July Sales were Strangely…Okay!

After my last post on the harsh realities of vintage reselling I thought I should share some more positive news about the biz.

First you’ve heard me bang on about how July is always one of my slowest months of the year and it’s the same for many of us in the biz. “Summer slow down” is a real thing. It happens. But not only were my June sales strong, but July turned out okay too. It was a normal month. To put this in context–compared to last July this July’s revenue increased 56% even though my views were down 32%.

I am baffled. Why was this July noticeably better than others?

There are only a couple of things that I think might have contributed:

• I consistently listed more items in July. Slogging away at it almost every day.
• My Etsy store has more inventory than ever before–700+ items.

Did these make any impact? Or was it just luck?!

Either way it was a pleasant surprise. But now we have a new month and all the store numbers are back at zero so we’ll see what August brings!

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On the sourcing front I’ve been buying a lot less, hardly anything, but spending up! Which always makes me a bit nervous.

Here are my latest finds….

This old, heavy barometer is a thing of beauty. Likely German from 1920s to 1960s with hand-carved oak?, pretty brass innards, thick beveled glass and a fun old font on the enamel face. I’m not sure it still works, but I really bought it for its good looks. Some do sell for good money, but I later discovered there are a lot of barometers for sale online. Still as a Dark Academia decor piece, it’s pretty cool.

I thought this vintage handmade hammered and stamped brass cache pot was darn fabulous. It’s rusty and crusty inside with a wonderful patina outside. Likely Middle Eastern circa 1930s to 1970s.

I can see this pot overflowing with dried flowers, branches or feathers. Or how about fill it with sand and stick several taper candles in it? Wouldn’t that look magical lit up at night?

I thought this vintage/antique silver enameled pin was to hold a tussie mussie (small bouquet), but when I saw the markings on the back–“Silver China Family”–I knew this was a finger/nail guard pin!

Back in the day antique Chinese finger or nail guards were worn by members of the imperial court and the aristocracy as symbols of status and wealth. Made from gold, silver, and precious stones, they were decorated with intricate designs and patterns.  (Chineseantiques.co.uk).

Today you’ll find pins, like mine, made to look like these old finger guards.

Total paid for all three: $66. More than I like to spend but I think each of these is interesting, a “good thing” and will make a profit.

I’ll close for now wishing you happy hunting,

Karen