For those of us used to travelling back from Istanbul, the suitcase filled to the brim with delicacies requested by friends is all too familiar. So-called bavul ticareti (suitcase commerce) – a term born of Turkey’s flourishing trade with the former Iron Curtain – has taken on a new meaning. For example, my mother won’t allow me to return without at least two large bottles of triple-distilled rakı, a tub of Aegean olives, and fish eggs (balık yumurtası). The nieces’ faces still light up with mirth at the mention of pickle juice (from the Cihangir’s Asri Turşucu) after my Christmas wardrobe emerged stained a bright neon pink.

But today, shipping lanes are grinding to a halt and the price of oil is soaring. If, as looks likely, the price of flights continues to rise, bavul ticareti looks less and less sustainable. How then does the discerning shopper acquire goods, gifts and artworks at a distance? To the rescue come two unexpected endeavours…