Thrifted Treasure Tales

 When thrifting for resale I first look for items that catch my eye.  I am drawn to certain colors, materials, and styles.  I really cannot explain what it truly is about an object that catches my eye and draws me in to look at it more closely.  First it is the general appearance of the item that catches my attention.  My example today will be vintage/antique Brush McCoy stoneware/pottery.  

The two pieces of above at both Brush McCoy pottery from around 1920/1930.  I happen to walk up to a local thrift store and these where sitting on a shelf outside.  What caught my eye first is the color, followed by the over all look of the pieces.  They both show signs of being old piece.  

I picked them up to hold on to while I looked around.  I took time to google lens each piece.  Google lens returns identified them as Brush McCoy pottery from around the 1920's-1930's.  The elephant bowl is sometimes listed as a mixing bowl, planter, or pet food bowl.  The bottom is identified as a bulb tray/planter tray.  Both which have some resale value.

Here is a brief history, Brush McCoy pottery is actually a company formed in 1911 when Brush Pottery, Zanesville Ohio and McCoy pottery Roseville, Ohio merged.  With this merger the company had two plants turning out pottery and stoneware.  Plant #1 was in Zanesville, Ohio creating art ware and plant #2 in Roseville created stoneware and cookware.  The McCoy family withdrew their interest from the company in 1925 and the company returned to being Brush Pottery Company.  

I noticed in researching these piece some sellers contribute it to McCoy pottery and others Brush McCoy pottery.  Only one has a mold mark on it, no other marking what so ever.  When researching these pieces I noticed that there where not a lot listing for them, and the listings I found had all sold.  Seeing that I knew these might be rarer pieces.  After all given the age and the utilitarian use many probably did not survive.  

At the time I purchased these the sold comps where $100-$150.  That was for ones with no visible flaws.  Both of these had a chip on them.  Imperfect comps where selling $50-$90.  I decided to take a chance on them.  I am glad I did, I paid $1.50 for both pieces.  I listed them one at a time.  I listed the shell motif bulb tray first for $65 and it sold for $52, a few months later.  The elephant bowl comps where also $100-$150 for perfect ones, flawed ones $50-$90.  I listed it in June for $80 and it sold last week for $80.   

Growing up in and around antiques and in the antique dealer world my eye for antique and vintage items has become more skilled or sharpened.  I struggle to put into words what it is exactly that makes me stop and look at an item for closely.   There are many working factors working together that draws me to take a closer look, sometimes I am lucky to score a treasure and sometimes I score a dud.  As I have written before it is a learning as you go game.   Those duds can still make you some money in the end, one mans trash is another mans treasure.

Monday Market Trends

 I am getting back to posting regularly with summer winding down and school starting back up I have some more free time to post.

On Poshmark I am noticing selling:

Brass items (home decor)

Vintage linens 

Vintage clear and colored glass items

Vintage holiday themed items

Vintage wood items (home decor)

Vintage natural wicker items

Vintage tins

Vintage coffee mugs

Vintage lots of buttons

Vintage Coach purses

Vintage chunky statement necklaces

Vintage 50's, 60's evening bags

On Etsy, via a google search, trending sales are:

Chateaucore, items with a French country flare, glassware, linens, clothing, and textiles

Nostalgia items related to picnics, gingham check table clothes, enamelware, fruit themed items

Island Lux, items like light linens, raffia accessories, fruit themed jewelry, resort ware

Vintage glassware

Trending sales on Ebay:

Vintage fashion especially Y2K, grunge

Pop culture items, band tees, movies, music

Trading Cards; Pokemon, sports, comics, 

Vintage toys

Asian antiques

Friday Finds

 I am a day late getting this posted.  

I have not posted Friday Finds for a several weeks.  Between vacation and drivers education I don't have much time to share my finds.  This is a recap of my finds over the last few weeks.  Here are few finds I purchased. 

Unmarked blown glass orb blue and green, I paid $2 for it.  I will probably list it for $14.

A grab bag of Pillsbury dough boys, 2 are plush, 1 rubber, and one that is probably a magnet.  I paid $3 for the bag, I will list them individually and figure out pricing after researching them.

Vintage wicker snowman, paid $2 for it.  I need to research it more.

Green Westmoreland Glass petal candle stick.  I paid $2 for it and I need to research it more.

Vintage Lusterware cat tea cup and saucer, paid $1.69 each.  I need to do more research.

Disney Alani resort mug, paid $2 for it, still need to research it more.

Anthropology Initial coffee mug. paid $1 for it.  Still need to research it.

Wednesday Work: Listing

When I get ready to list an item, I have a process for listing. 

First, I examine each item for damage since I purchasing.  Cleaning, drying, researching, making post it note with key information, and photographing.  

Not everything makes it to my listing box.  When I research the item I always begin with Google Lens, it is quick.  I wrote about researching here. When I look into sold comps and I find there are no reasonable comps I will add those pieces to my donate box.  Sometimes I get lucky and comps will have increased since I purchased it.  When I discover an item is damaged, I will either repurpose it, donate it, or I will throw it away.  Throwing away an item is a last option and I only don't for an item that is damaged beyond repair or unusable.  

Once I have items photographed, I begin creating the listings, which takes time.  I take any information I have from research to write a title and then a description. I try to photograph every side, angles, any flaws, and anything that will help the item standout.  Etsy limits the number of photos you can use in the listing to 10.  Poshmark allows more than 10, I think it is 15 photos.  Etsy and Poshmark allow for a short video to be added to the listings, which I will sometimes add.  The video can only be 15 seconds and there is no audio.

On a side note, both Etsy and Poshmark have the option to leave your listing as a draft until your ready to make the listing live.  

I try to set aside a few hours each week to work creating listings and a few hours to photograph items.  My current average to create a listing is about 1 hour, I usually end up with multiple interruptions and my internet can be very slow.  I may only get 2 new listings created as drafts during my allotted time.

I try to add at least 3 new listings a week, though I sometimes only add 1 new listing a week.  It really depends on how busy my personal life, as to how many new items I get listed.

Work to establish a routine that works best for you.  You can always adjust your routine to fit your needs.