GBTicket On-line Shop

Serving the Collector

Graeme Beedle Enterprises (later re-named Graeme Beedle Tickets, then GBTicket) was established in 1985, on a sole trader basis, dealing with old transport tickets (e.g. railway, trams, buses, water transport, etc.) and offering a traditional and caring service to collectors and historians of transport tickets. In 2009, GBTicket became a partnership (G Paterson-Beedle and M Paterson-Beedle).

Sales catalogues/website

Over the years, the firm has produced regular sales catalogues named (in chronological order): (i) Platform Tickets Quarterly; (ii) Travel Themes; (iii) Just Tickets; (iv) Graeme Beedle Tickets, (v) GBTicket - Transport Ticket Catalogue (printed and online, monthly) and latterly (vi) Theme Catalogue (online, monthly).

Prior to April 1999 all catalogues were monochrome, produced using a photocopier machine.  In 1999, GBTicket innovated and published the first catalogue with tickets scanned and in colour, using a publisher’s software (QuarkXPress - Quark Software Inc.).

In 1999, www.gbticket.co.uk was launched as a static website and in 2007 it was upgraded to a dynamic website, i.e. our management system (using 100% web based technology) was integrated to the website. This was an important step in our development, making it possible to:

(i) display our monthly sales catalogues online (illustrating over 1,000 transport tickets in colour);

(ii) allow customers to submit orders online from the sales catalogues, via the restricted area, directly into our management system;

(iii) permit customers to check their order status and history online, via the restricted area of the website and

(iv) improve communication with customers with the implementation of electronic newsletters.

Since 2001, the firm has accepted payments by all major credit/debit cards (via mail and telephone orders).

In 2013, our new e-commerce website www.GBTicket.com was launched offering tickets for sale and accepting online payment by all major cards and PayPal.  GBTicket.com contains many bespoke features, e.g.:

(i) tickets are presented by category, such as railway, road, tram, etc., making it easier for browsers to locate their areas of interest;

(ii) a wider range of tickets related to transport are offered, e.g. pier, parking, air, toll and sundry tickets;

(iii) within the various categories of tickets, customers are able to search swiftly through our database for items of their collecting interest, using various in-built filters, e.g. by country, station name, company, date, type, issuing point, series and price. 

Also, GBTicket.com has expanded to other areas related to transport and includes old maps (Ordnance Survey) and ‘official’ publications (published by transport operators) for sale.

Note: We maintain a database of all products that pass through the hands of GBTicket as a resource for GBTicket’s future historical research and publications in public transport services.
 

GBTicket investing in sustainable conduct

According to Brundtland Report (1987), sustainable development is defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (www.un.org). Following this important concept, together with the management system launched in 2007 and the e-commerce in 2013, GBTicket has been and will continue to invest in specific actions to contribute to the preservation of the environment.

All communications and receipts (e-commerce) to customers that in the past were produced using printed paper are now generated digitally and sent via e-mail. Also, GBTicket has reduced substantially (ca. 90%) the number of printed catalogues, as they are available online. In addition, the partnership prioritizes the use of recycled paper on all internal and official printed documents. These simple measures minimize pollution and consume fewer natural resources.

Tickets on approvals/website

Also, as part of the service to the collector, GBTicket offers an 'approval' service (www.gbticket.com), where collectors register their interest online and attempts are made to match tickets to their requirements.

Events

We attend numerous transport events such as auctions, fairs and bazaars in England, where we offer a wide range of tickets for sale. Since 2006, GBTicket has organized transport ticket fairs for the collector in Central London and Birmingham.