-purchasing company[2]. The top menu was identical in both snapshots: "Home," "About the Company," "News," "Special Offer," "Price List," "Cart," and a separate item "ART FRAMING" ["АРТ-БАГЕТ"], whose contents are not revealed by the surviving homepage snapshots[1][2].

How the store was set up

The site was not a mere calling card but a working store: the page had a shopping cart ("there are no items in the cart"), a login form with username and password, registration, a password reminder, search with a "search within results" option, and advanced search[1]. Wholesale prices were locked behind registration: "To view wholesale prices, please register!"[1].

The terms of wholesale trade were laid out right on the front page. The minimum purchase amount at wholesale prices was 5,000 rubles; discounts stepped up: 1% from 10,000 rubles, 1.5% from 15,000, 2% from 20,000, 2.5% from 25,000, 3% from 30,000, and above 50,000 rubles a "special offer" was promised, with discounts not stacking[1]. Goods at wholesale prices were released only on presentation of a copy of the registration certificate and a power of attorney to receive the goods, and placing an order required a set of documents: from a sole proprietor — a certificate of registration or of OGRN assignment, bank details, an INN certificate, and a passport; from a representative of an organization — powers of attorney to conclude the contract and to receive the goods (or a company seal), a copy of the OGRN assignment certificate, the company's bank details, and a passport[1]. Buyers were offered two options: come to the office and choose goods at the warehouse in person, or, living in another city, place an order on the site after registering or make a request by phone[1].

By 2016 sections on delivery and on claims had been added. The minimum amount for shipment via a freight company was 5,000 rubles, delivery was at the buyer's expense, and the company stated that it worked "with all Nizhny Novgorod representative offices of all freight companies" of the client's choosing[2]. The claims procedure was also spelled out there: acceptance of goods by assortment, quantity, and packaging appearance — no later than ten calendar days from the moment of receipt at the freight company, hidden defects were considered within the warranty period, and the warranty period itself was 12 months from the date of sale; a photograph of the damaged item had to be attached to the claim[2]. At the same time business hours appeared on the page: Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 17:30, Saturday from 9:00 to 16:00, no lunch break[2].

Place in the Nizhny Novgorod internet

The site entered our census from the nn.ru catalog directory, where it was listed under the name "ChP Vorkel" with a description listing wholesale-and-retail sales of photo goods, consumables for photo labs, clocks and watches, tights, audio and video cassettes, and batteries. This address does not appear in the Counter.nn.ru counter samples that make up the bulk of the census, so there is no basis for judging its traffic against the rest of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet: it has neither rating points nor votes in the census (sampling methodology is described in the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating).

How it closed

The store operated at least until spring 2016: the snapshot from 29 March shows a functioning catalog, sections on delivery and claims, and business hours[2]. No substantive snapshots have survived in the archive after that date, and the last web archive record of the address is dated 18 January 2021[3]. As of the compilation of this census, the domain vorkel.r52.ru no longer exists, and only archived copies of the homepage remain of the store.

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Home page, 2015 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Home page, 2016 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org (archive)