What’s Selling in the “Summer Slowdown”

Many of us in the vintage reselling biz know that once summer weather hits, our online sales will plummet. It happens every year. Folks are outside enjoying the weather and spending time with family and friends. Which is as it should be. The seasonal slowdown makes perfect sense but it doesn’t make it easier!

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So what is (surprisingly) selling!

So far I’ve had an uptick in the sales of my more expensive items–old sterling silver trophies, antique jewelry, signed costume jewelry, rare ephemera, old picture frames, art.

Folks who are buying are going for the older, quality, heirloom pieces. Which is grand and gives me some direction for future sourcing. Of course the downside is that these types of items are harder to find and typically mean spending more money upfront. And you really have to know your stuff!

What’s lingering…

Like many in the biz I have hundreds of lower-value items–bits of pottery, books, prints, china bowls, oddities, costume jewelry, etc.–and these are selling, but not as quickly as they normally would.

So is this just part of the “summer slowdown”?
Or are some of my items just undesirable?!

That’s a question that always lingers in the far recesses of my brain! I may think an item is fabulous, but does anybody else??! I know this brutalist metal horse is by Mexican artisan Manuel Felguerez is not to everyone’s taste but it is rather special and has been favorited and put in carts before. And I thought this collection of small handmade pottery vessels was too cute. I have used some of them on our coffee table with little candies at different seasons. Still there’s been no cha-ching for either of them.

The reality–most things sell, eventually. But unique items, like most of mine, can take a long time to find a new owner and I know that.

Summer biz plans…

I’ll still be sourcing this summer, but very, very selectively. Yesterday I was at my neighborhood thrift store and came out empty handed…and I was pleased with that decision. Today I could have gone to a 50% off sale at my favorite boutique thrift store and two estate sales, but I resisted their siren call.

It’s so easy to keep buying! I follow a number of YouTube vloggers who resell and some have shared their backlog of unlisted goods–jampacked rooms, sheds and storage units–and they are still buying more. And I get it. I do. But the reality is that all that stored stuff represents a lot of spent money and most of the items are not appreciating with time. Plus things can be broken, damaged, mildewed.

So this summer I realize I want to focus on listing what I already have (including lots of charms and ephemera), “rebooting” my older inventory and buying just a smidge of “new” stuff. That’s the plan anyway!

Wishing you happy hunting,

Karen