Posted by Over the years I have found many amazing things at my small neighborhood thrift store. Antique things. Valuable things. Good things. But it’s gotten harder. I’m sure the very best pieces are shunted online nowadays. And while I can’t blame them, I can’t help but be a tad disappointed. Still once in a while good stuff still hits the shelves so I continue to visit this store.
First here’s what I rejected–this vintage/antique silver-plate on copper vase for $15. The quality just wasn’t there and I didn’t find it appealing.
Now if it had been this one I would have snagged it in a heart beat! You can see the difference in quality just from one small photo and it is much more appealing.
I also didn’t buy this vintage/antique cast alabaster statue. It was charming but heavy (possibly around eight pounds) and I would have liked the children to be more generic. Nothing against Dutch children, but they make it more niche limiting the buyer base. Plus this would be a long-tail item, a pain to ship and they had it priced $20+. In the end I said no. Would you have picked this up?
But I did buy 12 Wedgwood of Etruria & Barlaston salad plates, circa 1950s-1970s, in the cabbage leaf pattern. Besides the Wedgwood name and quality these particular plates appear to have been rarely used.
As I started my research into pricing I discovered that the green plates are much more common and popular and command the higher prices! Here are just a few of the recent solds on Ebay…
The creamware plates are less common and sell for a bit less. Still I should do okay with them. I’ll group them in lots of four for $120.
Every now and then I find a good purse at my thrift store and it happened yesterday. I spotted this woven straw purse with a plastic top (alas not bakelite) and unique clasp in very good condition.
Opened it up to discover it’s a Rodo purse. Turns out Rodo is an Italian luxury brand with their current purses selling for over $1000. “RODO’s goal is to create a product that succeeds in adapting to trends while remaining iconic over time, this through its emphasis on quality materials and unique workmanship.” Well alrighty then!
Discovered there are a boatload of vintage Rodo straw/rattan purses for sale online at a variety of price points. On Ebay they typically sell for less than $100 but quite a few current listings are over $100.
I’m going to do a little more digging, but so far I haven’t found another with this top of plastic top and clasp. I’ll price mine around $125.
So I am pleased with these items. They are more in line with my shop goals than the things I bought last week.
On a different note, the traffic to my Etsy store dropped off significantly this September which also meant a decline in sales. No rhyme or reason that I can find, but that’s how it is sometimes. In a few days it will be Q4 so that should make a difference.
Still some wonderful things have found new homes this month…
Wishing you happy hunting,
Karen
