A Whole Lot of “No” Today in my Vintage Biz

While Monday was a whole lot of good and saying “yes,” Wednesday was a whole lot of saying “no.”

Here’s the story.

I went back to my neighborhood thrift store hoping to find more treasure after my Lalique find on Monday, but it was not to be and I left all these behind! The Mary figurine was intriguing but plastic. (Was hoping she would be chalkware.) The vintage navy blue leather purse was in good condition ($8+) but it wouldn’t sell for much and frankly it had a “mom purse” vibe. The hand-made pottery vases were pretty and something I would have bought a few years ago but a hard sell for me these days. And the Native-American inspired wedding vase looked good at first glance but it was unsigned and $17. Well that was a no too. Drat!

And this vintage Jones NY wool jacket looked good from the front but on the back there was a whole lot of damage–huge holes and it was still priced at $12! Seriously Goodwill?!! And who donates something in such poor condition? Who is going to buy and wear this? Nobody! No, no, no.

And then I received an Etsy message from a potential buyer offering me $400 on an antique Gorham sterling silver bowl I had priced at $598. He wanted a discount because the item had a ding and was inscribed. (Wow almost $200 off for a small ding and engraving.) When I told him that the current melt value for this item was $577 so I was declining his offer, he responded with a snippy “Good luck getting melt value. It’s sterling. The person you’ll sell it to gets a cut and the refinery gets a cut. You might get 500 400 for the piece but good luck.” I just shook my head. Whatever dude. I’ve had a lot of this lately–folks making offers on my heavier sterling silver pieces hoping I have no knowledge of the current silver prices trying to get a deal/steal. That’s a big no.

Next a gal sent a series of questions about one of my vintage charm bracelets, including could I shorten it (it’s only 7″ long) and could I change the clasp? No and no. Even if I had the tools and pieces to accomplish these tasks I wouldn’t. These are alterations one does after they’ve bought an item. I suggested her jeweler could handle this.

Here was one of my few yeses today–a quirky book on the history of singing cowboys in the movies that included a signed inscription from the author. Does this have a market? Likely teeny tiny. Still these are the kind of books I love buying.