Working Hard or Just Spinning My Wheels?!

My neighborhood thrift store is literally on the way to my church, so naturally on Sunday I decided to leave a few minutes early to have a QUICK browse before the service. 

Well after putting these back on the shelves I decided to make one more tour of the hard goods aisles before heading out the door and I spotted part of this frame behind others in the art section. I pulled it out and had a hallelujah moment. Now this was more like it–an antique wood shadowbox frame that had been later fitted with a mirror.

• I need to keep focusing on higher-value items. Even though my number of sales is still below average, my revenue is way up. The people who have extra money right now want good stuff! 
• I need to keep an eye on what’s popular with buyers, both in my store and in the vintage/antique industry in general. I’ve learned the hard way that certain things just don’t sell for me anymore. I

What I Am Looking For

I want to sell boxes that are uncommon and uncommonly good. When I’m sourcing I focus on craftsmanship, quality, uniqueness and age in all types of materials. I pay particular attention to snuff and cigarette boxes which remain popular categories with buyers. I also look for items that have hallmarks, signatures, brand marks and other types of identification.

• Antique booth and flea market stall fees
• Software (accounting, listing, photography, etc.) fees
• Storage (buying bins, shelves, space, etc.) costs
• Shipping material (mailers, bubble wrap, boxes, etc) costs

What Made the Difference in Sales?

This July my number of orders improved from the previous two months and my Etsy revenue jumped up significantly. 

This week I let all the items in my Chairish shop, Cloak and Dagger Vintage, expire. A few of these items have been there since my opening four years ago and they just wouldn’t sell. A couple are now too big for their shipping program so I would need to handle the packing and shipping myself which would be a huge hassle.