A merchandise question for all the ladies

[Viviene]

Ladies,

My question is what are the items that you look for most often in vintage and modern clothing. Are they things that you can purchase in the country you live in or are they particular items that you want that are only sold in say the US?

I'm asking because I'd like a better idea of how to stock my vintage and modern stores. You all have great taste in vintage and modern items so that is why I am asking you. I want to make sure that my stores appeal to lots of different people. I know what I like but that may not be what most people do. Thanks very much for taking the time to read my post.

 

[RetroModelSari]

Hi Viviene!

I buy most of the clothes in my country, but when it comes to patterns I stick to the US. It is cheaper to buy all those cute Butterick, Simplicity and Vogue repros in the USA and the shipping isn´t that expensive.

 

[NicolettaRose]

Hi there Vivienne, I am a big vintage clothing collector as well as wearer. As my occupation, I also act as a consultant/middle woman between some old school ( non internet) vintage clothing sellers and Ebay. Because of Ebay, I would encourange you to keep your prices low, but not so low that you are loosing money. Just from experiance unless the item is REALLY rare, or really extrodinary, Ebay tend to be more of a buyers market.. I would keep your quality levels high and offer one of a kind things. There are some buyers, especially older buyers that will rather go online to a shop, or into a physical vintage clothing shop, because I know some Ebay sellers say one thing on thier listing, and then the item is not what it turns out to be.

As for merchandise, I would stock a good range of decades, everything from the 1910s-1960's. I know for a fact, the 1950's and 1960's sell the best, 1940's is pretty popular and very wearable. 1930's is somewhat popular, but it is rare, and it tends to fit on petite, slender girls, 1920's is great, as well, but some people don't like it because they think it dosn't show off thier shape, I like it and collect it.

Stock a good range of sizes too, please! I always have a hard time finding my size in vintage clothing. Stock larger sizes, and mediam sizes, but please stock some small sizes for us petite girls, I went to find a 1940's dress today, and all but one was way too big.

I think vintage, there is always a specific buyer for something. I am a huge buyer for 1920's and the 1930's is deffinatly my decade and am just getting into the 1940's, some people are purely 1940's or 1950's. I'd say variety is your key.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I'm a big fan of sweaters, myself -- I can't pass up a rack of vintage cardies, so the more of those you have the better, I think! Ditto for vintage outerwear -- coats and jackets and such.

A selection of vintage patterns might make for a nice impulse-buy kind of item, especially for those of us on a tight budget. There's a lot of times when spending $50 or more on a vintage outfit is absolutely out of the question for me -- but I can most always scrape together $5 or so for a pattern!

A place I used to go to here in town (now long gone, sadly) had a tray of budget-price vintage costume jewelery on the counter -- you wouldn't find valuable pieces in it, but it was always fun to pick thru it while the gal was ringing up your stuff and maybe come up with a cute pair of earrings or some such.

 

[Viviene]

I thank you all very much! Funnily enough the things that have been selling for me are the 80s clothing (go figure) but my heart is actually in 40s, 50s and 60s.

I stopped selling on Ebay last June because of all the reproduction items in the actual vintage categories. Let me preface this with the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with repros. Just make sure they are listed in the reproduction category that Ebay provides. I also stopped selling there because there are some sellers who are buying on Ebay and then reselling the items as mint when they are not. It hurts all the vintage sellers when that is done.

I have my own website and sell on a UK based site now. I'm the co-moderator of the vintage and antique clothing section there. What is nice about having a moderator is that we weed out anything that is not vintage and get the listing pulled. We have much more control over this than Ebay sellers do.

So I'll keep my eyes open for the things that you have mentioned. I'm trying to branch out into some menswear as well. I have a lot to learn about that but I'll get there. Thanks for all the help. We are trying to recruit some vintage pattern sellers for our site as well. I completely understand the budget aspect and being able to make your item instead of trying to buy off the rack so to speak. My youngest daughter is making her communion in May and her communion dress is being made from a vintage pattern as was my oldest daughter's.

 

[Mojito]

Hallo Viviene -

I'm happy to buy items I want from international sellers, as it allows access to a much wider pool of material. There are some great Oz vintage dealers (I never miss the Baverstocks from Melbourne when they're attending a vintage or antiques fair in Sydney, for example)! But with globalisation being what it is, I find it just as easy to find the pieces I want on-line. I monitor eBay and buy quite a lot from there when it comes up, but will also snap up what I want from on-line stores.

I don't mind the mark-up if it's something I really want - I don't have the time to keep as close an eye on 'real world' auctions, let alone the contacts and skills to access private collections or sift through other sources. I accept that sellers need to run a business.

With so much material online, not to mention published reference works, a bit of research will give a buyer an idea of what is a fair price for an item.

 

[Viviene]

Thanks again. I think what buyers have to also decide is who they are going to trust to buy from online. I've bought my share of things on Ebay and count myself lucky that the things I've received have been in the as stated shape they were described as.

Unfortunately for the sellers, there are a fair bunch of sellers now on Ebay who don't worry about condition issues like the majority of us do. I never want a customer telling someone else that I sent them something that was not as described.

I've decided that Ebay is not the place I want to sell my items. There is a lot of shill bidding going on there and I'm not about to deal with that. There is also the cost of listing things over and over again when they don't sell. That drives up the price that all of you pay as well.

It's an advantage that I have where I sell. The overhead is much lower than Ebay and I've made more sales to international customers than U.S. buyers at this time.

One of the best places you can find information is the Vintage Fashion Guild. They have all types of label information dating the different manufacturer's labels so you can make sure that you are getting what you are paying for. I've been fortunate enough to be accepted as a member there and have contributed to the label resource. It's free for anyone to use. Thanks again for taking the time. I'll be gearing up shortly to go on a few buying trips and we'll see what I find this go around.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Hi Viviene

I don't limit my purchases to only the states, for sometimes vintage can be difficult to find, so it helps to widen my searches to other countries. I think it's wonderful that you are branching out. Hey, the larger you expand your market, the more $$ you will make.
I have a small store on ebay. Nothing near to what you have, just a place to sell some of my vintage items that I've stopped wearing or don't fit any more. For me, it's just a way to get a little extra cash so I can justify buying a new dress. I sell to people all over the world. The majority of my sales have been to people in the UK. I've been very lucky to never have a problem with a buyer. So, I'd say, keep branching out.

As for stocking items, I agree with what others say, have a good variety of sizes in both your vintage and modern collections. Also, like LizzieMaine said, sweaters and outerwear are always good sellers. Tops in general seem to be more difficult to find, as well as skirts. It seems that the majority of vintage items I see are one piece dresses and suits, which I have no complaints about. But, I'm always on the lookout for a cute pencil skirt and tops.

Just a suggestion, if you ever plan on selling repro's, I know you mentioned that you were carrying modern clothes, but maybe you could contact Stop Staring and find out what it takes to become a re-seller for them. They make great dresses, they sell themselves, and there are very few stores out there that sell them. It would be great to have a store here on the east coast selling them. Just a thought, maybe useful for a later date.

Best luck to you Oh, and I agree with you about The Vintage Fashion Guild, they are an incredible resource for the vintage collector and enthusiast. I have them on my bookmarks, so their link is right there on the top of every page I open so it's easy for me to refer to them when I find a piece that I'm interested in purchasing.

Keep us posted on how it's going for you,
Daisy

 

[Lauren]

Ditto on the vintage patterns. I also really love vintage lingerie if it's reasonably priced. And periodicals like fashion magazines, but I'm not sure if there's too much of a market for those with vintage clothing wearers. When I sell I get the highest prices for good vintage shoes, 30's clothing, 50's clothing, wedding dresses, and 80's clothing like you mentioned I've also gotten good sales from vintage patterns if they're more rare and counted. And if I really want something I'll buy internationally

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I forgot to mention that the Fashion-Era website also has some selling vintage tips. I'm sure it's information that you already know, but it might possibly be helpful to you. It's a nice website, they have all sorts of information and links about everything from everyday clothes, weddings, hair, sewing and patterns. It's a good site to learn just about everything vintage.

 

[Viviene]

Lauren and Daisy,

Thanks very much! I'll check out that site. I know that I'm always on the lookout for old catalogs and such to help me date items I've picked up in my travels.

I have daughters ages 9 and 8 and they have become very good at spotting vintage items as well. I found out that they actually absorbed some of what I've been spouting out over the years. My 9-year-old brought a dress to me one day and said, "Mom, is this vintage? It has pinked seams and a metal zipper plus it has that vintage smell." I about fell over and what she brought me was a wonderful 60s cocktail dress with sequins and feathers all in black. My girls both enjoy wearing the 70s maxi dresses I have found. When I find those dresses with damaged bottoms I shorten them a bit for them and they just love them. If it's not damaged on the bottom then in my store it goes.

My cohort Margaret and I have been trying to recruit some vintage pattern sellers for our site. So far we've had one person list a single pattern but she has told us she will be listing more. Feel free to check us out. I won't post the link here but you can always private message me if you want to take a look.

One thing I have to say about the Vintage Fashion Guild. When there was a problem with a seller on Ebay misrepresenting their vintage items as mint, this person was a VFG member. After a thorough investigation this person was removed from the Guild. Ebay has done nothing about removing this seller. With the moderators in each category on our site this kind of behavior will not be tolerated.

As to reproductions, since I have both a modern and vintage store I prefer at least at this point to not get into reproductions. The only reproductions I have are the ones I've made for myself. I'm trying to avoid anyone saying that I've provided them with a reproduction rather than an actual vintage item. I figure in the long run I'm best off doing business that way.