Featured Finding and pricing antique/vintage items

Lots of great advice above. Personally, I don't buy unless I think I can mark at least 3 times. Also, time is money. Is it really worth your time to sell something for $10.00 on ebay if it takes you an hour to clean, photograph, list, pack and ship? Focusing on what you like is great but Japanese porcelain is not currently in vogue and there is a lot of product out there. Why pass by that $50.00 tool you can buy for $5.00 that sells readily?

 

Like a number of people here, I like Bohemian jewelry - and it seems to like me, too. I look at a mind boggling variety of things, but a corner of my mind is open to those things I'm looking forward to seeing. Friends ask how I find interesting/valuable things, and the answer is, I'm looking! You'll find more than one niche, along the way

Not just buy - to sell! One connection will know another, and so on.

I found a Polaroid lamp in Bakersfield for $3. I described it to a friend who had it sold to a Deco dealer for $1200 that day. My friend pocketed $600, I made $597, and the dealer made $1200 (at least)

So: talk to people with the same (but even broader) interests Don't be afraid to hang out with people who know more than you!



This was pre-internet, and I do carry a phone with me most of the time. If I had it with me a while back, I'd have bought this for $3 (everything's $3), but didn't because I didn't want to spend yet another $3 bucks!

 

I had the good fortune to be wandering the antiques orchard 20 years ago when the rise of ebay was something new, and there were tons of lowhanging fruit to pick and sell. Since I am in England, an antique rich environment, and most of my buyers were in America, a relatively new place, I could pretty well buy anything and double my money. I suspect we have much more Bricks and Mortar auction salerooms here, so I did all my buying there, using reasonable prudence and ever increasing experience, it was not all that difficult to buy profitable stuff, learn about it and sell it on. My entire working stock fitted in a filing cabinet of average size because everything offered sold within a week and was usually paid for and sent within another two weeks (remember checks in the post?).
Oddly all the stuff I bought that was not deemed ebay suitable (too big, too heavy, too fragile, too crappy) did mount up, filling my shed, but after retiring from ebay selling, that hoard of unregarded odds and ends has been cashed in at car boot sales, flea markets, antique fairs and auctions for a surprisingly large amount of cash to keep me going in idleness.
This is all not very helpful, that was then and this is now, but my learning route was to start with something that was easily identifiable, in my case watches and clocks, and then broaden the scope as I picked up experience. Grabbing everything you see is a mug's game in most cases. Some things I still avoid, like ceramics or glass, there is just so much of it Another thing I avoid is pretty well anything younger than I am, and in general anything under 100 years old. (apart from precious metals bought cheap)
Do not worry much about pricing, do not always look for a profit if something has been around too long move it on and buy something else. Do not regret leaving money in it for the next guy, that way you get a lot of people buying regularly, and enough, steadily, beats the occasional big hit and weeks of watching the dust accumulate.
It may not work now, but just about everything I sold on ebay was at auction for a one dollar start and no reserve regardless of value or what I paid. Get the right stuff and it finds its level. This may have changed now.

And what all the others said.

 

eBay auctions at a dollar......sigh.......made me money.....
until it didn't anymore.....

 

You might want to look at a link I just posted about fake Chinese marks coping Nippon. You could print it and take it with you in your searches.

I started with china and glass which I loved but after a while others didn't but I did really well with it back when.

I have started cleaning out things here at home so our kids aren't stuck doing it. Have made a tiny dent but onward...
Patd

 

I think that still holds true if you have the variety of stock and have built up a following. This seller starts all his auctions at 99cents and seems to do well. He has 38 pickers so lots of interesting pieces up for sale. In case the link doesn't work the seller id is wwolst12
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/wwolst12/m....lete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2046732.m1684

 

Oh...I bin following this boy for many years......

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Antique-Ear...462925?hash=item1ef345e4cd:g:~j0AAOSweCpcSkmI

Read the title....it's misleading.....so is the info in their flowing...always flowing description.
Ta, they have interesting stuff & at one cent...you can be sure that you are to blame if u don't do your homework.

Unless a Dupont is marked for GOLD content....they are plated.

I never liked the way these guys operate....

here's the same lighter in better condition.......and boxed...

https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/18800877-s-t-dupont-red-chinese-lacquer-gold-big-size

 

Anyone here remember the seller BleedingGums? He/She used to and still may start their ebay listings at 99 cents.

 

I remember you telling me this before and I appreciate it because that's something to keep in mind, especially with reselling! I now think about that first and it gives me an idea of how to make a profit, I am also working on an inventory list like you suggested before. I also agree that with thrift stores your chances are greater to double, can't go wrong with their prices even if it's to buy something for yourself. That's why I enjoy thrift stores, I know even if I go in with little cash I can never leave empty handed. I agree, it's the mistakes that most times make us do better.

 

Thank you!
My first trip to the thrift store I always had my phone in hand, but I admit it was overwhelming for me. Mainly, because I didn't know where to start and what to look for. My niches were all over the place, they still are but I'm sort of getting there. You made a great point about selling in different venues. I like the idea of selling online simply because your audience is a lot bigger, but the down side is like you mentioned the competition and prices. As of selling in person, that would be very new. I think I will consider it at a Flea market during the summer. There's also antique malls where you can rent a space, there's one I know with quite a lot of vendors -I'd consider something like that too only once I have enough things to sell.

I am still pretty amused at the things being sold on Ebay.

I also enjoy reading other's experiences and thoughts!

 

Very true!! Time is money, and knowing me I'd spend probably a good amount of time getting the "right" photo and making sure the listing description has good information. Kind of why I wanted to sell things that I could possibly list for at least over $30, not sure if that's a good idea.. I see many people sell items at $5 and below, and some do really well and are fine with it. I can see why it's helpful, especially with customers leaning more towards lower prices. But, for the same reasons you mentioned above, I thought of staying in the $30 and above price range.

Thank you for noting that, I should do some research on what's currently in vogue. I know vintage clothing is in right now, especially with the younger crowd. I just feel there are more chances of buyer returns in that category. I hope to one day get to the point where I can become an experienced flipper, and that's going to take times of learning and mistakes. ~

 

You are on the right track. I tried to stay above $100.00 when I was really in the swing of ebay selling. Found that was too restrictive. Started a lot of auctions at $24.99 and found that was great for things potentially worth more. Getting the first bid is always the hardest. I sell very little on ebay any more but tend to use BIN for higher priced items. The days of expecting an item to get bid up are gone.

I got out of selling higher end sportswear for this reason. The profit was very good but the returns were a pain to deal with. I suppose that if you were willing to absorb some loss, this could still be a good category.

 

Be careful there is a lot of unprofitable stuff to be found a thrift stores too. If you are walking out of the store with a cart full of stuff every time you may be purchasing some unprofitable items too. The thrift stores in my area of the country must be barren since I rarely find many good items priced below retail.

I love antique malls. I've gotten some great stuff from them too. But I don't know if they are optimal for vendors due to the high rent and fees that they usually charge. You have to source and sell lots of great items to pay your booth rent each month and that doesn't even cover your acquisition, transportation, and other costs.

 

I tend to have better luck at Estate sales. It helps knowing the people who run the sales as eventually you get thrift-store prices for things. We sell on Ebay and Etsy. Etsy seems to have a higher level of quality and we often sell things there at considerably higher prices than Ebay. We now run a couple of tag sales each year from our garage and that tends to be quite lucrative.

 

Oh bohemian jewelry is so nice! True, about finding more than one niche along the way. Especially with me, I just can't seem to stick to one thing. I'm like that with many things though especially when it comes to learning about my interests.

I'm going to try and socialize with people with similar interests in my area maybe when they have social events about similarities, for now I have you guys lol!

Wow! Great find and deal on that polaroid lamp! Those lamps are beautiful. These dealers definitely know what and why they're willing to spend, in the end you all won

 

I have followed him (and his family), too. But one of my favorites sells in heavily used categories and always seems to come up with nice inventory. She starts all auctions at $ 9.99. Worth taking a peek.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?ssPageName=STRK:MEFSXS:MESOI&_ssn=auctions.both.ways&_sop=10
Patd

 

Thank you for all great advice and information!
I can imagine how wonderful it is to have an interest in antiques and live in England! That's true, things have changed compared to before in many ways. I agree that sometimes we can't always look into making a big profit, sometimes being able to sell something regularly regardless is just as good. In fact, seeing someone interested in buying something that I personally hand picked or searched for and being able to add it to their collection or home, would mean a lot to me just as well.

 

Yeahh seems to be a hit or miss with those sometimes, Ebay can be some what unpredictable nowadays

 

I was just reading an article about this! We do live in a time where imitations can be almost identical, reproductions like those can easily fool someone like me. I somehow had the idea that china and glass were one of those things people always wanted to buy, but I can see with the changes why it may have come to a fall.

Good thing to know about the fake Chinese marks! I'm going to check out that link you shared, thank you!

 

That seller seems to be doing really well! I came across their page one day a few months ago, it seems like they have their set of customers and regular bids, that's great to know it works for some!