Posted by I follow a number of YouTubers who also sell vintage stuff on Etsy. These gals use their YT channels to highlight their hauls and shopping adventures, but also share what works for them and what sells for them. Much like I do in this blog. I so enjoy watching them.
One gal, I’ll call her Wendy, takes the time to prepare more educational videos. And she does an excellent job. But I find her business choices very different from mine. For example in her latest vlog she mentioned she is no longer hunting for rare antiques or expensive collectibles, but is focusing on more common vintage items paying $10 (and under) and typically selling them for $35 (and under). Wendy also creates “instant vignettes” of three or four items finding it a creative way to sell a group of lower-value items. And this works for her. And for newbie sellers watching her vlogs these lower-priced items found in thrift stores and yard sales are perfect entry points to this biz.
In another video she shared her take on creating the best lead photos for listings. She styles a lot of hers using AI but I find some of her results too busy and the accompanying paragraphs of AI-generated description too long and too flowery. You know the kind of thing–this item will “elevate your decor” and “enhance your lifestyle.”
Don’t get me wrong, Wendy is smart and successful and based on the YT comments she receives she has helped other sellers, but her biz choices are very different than mine.
And that’s okay. There is no right and wrong. That’s the beauty of this type of biz. There’s room for all of us. One person’s path to success may not be ours.
Here are My Choices
First I hunt for those rare antiques. The unusual things. I want those oddities. That’s what gets me excited. My preference. I want to avoid the more common items that everyone has in their store. One of my favorite compliments is being told I have “good stuff.”
I definitely want to focus on higher value things. I want fewer under $40 items in my store and more in the $80 and up range.
I am not as concerned with the consistency of my item backgrounds or excessive styling as Wendy is but instead do what I feel is necessary to make that lead photo compelling so a potential buyer will click through. In some cases that means using a closeup, a dark background, or showing just part of the item. (I use PicMonkey software to crop, resize, lighten and edit as necessary.)
Here’s part of my store’s current home page. To me the photos look simple and clean which is what I’m going for. Is there room for improvement? Of course. I would never claim to be a pro at photography. But there is a point when “good is good enough.” Endless fussing and fluffing isn’t going to make a huge difference and can be an unnecessary time sink.
I keep the item description to a minimum. People don’t read paragraphs of item description. They don’t. In the words of the Dragnet TV show, “Just the facts ma’am!” At the bottom of this screenshot you can see all I wrote about this purse–though indeed it would “elevate your style!”
I rarely create lots or vignettes. The few times I have, inevitably I am contacted by a potential buyer wanting just one piece from the group. Overall I find them to be a tough sell. That said I have a few fun things that I might list together as an experiment–though it would be just a job lot and not a curated vignette!
I accept returns. Many vintage sellers, including Wendy, do not. In my books, it’s just good business to offer that.
We All Evolve
As sellers we make a lot of choices about what products we’ll sell, how we’ll list and promote them and run our customer service. But hopefully over time we evolve too. We learn. We grow. We change as our customer’s needs change. We may stop selling one kind of thing and start with another. For example, I am getting out of selling fabric and clothes but want to buy more religious items.
And at some point this year I hope to start adding videos to some of my listings. That will be a big change and growth area for me.
While Wendy and I have made different choices about our vintage businesses, we are each successful. That’s the good news.
Hunting for Vintage 