Showing posts with label Etsy seller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Etsy seller. Show all posts

Keeping It Fresh


  Today my mind is on my vintage clothing sales. I ran down to the shop this morning to swap out some inventory. I tend to pack my clothing racks a bit too much! What I’m doing now is making sure I only have a certain amount of hangers and then swapping out new inventory to the amount of empty hangers or items I need to bring home and put online. 

  I’ve set up a clearance eBay account that I use as a “last chance“ inventory dump. I list stuff at the price I paid for it plus shipping and a small handling fee to cover materials and fees that I have to pay to eBay. It’s an attempt not to take a loss on an item. Most of the time stuff does sell but after it’s been up a month, if there’s still no interest, it gets donated.

 
That fitting room glow…

  The clothing inventory I have in the shop is not online so when I do swap things out, I list them on Etsy first. I love the shop dressing room lighting so I usually snap a few pictures there and it ends up being less editing for me later. After a month on Etsy, it goes to eBay.

  I find that creating a cycle helps me keep my inventory fresh no matter the platform or place that it is. It also takes the guesswork, about where something will sell, out of it because there are multiple opportunities lined up. I think I need to figure out where Mercari or Depop could fit into all this. If you have experience with vintage clothing on either one of these sites, I would really love to hear about it. I dipped my toe in Depop and didn’t have much success but it was never my focus so that probably has something to do with it.



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My First Vintage Market

Photo courtesy of Josie Allen

This Sunday, October 13th, I participated in my first vintage market at the Shabby Chic show in Safety Harbor, Florida.  It was  my first market as a vintage vendor.  Since I haven’t done one before, I’m not really sure what qualifies as a success, but I made back all my booth and preparation fees and then some and that feels like a win.  
Photo courtesy of Jason Richarme

I think I definitely picked the right market to be my first. It’s been around for a few years and the planners have a good following and a lot of experience. There wasn’t a lot of communication, but there was enough so that when we got there we weren’t entirely clueless. They had adequate staff on hand for unloading and directing as people came in. I would definitely do another show with this group.

I want to end on a high note so I’ll just get the complaints out of the way. October in Florida is still insanely hot.  My tent is old and crappy and hard to open. It takes a long freaking time to clean and price and wrap breakable old things. I can go eight hours without peeing but I would rather not. People who don’t know the difference between “antique” and “vintage” sometimes think vintage sellers are shady and trying to pull one over on them.  Vintage dealers are expected to haggle a little bit and I did not price my items with that expectation.. “Vintage” markets are about 30% MLM businesses, 30% crafts, 10% food, 15% new purchased items imported from China, 15% vintage and/or antiques. (Which actually might’ve been a good thing for me as people expressed  delight at finding a booth that actually embodied what they thought the event was all about.)
Photo courtesy of Heather Randall

I did love a lot of things about this event. Despite the heat, there were so many cute dogs! It was an endless parade of adorableness. There was also a steady stream of shoppers and this made the day pass very quickly. I had several friends stop by and see me. The vendors on both sides of me and even down further were very nice and it was interesting to talk to them about different events and ideas. Sales were decent, and just as valuable to me, were connections made. I was approached by two different antique stores that will have openings after the holidays and that “preapproved“ me for a booth if I’m interested (I am!). I also met a lady who has had booths in several different establishments and was able to share which ones worked out for her and which ones to avoid. This info could potentially save me a lot of time and money! I’m also somewhat on the hunt for an established vintage store that I could gain experience working at and possibly one day take over. I met an older couple who have had their business open for 20+ years and that could potentially turn into the sort of situation I am looking for.  

My goal in doing these markets is not so much financial as it is getting familiar with the vintage industry locally. This experience was definitely a success in that way.
Photo courtesy of Heather Randall

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