I thought it would be fun to find out why and how the rest of you decided to start selling online.
- How did you start?
- What did you start with?
- What was the catalyst?
- Or if you started with a booth, let me know why you decided to start with that
If I get enough responses, I’ll publish them in another post. Let me know in the comments!
For me, I come from a long line of folks who never threw anything away. Consequently, I’ve had access to all kinds of odd stuff from parents and grandparents, much of which I’ve already sold.
After that, I got the bug, started going to estate and yard sales looking for everyone else’s odd stuff. So how did you start?
I wish I still had photos of that early stuff I sold, but I don’t. Lately I’ve really been cleaning out, purging, and downsizing, so here’s a sample of what I’ve had hanging around the house for years.
OLD QUILTS
Both my grandmothers quilted in the past, but mainly my dad’s mother who I never met. I’ve inherited all her old quilts, which I finally rescued from our hot attic this year.
Probably hard to see, but this is a Log Cabin design (I think), made from bits of satin and velvet.
At one time I had it hanging on the wall, so it still had curtain rings attached. Age and attic heat took its toll…it was deteriorating, but it sold quickly.
Vintage Patchwork Star Quilt. It was made 20 years ago but with old fabrics my grandmother saved.
I was afraid the fading would prevent it from selling, but not.
Another old patchwork quilt hanging around our closet for years. Homemade with no batting, and heavy, but it was colorful and made with upholstery scraps.
I figured I would have to donate it, but would you believe it got tons of favorites??
It sold quickly! I can’t understand it.
Colorful Granny Squares Afghan one of my dad’s patients made years ago. It took a while to sell.
I bought this over 20 years ago when I was on a Wizard of Oz kick. Only thing was there were a bunch of them on Etsy already, but it sold fairly quickly.
ODDS AND ENDS
Old tractor funnel we found in our basement. The person who bought it was making a Christmas tree out of old funnels.
Vintage Coffee Grinder I dug out of a dumpster way before it was cool to be a dumpster diver! It took a while to sell too.
You’ve seen it before on another post, but this has been in my family a long time…a vintage funeral basket in great shape, and it sold quickly.
I bought this years ago when discovering the Titanic was all over the news. It sold fairly quickly.
My brother gave me this German made beer stein for Christmas about 40 years ago! How quickly the years pass!
It took a while to sell.
Hobo wood carving…a souvenir of a trip to Europe my mom and I made back in the 70’s. It practically took wings and flew out of my shop!
Toy cast iron stove I got for Christmas as a kid. I’ve kept it on display as an adult. I hated to part with it, but we’re downsizing.
It sold quickly.
Read my lips…there were a ton on Etsy.
Now I just KNEW this wasn’t going ANYWHERE! Only because there were about 3 pages of them on Etsy already!
It sold quickly.
Cute vintage tablecloth, full of stains, and sold quickly.
2 Vintage Flower frogs sold fairly quickly
I confess I never heard of Norman Greenbaum until I met my first husband. This was one of his favorite records.
It had the hit “Spirit in the Sky” which sold over 2 million copies in the 70’s.
I learned from a record dealer acquaintance that’s not good when you’re trying to sell a record. It means there’s a lot of them out there.
Even my beloved Beatles’ albums from the 60’s aren’t worth that much.
And it took a while to sell.
OLD CHRISTMAS STUFF
This beautiful Christmas cake tin was holding picture hanging stuff. Finally got around to emptying it out this year & it sold quickly.
Have you heard of David Frykmann? He makes cutesy Christmas figurines, and this was one of the early ones from 1997. Apparently the earlies are quite collectible.
I just wanted to get rid of it, LOL.
The person who bought this was looking for Santa & Airplane, and was willing to pay top dollar if I could find one. Be on the lookout for the early pieces then.
Back in my adventurous days, I did lots of backpacking & camping.
I’m trying to sell off that old stuff now, like these 2 old Army/Navy canteens. They took a while.
MY DAD’S WORLD WAR II STUFF
Dad’s 100% wool army blanket in perfect condition. Sold quickly.
2 Sets of ID Dog Tags with Old Keys Attached
I’m just showing you one. Sold quickly.
A compilation of old phrase books, German map written in German, Bible promises, old postcards, others. It sold fairly fast.
I’m sure you’re asking why I’m selling this World War 2 stuff. Mainly because I don’t have children to pass it on to. I must get rid of stuff. I can’t keep everything, nor do I want to.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to sell his old medals and military patches yet, but I must do something with them eventually.
So the point of all this is…if you sell online or in a booth, look around the house for YOUR treasures. Give it a whirl. You may be surprised like I was.
Don’t forget to tell me how you got started selling!
PLEASE PIN!
Florence
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Well.…. Since you asked…… Sit down and let me just tell you all about it. LOL I was a bored, only child, latchkey kid (before that was even a term). One day when I was about 10, the boredom was enough to cause me to read articles in my mother’s latest Good Housekeeping or whatever it was. There was an article about an antique dealer. Why, I didn’t know there were such people! I had always loved the old stuff but Momma did not. She grew up with it and didn’t want someone’s old used furniture. She liked new and modern. My, how I wish I had more of those modern things she had in the early ’60’s.
After reading that article, I knew I wanted to be an antique dealer when I grew up. As a young bride, I went to yard and estate sales back when they were really just getting started in the area. I bought for myself and for my future antique business. I couldn’t figure out how to have that business, though. It all cost money. A stand alone shop was out of the question. Then antique malls started popping up. Still, it cost money to rent a booth. THEN… the World Wide Web happened. I learned there was such thing as online bulletin boards. What if I could somehow sell like that? There were a couple of things standing in the way, though. First, we didn’t have any kind of internet (WWW) service in our area. Second, if I did, it would be hard to sell something site unseen. Maybe take pictures and send them to the person interested in buying what I was offering? I’d daydream about this all the time.
A few years went by and we finally got AOL but it was long distance, so time spent online was very limited before finally getting local access. Then in 1997 or 98? 97 I think. A little mall opened in our town with booth rent of only $40. I was scared, but jumped on it. Surely I could sell $40 worth a month! I had also found out about eBay around the same time. Someone had stolen my idea! Ha! So I started a booth and eBay in the same month of the same year. That dream I’d had for 30+ years was finally happening!
Booths have come and gone and I’ve totally switched to selling on Etsy instead of eBay but even with lots of ups and downs, I still have a booth and sell online. At the moment though, I’m questioning my desire to continue selling online. Selling at all really but I doubt I can stop any time soon. I slow up or back away, but always come back.
That’s an interesting history Wanda! I remember the story about your mom not liking antiques & your being a latchkey kid. Wow, don’t you wish booth rentals today were as cheap as $40?? Amazing you kept and acted on your dream over all those years since reading the article in the magazine! I know what you mean about the ups & downs of selling on Etsy. And of course I started out on Ebay myself, but with all their nitpicky rules & unfair practices towards sellers, I decided to leave. I go back occasionally to sell there, but for the most part not. You’re still in your booth too & I don’t know how you have the time to do both. I never could.