Etsy is a perfect platform for re-selling vintage items. In my opinion, Etsy has the right elegance and feel on its website to attract high-end buyers for vintage items. Because of this, in some cases, you’ll probably get more money for your vintage items on Etsy than on a more general site like eBay. (Keep in mind, however, that getting a higher price might mean the item takes longer to sell.)
With the higher values, it makes perfect sense to resell vintage items on Etsy. To get started, you’ll actually need vintage items to sell, here’s how to go about finding them.
Make Sure You Are Buying Items More Than 20 Years Old
Etsy’s seller policy states that a vintage item is considered any item that is more than 20 years old.
With vintage items, be careful of buying reproductions or knock-off items which are new and made to look vintage. A perfect example of a reproduction vintage item would be a metal advertising sign you might see for sale at Hobby Lobby.
A good example of a vintage item however is a Book, DVD, Record, Cassette, or CD with a copyright/printing date of more than 20 years ago.
How To Find Vintage Items
Finding the best vintage items to resell on Etsy is exactly the same process I use for finding vintage items to resell on eBay.
A while back I wrote a couple of guides that talk about how to find the best items to resell on eBay, (vintage items are included.)
Check out: Best Kinds of Items To Resell on eBay
Also, check out: How and Where To Buy Things To Resell on eBay
In a nutshell, here are some example ideas for the types of vintage items that will sell well for you on Etsy.
- Movies on DVD, VHS, or Blu-Ray
- Music on CD, Cassettes, or Records
- Vintage Clothing, Shoes, and Hats
- Vintage Electronics
- Old and New Computers and Smartphones
- Video Games – Retro and Newer
- Anything Lego – Sets and Parts
- New old stock items
- Books and Magazines
- Antiques and Collectibles
The best places to find vintage items are the following:
- Moving Sales
- Estate Sales
- The Flea Market
- Thrift Stores
- Online Marketplaces like Craigslist, Offer Up, and Facebook Marketplace.
The Reality Of Finding Vintage Items
The reality of finding vintage items is that every city and state is a bit different. Where I live in California, after 5 years of sourcing vintage items, I’ve discovered that the flea market is by far the best use of my time for sourcing vintage items.
When I watch other resellers on YouTube, it seems like some people who live in the MidWest do extremely well with Garage and Estate sales. But, they don’t go to many flea markets or swap meets.
Final Thoughts
It’s interesting to see the different sourcing methods people have access to, depending on where they live. My best advice for you is just to start getting out there and hunt for vintage items. After some time, you’ll quickly discover which types of places work better than others. Then, you’ll know exactly how to prioritize your time and the types of vintage items that you can regularly get.