What’s Selling in Vintage & Antiques [September 2018]
Hi there! I hope you had a great weekend 🙂 My sweet husband and I drove to Vermont on Saturday to do some leaf peeping and had no luck at all. But the day was beautiful and we happily interupted our pleasant drive with stops at an estate sale and an auction house selling leftovers.
Despite being informed by VT’s foliage report that the state was either past peek (north) or at peek (south), we were greeted by an odd combination of full green, full loss, and brown. Not a red, yellow, or orange tree to be found. Very strange. We are going to try again next week. One can only hope…
Today I’m sharing what’s selling in vintage & antiques for September. While sales were not as robust as I would like, probably due to being spread too thin over a number of projects, it will simply have to do. Juggling my “empire,” as I refer to it tongue in cheek, is a fine science that I’ve not yet perfectly mastered.
Check out other income reports here: June, July, and August.
Antique Booth
An antique cowbell sold for for $25, marked down from $58 (cost: $10). NOTE: I usually start marking inventory down after it’s been in my booth for 6 months to a year. This piece had been in for just about a year. [Learn about how to remove rust here.]
A lichen sold for $6 (cost: 50¢). NOTE: I bought a bunch of these at a flea market a couple of years ago and this is the last one to sell. I think they look nice in the booth and enjoy selling them.
A local Cobleskill cheese box sold for $35, marked down from $45 (cost: $5). NOTE: The lid seemed overly large and there was some question as to whether it was original or not.
A vintage copper kettle marked “Korea” sold for $38 (cost: $2).
A Colgate College 1948 cheerleader megaphone sold for $15 (cost: 50¢).
Mother Goose, a well-loved Little Golden Book (©1957) sold for $3.00 (cost 50¢).
Cleo, another well-loved Little Golden Book (©1957, 1st edition) sold for $6 (cost: 50¢).
A ©1971 edition of the Joy of Cooking sold for $12 (cost: $1). NOTE: Soon I’ll be sharing the process for cleaning cookbook covers, which tend to be particularly grimy, and removing musty odors from them.
A pottery, swan-shaped toothpick holder sold for $10 (cost: $1).
One antique pressed glass salt cellar sold for $4 (cost: 50¢).
A vintage (Mexican?) crucifix sold for $10 (cost: $1).
No photos available:
Tall narrow shelf, cost: $15, sold: $45
4 imperfect doilies trimmed with pansies, cost: free, sold: $4
Quilt pieces for crafting, cost: $1, sold: $5
Calipers, cost: .50, sold: $10
Vintage billiard balls, cost: , sold: $15
Museum plaster casting, cost: .50, sold: $5
Vintage orange metal rake, cost: $1, sold: $10
Ironstone bowl, cost: .50, sold: $6
Small white corner shelf, cost: $1, sold: $10
Adirondack Country Cook Book, cost: free, sold: $5
Our Way of Cooking, cost: free, sold: $2
Home Bureau Connections, cost: free, sold: $2
Red ladder, cost: $3, sold: $30
Facebook Market
Remember this chalk painted mirror project? It refused to sell from my antique booth, so I listed it in FB Market and it finally sold for $20 (cost: $2).
A Pottery Barn, double-handled jug sold for $15 (cost: $1). Sometimes, even if I’m not sure I’m going to like a garage sale find in my own home, I’ll go ahead and pick it up, knowing that chances are good I’ll be able to sell it in Facebook Market. This piece was much too large and heavy to consider selling on eBay, but I had tremendous response on FB Market and probably could have sold it for more. Live and learn.
Ebay
A vintage mercury glass Christmas garland sold for $15.99 (cost: $1). NOTE: I have had great success selling these garlands on eBay and look for them regularly. They are usually mixed up in a bag or a box with modern, plastic garlands. Look for beads that move on their string, have sharp edges (where the glass has broken), and have a piece of wire/and or a cardboard circle or star on each end. Check out this post for some comparison photos.
A Boy Scout patch sold for $1.99 (cost: 50¢).
A “Butterscotch” Bakelite bangle bracelet sold for $14.50 (cost: $1).
A pair of Military Intelligence, Batallion 302 pins sold for $7.91 (cost: 50¢).
The Sugar Plum a 2nd edition, ©1918, Red Cross cookbook sold for $17.99 (cost: $1).
I sold my last bunch of wood salve from pre-orders I received last spring. I enjoy making it, using it, and selling it, but it’s quite a process. I have a dream someday of having it manufactured, but have no idea how to go about accomplishing that, so I’ve put the idea on the shelf for another day.
So that’s it for this month! Below is a full reporting of what I made through my vast vintage “empire” in September. I should note that yes, there are fees associated with ebay and PayPal, but I have found that the overage I make from shipping (I generally round up to quote a shipping charge) cancels out those fees, so I don’t report them here. (I don’t round up shipping on my wood salve.)
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I’m just a state away and my September sales were excellent, which was unusual, but I’m down this month. My shows were horrendous this month even those I regularly do well at. This is such an unpredictable business you do need to keep adjusting your strategy. Your ad income is incredible and well-deserved with all that you put into your blog. Also I’m looking forward to the cookbook post.
I second everything Melissa just said. Sept was a good booth month for me and Oct is going good so far as well. I’m hoping for good income over November and Dec. I am also looking forward to the cookbook cover post. I need to look into that ad income – wow – impressive!
I love your posts about what you’ve sold and the profit margin. As for the foliage. We live on the CT border of MA. Because of all the rain we’ve had, the maples are throwing in the towel and wanting to go to bed, because of the mold that has been wreaking havoc …..that’s my husbands words. I’ve never seen it this bad. So I don’t believe you will see any better this weekend. Sorry. 🙁
Diana, I have a Special Edition of a Little Golden Book called The Birthday Band. It was free with Post Crispy Critters cereal. Do you think it would have value, too ? I have found that a magic eraser works well on cleaning hardback book covers. I’m SO glad you finally told us how to distinguish the mercury glass garland from it’s fake counterparts. I will look for them at estate sales ! I love seeing your success with these posts.
Diana, thanks for sharing your income reports with us. It’s a funny business, you can not predict ups and downs! Typically September is a good month and October is usually better. However, not this year. My check for the first two weeks of October was the least I’ve seen, and September was not good at all. My mix of things was pretty much the same as usual but I definitely worked hard on creating a cohesive booth. The pouring rain for the last month has not helped (either my mood or the number of customers!). I did sell 3 pieces of furniture on Facebook Marketplace and that definitely helped my bottom line. I could have sold a couple more, but they were in my booth and that seemed to discourage folks. If not for a place to sell smalls, I might consider giving up my booth. Great job accepting the Mediavine ads, that’s a definite plus for you!
Here in Maine the foliage is GONE!!! Wind and rain did a number on the maples, still a bit of color here and there! The oaks always turn brown anyway. I have used Awesome on plasticy/coated bookcovers/dust jackets QUICKLY to take off icky/sticky-ness on books with good luck. One place where I have a booth (didn’t make booth rent in either place) said it was the worst month they have ever had, despite leaf peeking season. Tha Joy of Cooking looks like mine; first married in ’73. I was SOOO disappointed that it did not have my mother’s recipe for banana bread (uses sour milk); her’s was a WW2 vintage including info on how to beat the yellow coloring into oleo (margarine). Loved the kettle; copper is supposed to be making a comeback! Never left my house! Thanx for all the work you put into showing us your info.
Thanks for another great blog post! I am always inspired by your sales, it is really interesting to see what others are selling and how they are doing. I just got a report from my antique mall yesterday, sold well this month! My husband and I went to Door County, Wisconsin last week to see the gorgeous foliage. It was cold and windy, but the colors did not disappoint. Visited a few of our favorite thrift stores too and ate apple cider donuts and delicious fish and cherry pie. Needless to say, I am going to be hitting the gym a bit harder this week! I am interested in reading about your tips on getting the musty scent out of books and cleaning the covers. I love books, but often the older ones carry the yukky scent the comes from storing them in a damp basement. I have tried a few things, with varying degrees of success, so I am thrilled to read that it will be a topic on your blog. Thanks again and happy hunting!
Hi Diana, a good post as usual….. I was wondering about the Ebay income though, do you not factor in the cost of listing and the fees? I think there is no magic bullet for selling, everything goes through a cycle. Some months are good some are bad. Wouldn’t it be great to find the magic formula!!! Happy Selling everyone.
This fall was good selling for me but I sell at vintage markets. Unfortunately, one of the shows I count on in October was cancelled due to heavy rains & soggy grounds. Because weather is always so unpredictable, I’m looking at booths and have narrowed it down to a few I’m considering…and, of course, they have waiting lists. I also sell on FB garage sale sites and Marketplace. I also spend the most time (waste the most time) with that venue because of all the people who say they want something then change their mind or just don’t bother showing up. That’s always my last resort. Good sellers for me these past 2 months were tall candlestick holders, rusty anything, kitchen cookery pieces. I always enjoy seeing what others are selling. Thanks for the info on glass beads; I shall now be on the lookout.
I really enjoyed this post, and hearing what has sold for you. Truly the ups and downs of sales is a trick thing! It is amazing how you made so much money off of your ads, I had no idea that you could make that much money from them, that is wonderful for you! Thank you for sharing your knowledge of the antique business, it has been so helpful to me 🙂