Posted by We are finally in Q4 and my plan for the rest of this year is to keep my sourcing minimal, keep jettisoning “lesser” items and keep listing the bits and bobs I have tucked away. I want to end the year with a leaner store.
What I’m Buying
Vintage Purses
I adore older purses and was a collector long before I started selling them. And while it’s never become a huge category for me as a seller, I always look.
The other day at my neighborhood thrift store there were a lot of beaded cocktail purses, but most just had “Made in China” tags. While they were all nice enough, they didn’t have much age or a brand name and not much resale value. Then I spotted this 1950s/60s “Made in Hong Kong” beauty in pristine condition with the sweetest filigree kiss lock. It looked like something my mother would have carried back in the day. Even though beaded purses do not fly off the shelves, there was no way I was leaving this behind. (As I was looking at it another woman was keenly watching me. I realized she was waiting for me to put it down!)
Then I spotted a purse purporting to be a Dooney & Bourke. Oh gosh, was it real? I hemmed and hawed at the store, but thought the quality and craftsmanship seemed legit. But the biggest problem–the interior tag had been cut out. Still in the end I decided to buy it.
Back at home I examined it more thoroughly. Here’s what I spotted:
- The stitching was neat and in their light yellow thread.
- The duck logo had the space between the duck’s bill and his back.
- The zipper had the Dooney & Bourke name.
- All the hardware seemed to be a sturdy brass.
It looked really good, but was it? So I started doing a deep dive and amidst all the research I came up with Rachel who had a video on this very purse. She highlighted the difference between a real and fake Dooney. So enlightening.
And bingo, my purse ticked all the boxes of being real! Yeah.
But I’m continuing to look at other sites and with other experts. While my purse looks like the real deal, why had the interior tag been cut out? And sadly the brass hang tag and strap are also missing. There seem to be quite a few for sale under $100. So this is not the score I’d hoped it would be.
Total paid for both: $20.68
Antique Pocket Watches
On a different note, an acquaintance heard I was “in the antique biz” and asked if I would be interested in buying some pocket watches from him–two antique, one vintage. Indeed. Now I have sold watches and pocket watches before, but my knowledge is very limited and all three of the watches are currently non-working. Oh dear. I was interested but it wasn’t a comfortable situation. In the end, I negotiated his price a little but I wasn’t aggressive–well it’s hard to be when it’s someone you know and want to help out, but I did pay more than I wanted to.
The Hamilton and the Elgin were both manufactured in 1922. I was able to open them up and get the serial numbers and once you’ve got info, it’s easy to get all the details about the watch.
Here’s part of the info about the Hamilton watch from pocketwatchdatabase.com.
But now I need to figure out what all this data means and what is a fair resale value for non-working watches, that may or may not be able to be fixed! This may take a while and I’ll likely need to consult some experts.
Total paid for three: $85
Thrift Store Smalls
I was in the mood to buy the other day because I bought two items at the thrift store that don’t fit my store goal of focusing on higher-value goods. The teak carved box with brass inlay is a common item from India that I usually avoid though I know other resellers are keen on them, but this one was atypically large (almost 10″ wide) and had latches. Hmmmm. Well, I picked it up and carried it around the store and in the end decided to buy it.
The handmade gold glass tumbler was personally not my taste, but it was signed and dated. Couldn’t make out the signature in the store, but was hoping it was made by a notable artisan so I bought that too. The signature, “DP Salazar “, is for glassmaker David P. Salazar who works about an hour away from me and currently sells tumblers like these with “spiderwebbing.” He has been making glass items for 50 years and his glass marbles are in a permanent collection at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York state. I will list this for $45.
I turned down buying various antique silver plate items, mostly because they were priced too high, but some had condition issues as well. Which was too bad because I do like a bit of old silver plate. Some can be quite valuable.
Total paid for both: $7.88
What’s Selling So Far in October
Antique and vintage sterling silver is selling and that has been a theme for a couple of months but as I discovered a few pieces sold because they were priced well below current melt value!! I hadn’t realized the value of silver had risen so dramatically. That was a painful lesson and a wake-up call.
Surprisingly the last four weeks my views and orders have been above normal. Which is nice, but I’m not holding my breath that it’s going to continue. Yes, it’s Q4, but I think holiday spending will be down this year…but maybe I’ll be proven wrong!!
Wishing you happy hunting,
Karen
Hunting for Vintage 