Frequently Asked Questions

A buyer account is automatically created for you when you make your first purchase.

Registration is required to store your shipping or delivery details and to manage sales invoicing.

No. Only if one of our customers has sent you a recommended product or if you have been invited by our administrator.

You can edit your personal and shipping details in your customer profile.

When you are logged in, you can access your order history by clicking the orders icon in the main menu.

This section provides a complete overview of all your purchases, including key details such as order date, product thumbnail, order number, order status, quantity, price, and any applicable costs such as collection fees, shipping fees, discounts, and the final total.

From the same page, you can also manage each order through several actions, including:

canceling an order (where applicable),
downloading the order confirmation as a PDF,
contacting our support team regarding a specific order,
relisting the item for sale,
or booking a pickup appointment if you have chosen in-person collection.

All your order information is centralized to give you full transparency and easy management of your purchases.

If you have received our order confirmation email with the PDF attached, you can scan the QR code in the PDF version of the order confirmation with your phone.

After scanning the QR code, you will be redirected to the Orders list.

Please note: logging in by scanning the QR code is only possible for 30 days from the order confirmation.

We recommend visiting your customer profile to set a password for future logins. In any case, you can always reset your password from the relevant page on this page.

You can reset your password on this page.

You can change your password from your customer profile.

The language of the account, the website, as well as the language for all confirmation emails and notifications, is set by clicking the icon .

The canton and country are important to calculate shipping or delivery costs.

Private Sales offer a unique opportunity to access distinctive design pieces that are not always available through traditional retail channels. These items often come directly from private collections, making them one-of-a-kind or difficult to find elsewhere.

Buying through Private Sales allows you to discover original design objects with character, history, and individuality, often at attractive prices compared to standard retail or marketplace offerings.

Modernista does not operate as a traditional reseller that buys and marks up products. Instead, the price shown to the customer is fully transparent and itemised, clearly indicating what is being paid and for which services. This structure ensures full clarity and avoids any conflict of interest in the pricing of the object itself.

Our business model is based on the services we provide, including collection from the seller, inspection and verification of the item, payment handling on behalf of the buyer, transportation, storage, and final delivery or shipment of the purchased goods.

Each item is reviewed and managed by our team, who coordinate the entire process from communication with the seller to logistics and delivery, ensuring a smooth, secure, and reliable purchasing experience.

This way, you benefit from the uniqueness of private sellers while also enjoying the transparency, structure, and support provided by Modernista.

The Private Sales list is a collection of products that we at modernista.ch use as a working tool to save and later purchase special items. The purpose of this list is to keep track of objects that stand out for their price, design, history, rarity, or overall significance. Since many of these items are not available on the Swiss market, our goal is to share this information with our customers, offering insights into unique and noteworthy pieces that inspire our curation and collection work.

Private Sales is an exclusive area reserved for Modernista customers.

Access is automatically unlocked after your first purchase from our shop. Once your order has been completed, you will be able to browse the Private Sales feed and discover a curated selection of vintage and design pieces offered by private sellers.

This approach allows us to maintain a trusted community of buyers while providing our customers with access to unique items that are not available through the regular marketplace or are otherwise too expensive.

Private Sales listings are offered by individual sellers rather than professional vendors. As a result, response times to inquiries and purchase requests may vary compared to items sold directly by our shop.

Product descriptions and photographs are provided by the sellers themselves. While images may not always be professionally produced, they are intended to represent the actual condition of the item as accurately as possible.

When you click the "Check Availability" button, our team will contact the seller to confirm whether the item is still available. If the price is listed as "Price on Request," we will also ask the seller to provide the current selling price.

If you send an inquiry through the Private Sales section or from a product page, we will update you as soon as we receive a response from the seller. Please allow anywhere from a few hours up to 48 hours for a reply. In some cases, sellers may not respond if an item has already been sold, and listings may remain online for a short period before being removed.

Please note that items offered through Private Sales are typically pre-owned and sold by private individuals. Consequently, the warranty, return, and cancellation policies that apply to products sold directly by Modernista may not apply to these purchases.

Private Sales items are offered by individual sellers, whereas products listed in our shop are part of our own inventory.

Items sold directly by us are available for immediate purchase, while Private Sales listings require availability confirmation from the seller before the purchase can proceed.

Private Sales items are offered by individual sellers, so their availability must be verified before a purchase can be completed.

Once the seller confirms that the item is still available and, where applicable, provides the current selling price, the "Buy Now" option will be activated. You will then receive an email with a confirmation and a direct link to view or purchase the item on its product page.

Please note that you must be logged in to your account to access and purchase Private Sales items.

We source furniture and decorative objects from Italy and Ticino, as many Made in Italy pieces are either more competitively priced or not readily available in Switzerland. Our strategic location provides quick access to nearby Italian cities such as Como, Varese, Milan, Lodi, Piacenza, Bergamo, and Sondrio, as well as numerous smaller towns and local artisans.

Many dealers and collectors from both French- and German-speaking Switzerland, as well as from countries such as Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, frequently travel to Italy to source items directly from local dealers, fairs, and auction houses.

Our proximity to the Italian market, combined with our business model of purchasing directly from private individuals, allows us to secure better prices and select unique pieces. It also enables us to acquire and manage items quickly and efficiently due to the short distance between sourcing locations and our base.

We aim to be transparent and provide realistic pricing. Many design and vintage pieces are no longer in production or are located in different regions, making them rare and often time-consuming to source.

Displaying trip costs and travel time helps illustrate the real effort involved in acquiring each item and provides a clearer understanding of how our pricing is structured. Beyond the item itself, factors such as time, travel distance, and availability all contribute to the final value.

Example of trip costs per item:

Trip distance: 400 km | Travel time: 4.3 h | Trip cost: CHF 105.00

Please note: trip distance, travel time, and costs include fuel and highway tolls and are calculated based on a round trip from Lugano to the seller's location.

Pick-up costs apply only to Private Sales and are calculated based on the destination province in Italy or the canton in Switzerland. Each province or canton has a cost calculated by adding toll costs (Italy) and fuel costs, plus an hourly rate of CHF 50 for each staff member involved.

Example: if the item to be collected is in Milan and it is a sofa, the cost will be: tolls + fuel + time x number of staff.

The pick-up cost is calculated automatically during checkout based on the number of products to be collected and the province where they are located.

Example 1 - Two products in the same province

If the cart contains 2 products from Private Sales in the same province, the pick-up cost is calculated as follows:

a single pick-up cost is applied for the province;
for each additional product to be collected, the cost corresponding to 1 hour of collection is added.

Example 2 - Two products in different provinces but within the same group (North, South, East or West)

If the cart contains 2 products located in different provinces, but both belong to the same geographic group (North, South, East or West):

the highest rate is applied, corresponding to the longest route;
the cost of 1 hour is added for each additional stop/pick-up.

Example 3 - Products distributed across different geographic groups

If the cart contains 2 or more products to be collected in provinces belonging to different geographic groups:

the system calculates the pick-up cost separately for each group;
the final cost is the sum of the pick-up costs of the involved groups/provinces, including any additional costs for collection stops.

Prices and travel-related costs are displayed in Swiss francs (CHF) to ensure consistency and to account for fluctuations in the EUR/CHF exchange rate.

This also helps cover additional variable expenses related to sourcing, such as fuel price variations, city parking fees, ZTL (restricted traffic zone) charges, potential fines, and motorway tolls that may be paid retrospectively in certain regions where traditional toll booths are not available.

Displaying all costs in CHF provides transparency and allows for a more stable and consistent pricing structure across all Private Sales items.

We are a small team and do not have dedicated staff to manage third-party listings, edit images, and write detailed descriptions for every item. Many Private Sales items are sold within hours, days, or a few weeks, so creating fully detailed listings for each one is not always practical.

If you send us a message or click "Check Availability," our team will do its best to provide additional information and images to help you make an informed decision.

Thank you for your understanding. We are committed to being as transparent as possible and to providing the information you need before making a purchase.

Our goal is to curate a carefully selected collection of design objects and furniture rather than operate as an open marketplace. We focus on showcasing items that are distinctive, fairly priced, and aligned with our vision and expertise.

Unlike large platforms that host a broad range of products from many sellers, we maintain full control over the items featured on our website. This allows us to preserve a consistent standard of quality and focus on pieces from the 1940s to the 1980s, with particular attention to Italian Modernism, Bauhaus, and Scandinavian design.

We want Modernista to feel more like a specialized design boutique than a large online marketplace, helping collectors and enthusiasts discover unique pieces with confidence.

If the seller does not respond within 48 hours, the item will automatically be marked as sold. This policy helps ensure that only active and responsive listings remain available in our Private Sales section.

We carefully select vintage and pre-owned design pieces and manage the entire acquisition process on your behalf.

Our service includes coordinating with the seller, collecting the item, inspecting its condition, verifying authenticity whenever possible, and handling payment. We also take care of transportation, import procedures, and customs formalities when required.

Once the item arrives at our warehouse, it is inspected again, cleaned and polished if appropriate, re-wired when necessary, professionally packaged, and prepared for shipment, personal delivery or customer pick-up.

Our goal is to make purchasing unique design pieces as simple, secure, and hassle-free as possible.

Payment works in the same way as it does for items from our own inventory.

As Private Sales items are often unique and may attract interest from multiple buyers, we recommend completing your payment as soon as possible. This helps secure your priority on the item and reduces the risk of it being sold to another interested buyer.

Yes, selected products allow price negotiations. If a product is eligible, you will see the "Make an Offer" button on the product page.

Clicking the button will open a pop-up window where you can enter your proposed price.

If your offer falls between the reserve price and the current listed price, it will be accepted automatically.
If your offer is below the reserve price, it cannot be accepted.

For private sales, any discount requested through a price offer applies only to the seller's asking price.

Please note that offers apply exclusively to the product price and do not include collection fees, service fees, or shipping costs.

Private Sales items are offered by individual sellers and availability cannot be guaranteed until the transaction has been completed.

If the item becomes unavailable before your payment is received—for example, because it has been sold to another buyer or withdrawn by the seller—we will notify you as soon as possible by email. Any payment already received will be refunded in full within 2–3 business days, with no additional charges or fees.

Yes, you may cancel your purchase at any time before the item has been paid for and secured from the seller.

To cancel an order, simply visit your Orders page and click the orange "X" icon next to the relevant purchase.

Please note: If the item has already been paid for and collected on your behalf, the purchase becomes final and no refund can be issued.

If you decide to cancel after the item has been purchased and a member of the Modernista team is already travelling to collect it, any refund will be reduced by the travel and service costs already incurred.

We accept bank transfer, PostFinance, or cash payment exclusively at the time of pickup by the buyer. Please note: to prevent fraud, abuse, and unnecessary interest and accounting costs, we do not accept TWINT, credit cards, PayPal, or other digital payments.

For Swiss customers exceptionally, upon explicit request, we can send you a payment slip to make the payment exclusively for shop products (private sales products are excluded).

Since there may be multiple people interested in the same item, and to avoid losing the priority you have acquired, please make the payment within 5 business days.

If the payment is not recorded within 5 business days, the product is moved from reserved back to for sale.

Of course. You can cancel your purchase within 10 business days, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions. For products belonging to Private Sales, order cancellation is only possible up to the receipt of payment. Once the payment is confirmed, the cancellation request can no longer be accepted.

The national and international shipping costs, as well as delivery fees, are displayed on the product page by selecting the appropriate option from the dropdown menu. Please note that not all products are available for international shipping or delivery. In the case of purchases made by international customers, in-store pickup is required. Please read more details about shipping.

Once your order has been shipped, you will receive a confirmation email containing your tracking number and a link to track the shipment. You can also check the status of your order at any time in the Orders section of your account. For orders selected for pickup, you will be notified as soon as your item is ready for collection.

We ship our items within Switzerland via Swiss Post using the Economy method, with the fragile and signature options included, ensuring that the package is not left unattended. Shipping costs range between CHF 25 and CHF 48 and include packaging materials and preparation. Delivery times are typically within 5-7 business days after payment confirmation. For in-person deliveries within Switzerland, costs depend on the distance and range between CHF 60 and CHF 250. Delivery times are 10-15 business days after payment confirmation. For multiple-item purchases, shipping is charged only once and the highest shipping cost among the purchased items is applied.

After completing your purchase, you will receive a confirmation email containing the pickup location and detailed instructions for collecting your item(s). The email will also include a button linking to a scheduling form, where you can select your preferred dates and available time slots to arrange a pickup appointment. We will do our best to accommodate your preferences, subject to availability. We are generally flexible, especially for customers travelling from long distances or from abroad, and will work with you to find a convenient pickup time whenever possible.

Vintage and pre-owned items are sold in their current condition and may display natural signs of age and use that contribute to their unique character. Unless explicitly stated, no additional warranties are provided. We strive to describe each item's condition as accurately as possible and to highlight any significant imperfections in the product description.

For a smooth and stress-free return process, please follow the instructions below.

Small, non-bulky items may be returned by shipping them to:
Please note that large, bulky, or multiple-item returns should not be shipped to this address. For these types of returns, visit the Orders section of your account. Next to the message area, you will find a calendar icon that allows you to schedule a return appointment.

Once you have selected your preferred return date and time, your request will be reviewed and you will receive a confirmation of your appointment, including the address of our storage facility.

You may return a product within 10 business days from the date you receive your order, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions. This deadline applies whether you choose to return the item by shipping it to us or by delivering it directly to our storage facility. To qualify for a refund, the returned item must be complete, undamaged, and intact in all its parts.

Refunds are generally processed within 3-5 business days after the returned item has been received and inspected. Once approved, the refund will be issued promptly. Please note that our bank, PostFinance, does not disclose the sender's banking details (such as the account number or IBAN) when payments are received. To ensure a smooth refund process, we kindly ask you to provide the IBAN or bank account details used for the original payment when requesting a refund.