I've been thinking a lot lately about my experience with selling vintage with Misha the Bear. Misha will be 8 months old soon, which I think has been prompting a lot of reflection, as well as comparison with Chelleline Cards. It's been an enjoyable experience, and I've learned a lot. It's also made me think about vintage in a different way.
1) Running a vintage business is hard, but in different ways from handmade. First of all, selling vintage is harder than it looks. One of the reasons why I wanted to start selling Soviet vintage was because I was so burned out from making cards at Chelleline Cards. "Wouldn't it be nice," I said to myself, "if I could sell something that was already made? Then all I would have to do would be to pack and ship it! It's so easy!" (I don't carry a lot of inventory at Chelleline Cards, so I usually have to make a bunch of cards when I receive orders.)
In many ways, selling vintage on Etsy is easier than selling handmade on Etsy. Vintage items are well-known and people will specifically seek out your items. With handmade, not so much - you have to drive people to your shop more so than if you were selling vintage. However, photographing, listing, promoting (normally through team forums) is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. And after all that work, to receive only a $30 sale? It can be a little discouraging. Even during my best month of selling vintage on Etsy, the amount I earned would be considered paltry if I were to compare it to what Chelleline Cards makes per month - even though I do earn more of a profit selling vintage.
2) I'm developing an eye for spotting vintage. I've also noticed, after several trips to the flea market and area thrift stores and browsing through hundreds and thousands of vintage listings on Etsy, that I've started to develop a more refined eye. I've always been interested in the objects people keep in their home, but now I'm able to recognize styles, periods, even certain brands. I was very proud of myself for recognizing a Blendo bowl when a thrift blogger posted it on her blog and asked for help in ID'ing it. But I'm still hesitant to buy American vintage for resale, outside of books, that is. I guess I have to learn to trust my eye.
3) Welcoming the old, shunning the new, and then back again. During the first few months when I was selling at Misha the Bear, I started to develop the mindset (common among vintage lovers and sellers) that only old objects were worth keeping and that new objects were just "not as good." Being a maker of new things myself, I tried to resist this mindset but it crept in anyway. However, after I bought a few dishes at the flea market and a My Little Pony mug at Goodwill, I realized that I didn't want to actually use them. The thought of my lips touching the same rim that a stranger's lips had touched years ago gave me the creeps. The same with clothes - even though I do admire a lot of vintage fashions and I may try to work on this in the future with regards to clothes. So now, my rule is that I won't buy anything that I eat off of or wear used and if I do buy these things used, it will be for decoration or display and not actual use. Also, there are lots of nice new things being made and sold, and they will be old and valuable someday! All old things were once new, after all.
To sum up, running any sort of business is hard. I think I would be sorely disappointed if I were trying to sell vintage full-time on Etsy, but as it's a side gig, I'm pretty satisfied with getting a few orders a week. If I were to sell full-time, I would probably expand into eBay and look into selling in person at a flea market, for example. And while it's tempting to do so, I have to remind myself where my priorities are (with Chelleline Cards). But I'll keep chugging along with Misha, too! I'm here to stay.
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