Vintage Books

[Former_Member]

Wow, so a couple of years ago, before I got serious selling my stuff, DH and I used to garage sale and find cool stuff to re-sell. Usually just on Craigslist and occasionally on ebay. It was fun. We actually made over $500 on just one record that we paid .25 for at a garage sale once. Anyway, one of the things we had the best luck with was stumbling on old vintage books. We're both book lovers so this really worked out. Plus, he grew up "reselling" collectibles with his dad at the flea markets so he's always loved that.

Anyway, I just stumbled upon vintage books here on etsy. It makes sense that they are here, but I guess I never considered it. Oy. DH is now researching vintage books, etc here so we may be opening a second shop! lol.

Anyone here have both? What do you think?

[PattenCreations]

I don't and not sure it would be worth a second shop...but I do have a couple I've listed on ebay. Know the value and won't undersell them...so far they haven't sold though. Good luck!

[livjewellery]

Sounds like a vintage bookshop would be right up your alley! Good luck - it is great having more than one shop. Often when one is quiet, you can make up for it with the other. And in my third shop, which I never promote and rarely list in, gets a sale - it's like found money. :)

[Former_Member]

Pattern, I hear ya! Some of these old books go for quite a bit of money, which I think is great that people still find value in books :)

We still need to do a lot of research since we're certainly not pros at pricing vintage, but it might be something fun to consider!

[jill2day]

When my MIL died, my son and I opened a second shop to sell some of her things. We made some spending money for him to take to school that fall, but mostly I just gained a tremendous amount of respect for the good vintage sellers here on Etsy!

I thought I had it tough with OOAK handmade, but I found Vintage so much harder! Every item needs to be research. Every item needed to be packaged differently. The postage for every item was different... and many customers knew a lot more about vintage than we did! It was fun while it lasted, but was very happy to close shop!

However - you are going into it with far more interest and knowledge than we had. I think it is great if you are specialized in books. That will narrow the variables so much. I think you guys would be great at it and should go for it!!

[Former_Member]

Jill, this is what i'm worried about! We both love books, and seem to always find great old ones when digging through boxes, BUT, we are not super knowledgeable and I know it will take a lot of research to list each item. It's fun though, and this would be more for him than me anyway since he grew up in this sort of atmosphere. I know it will be hard, and completely unlike running my handmade shop. I'm making him research thoroughly before we even attempt it, lol!

[MerrillLand]

My brother sells vintage books on abe and I had a vintage book store here for a while but I just didn't have time to promote it or do the research.

[Former_Member]

Ooh! I never thought of that, I have a LOT of vintage books (most foreign, French, German) that I picked up from the thrift store. My campus was close to an "Out of the Closet" and I'd bring home as many books as I could fit into my napsack. Sometimes, bags. People thought I was so weird, I'd be carrying neon pink bags filled with old books! haha.

The only qualm I had about selling them is the shipping, they're pretty heavy. I mean if it's truly a relic, someone wouldn't mind paying $10 to ship (don't recommend sending it through media mail, can take 4 weeks to get to it's destination,lol)

Good luck with your endeavors, it sure sounds really neat!!! :)

[Former_Member]

What a great idea. Extra money coming in, something you both enjoy, and he'd do most of the work. I say go for it.

[PinkPjs]

Very exciting, you'll learn so much as you go along!

I'd like to open a "destash" shop, but I'm waiting until we can do it under one account - hopefully that day will come soon ...