When you think about Web-based businesses that have been online since 1995 and continue to be successful despite the many economic changes that have occurred since then, only a handful come to mind: eBay, Yahoo!, and TIAS.

TIAS? That's right: The Internet Antique Shop (TIAS.com) turns fifteen years old next year. The year 2009 was tough on TIAS and its antique dealers who run antiques and collectible storefronts within it, just as it was for many other ecommerce companies. But this venerable marketplace has always survived by adapting and changing, according to CEO Phil Davies.

"Back in September our CTO, Nancy Miracle, made some interesting changes to the system," says Davies from his home on Long Island, New York. "We started using Google Checkout more. It turns out that lot of people really hate PayPal. They want an alternative that does something similar. We found including Google Checkout really helped us with expanding our service. The more ways people have to purchase merchandise from us, the better off they are. The result has been a 29.9 percent increase in the dollar value of the average sale this month, compared to October of 2008."

TIAS got its start in the early days of the Web - April 1995. Davies was spending his weekends selling antiques and collectibles the old-fashioned way. "I would buy merchandise from tag sales, yard sales and estate sales," he recalls. "I would put my inventory into a computer database, then export the database to a print catalog. I'd print out a few hundred catalogs each month and mail them to customers who would then send me their orders on a first-come, first served basis. Then the Internet started to gain popularity and I thought it would be a great way to cut the cost of printing and mailing the catalog."

Davies used the Internet to find two programmers, Mike Wexler and David Elrod, who built the Web site. It was originally called "Incredible Collectibles" and listed about 1,000 items. This evolved into TIAS.com.

The first item sold convinced Davies that the Internet was a terrific place to do business. "It was an antique hand carved wooden box that was made by a prisoner in Upstate New York. I sold it to a man in California, which I thought was amazing since I'm in New York and the transaction could not have taken place if it had not been for the Internet."

TIAS competes with sites like Ruby Lane and GoAntiques (owned by WorthPoint), two other longstanding marketplaces for antique sellers. TIAS currently has about 500 dealers and attracts 670,000 unique users each month. Members gain access to a user-friendly store builder called MakeAShop to create their own sites. TIAS charges its members a 10 percent commission on items sold at fixed price or a 2 percent commission on items sold through online auctions. Two payment plans are available: a month-to-month plan with a $39.95 minimum fee, and a yearly plan with a minimum monthly fee of $34.95.

Only three employees and occasional freelancers keep the business running. TIAS is a true virtual company: "Our CTO is based near Dallas, our servers are in Houston, I'm on Long Island, and our customer service manager is in Michigan," says Davies. "We are incorporated in Delaware. Everyone has worked from home from the start, so we have no offices in the conventional sense."

When asked what sets TIAS apart from the competition, Davies mentions the fact that sellers can be members of TIAS and operate their own online stores, which can have custom URLs and can be customized at will. But in previous articles, I've profiled other marketplaces that also give sellers plenty of autonomy.

The thing that sets TIAS apart from other sites is its longevity. As Davies points out, experience gives the site's developers an advantage. They've learned not to sit still, but to adapt as quickly as the Internet itself changes.

"We've been around for so long that we've seen almost every e-commerce trend. With this knowledge, we've learned what works and what does not work." What works? He points to blogs. Posting blog posts drives traffic to individual sellers' stores. Each seller is given the chance to post on the TIAS main blog two days a week. On those days, sellers can post announcements of special sales or featured items they are offering. Visitors see the announcements right on the site's home page. Not only that, but TIAS publishes its own news items, such as a top selling list of merchandise that sold in the previous year. Those items are sent to a media list that includes 9,000 email addresses.

The fact that blogs and other social networking sites have assumed such a prominent role in recent months is part of what keeps Davies excited about running an online business. He himself doesn't sell antiques any more. He is interested in new marketing approaches. Along with TIAS, he manages a site called News Antique, which allows sellers to post press releases for free.

"I like the new features that are coming out with incremental speed on the Internet," comments Davies. "I like playing with our sales system. I like the constant change on the Internet. It's changing so rapidly, it's exciting."