What Selling in Vintage & Antiques April 2018
Hi there–I hope you had a great weekend! I did some vintage shopping on Friday with my sweet husband. It was a glorious, 65°, blue sky day. We filled the van and had a lot of fun in the process. Did you see the photo I posted on Instagram of my over-stuffed van? I’ll be sharing it again in this week’s subscriber newsletter. Sign up below to receive the newsletter, along with notification of my blog posts as well, right in your inbox.
But today we’re here to talk about what’s selling in vintage and antiques, and I’ll be sharing my April income report as well. I had a rough month in my shop, especially considering that the rent in my new space is so high ($200), but I’m pleased with my Wood Salve profit and my gift shop check (albeit small–but no rent, just commission). All the numbers are at the end of the post.
Antique Booth
An American majolica planter sold for $40 (cost: $3). Read more about vintage pottery here.
A vintage machinists tool box sold for $10 (cost: $1).
An antique money box sold for $10 (cost: $1).
An antique leather case sold for $18 (cost: $1).
Above you saw the case in its natural state. In this photo, you can see that on the left it’s been treated. I gave it a coat of my own Wood Salve–an all natural product that I recently developed.
The July Wood Salve Pre-Order form is now full.
Keep watching for my next small batch of this all natural product.
A birch bark canoe sold for $18 (cost: $1).
A vintage side table sold for $25 (cost $3).
A pressed glass creamer sold for $4 after lowering the price from $10 (cost: $2). [Lesson: No more clear glass!!!]
An aqua “Daisy & Button” toothpick sold for $10 (cost: 50¢).
[Not Pictured]
Red wagon, $18
2 old bottles, $4 & $6
Pale pink, shabby chic mirror, $25
Red barn board bench, $38
Framed French print, $10
2 Hanging baskets, $15 each
2 Cutting boards, $6, $12
Money box, $10
Small basket, $6
Side table, $20
Book, $5
English crockery jug, $12
Vintage Blog Shop
A set of Sipper Straws sold for $14.99 (cost: $1).
[Not Pictured]
A large ironstone platter stenciled “Ironstone Cottage” sold for $54.99.
Ebay
An antique bench scraper sold for the best offer of $15 (cost: 50¢).
A set of five railroad time tables sold for $12.53 at auction (cost: 50¢). Note, this is the third set of five that I’ve sold, which has turned out to be the best way to sell them. I have about 30 more to sell from the original bag that I purchased for $2 or $3.
An aborigine/black Americana card offered at $5.99 sold for the best offer of $4.00 (cost: free). This card was in a large bag of [mostly used] greeting cards that I purchased last fall. I wrote a post about the Valentines in the bag and sold many of them to readers and on Ebay, for a total of $42, so far.
Six packages of “Mother” wrapping paper sold at auction for $13.89 (cost: 50¢).
A sterling silver intaglio cocktail ring sold at auction for $17.93 (cost: $2).
A pewter hair clip, signed Jorgen Jensen, son of famed designer Georg Jensen, offered at $16.99 and sold for the best offer of $13 (cost: $2).
A Shaker style pin cushion sold at auction for $13.47 (cost: $1).
A collection of sewing notions sold for the Buy It Now price of $12.99 (cost: $1). Note, this is the third set of sewing notions that I’ve sold and I have a large bag full of miscellaneous bits and bobs to sell off in small lots like this one.
Simple Gifts (the Shaker gift shop)
The barn board “Hands to Work, Hearts to God” sign (bottom left) sold for $20. The green-leafed Tree of Life watercolor painting sold for $$18. Two pots of Wood Salve sold for $20. The shop deducts 30% commission and then cuts me a check. This quarter’s check totaled $49. (I know the math’s not right, something else must have sold, but I can’t find my “sold” sheet, lol).
Wood Salve
I sold 14 containers of Wood Salve ($9.99 – $1 off) for a total of $125.86. [Would have been 15, but one person must have changed their mind and didn’t pay the PayPal invoice.]
All in all not a terrible month, but I’m hoping for drastic improvement from my antique booth at the Gristmill Antique Center. Also, my attention has been diverted away from Ebay by several other “projects,” but I hope to refocus some energy there this month. It’s still “just” pocket money, but it makes me happy 🙂
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Other posts you might enjoy:
March 2018 Income Report
February 2018 Income Report
January 2018 Income Report
I’d love it if you’d pin me 🙂
Just the best blog I follow! Learning so much from you. Q: What’s the best way to start researching vintage stuff. I have a small assortment that I want to put on my etsy site, but I’ve had trouble finding the right info. It’s vintage jewelry, aluminum platter, and other assorted stuff. Do you have keywords or ideas that might help. Thanks. PS Hope that not to much on my part.
Oh my gosh, Julie, you are the sweetest!! I’m SO glad you are enjoying my blog. Some places to get help with pricing: my Price Guides (button on sidebar), Ebay “SOLD” searches, WorthPoint (button on sidebar), my Facebook group–Your Vintage Headquarters–that’s filled with vintage lovers who help each other out. Also, when you subscribe to my blog via email, you’ll get a weekly email newsletter that has newsy info on this and other topics. Hope that helps!!
Thank you! I’l follow your suggestions. You are the best!
Such great information and I love that you are transparent enough to share your earnings! One question about that, does your cost of goods include the fees that the various vendors charge (etsy/eBay/PayPal)?
Also, how do you choose where to sell your items? Is eBay still a good choice? I’ve heard their fees have risen dramatically in the past few years.
Thanks!
No It doesn’t include those fees, Tanya, because it’s a hassle for me to figure them out each month when I can download them easily for the entire year for tax purposes.
I save money whenever I ship through Ebay (they get a USPS discount), and I usually cushion my shipping charges by .50-$1 because you never know until you package it up and ship it how much it’s going to exactly cost. Those shipping savings/earnings amount to approximately the fees charged by Ebay and PayPal, so I stopped including those figures, since it’s basically a wash. Does that make sense?
Yes. Thanks!
Oops I forgot! I wanted to ask you about your sewing notions. If you have any needle cards, would you be interested in selling just those?
I’ll email you separately after I see what I have, Tanya, okay?
Perfect!
Diana, I’m afraid I might have missed something about filling out the invoice for the wood salve. And I can’t find where it says to do that in my archives of your posts. Can you get me straightend out? Thanks, Naomi S.
I sent you an email separately, Naomi–did you receive it?
Looks like you had a good month; it will be great to see tourist season, though, too! I am hoping our new booth does well. My partner is sooo good at “styling” the displays. I hit 1 yard sale this weekend and GW today; will have to load the dishwasher again! Want to sew some of the material I got at the thrift store last week–probably pillow tops/shams. Haven’t tackled any yardwork yet; black flies are wicked!
Sounds like you scored a lot of buys, Kathy! So sorry about the black flies. I remember them growing up–Albany’s too developed for black flies, lol. June will be here soon!! Hoping your tourist season means some great sales for you!!
My month of April was pretty slow, too, but things are picking up again on eBay. I was curious about the leather case that was marked Hubertus that sold in your antiques booth. Hubertus is a German knife and cutlery maker, but the shape and clips on the sides looked similar to a leather case for a traditional hunting flask (the glass type in a vertical vial shape with a hinged metal screw top), or a case for a huntsman’s horn (a small simple horn shape).
Both would clip to a rider’s saddle – the horn in front of the saddle’s leg flap, the flask behind) so each could be carried easily while fox hunting. (St. Hubertus or Hubert is the patron saint of hunters.) Looks like your wood salve did the trick in refreshing the leather on your case. I also recommend Horseman’s One Step – a cream preparation made for leather sold in small containers available from most tack shops and online suppliers.
You are a treasure trove of information!!! Many thanks for your time to post! I would also like to order the Wood Salve, so if you could forward that info to me, I would/wood :^) much appreciate it!
Blessings,
J
Such an wonderful assortment, Diana. That leather case really piques my interest 😉 Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm–pinned!
Hi Diana, I have just found your blog and have had fun looking through it. You have a lot of great information! I am looking into having either a small booth or selling items (I collect vintage children’s books mostly, but I love all things ephemera and other doo dads). My 12 year old son wants to do this with me, so it’s sort of an experiment. I am interested in the fact that you sell both in a booth and online.. Is there a reason that you don’t sell only in a booth since you are already paying rent? Do you try the booth first and if it doesn’t sell there, move it online for more exposure? Have you tried Etsy or only Ebay? I would love to hear your thoughts/pros/cons on the differences between online/booth. A booth seems easier (than the packing/mailing), but then that rental fee! Thanks in advance!