Finding great vintage items can be tricky. I’ve heard many times, “I need to learn how to thrift like you!” I’ll tell you what, it takes time and patience and quite honestly, a love and desire to do it. If you can’t stand the idea of walking into store after store and not finding what you’re looking for, this might not be for you. But I have a couple solutions if that’s you!
There are lots of places you can go for thrifted and vintage items. They might be vintage (20 years old or older) and they might not be. But I’ll break down where you can shop and what you can expect to find.
Antique Store/ Antique Mall
Antique stores are one of my favorite places to find vintage items. If you’re not familiar with Antique Malls, the way they work a lot of the time is that their is individual booth space that people set up shop and pay a monthly booth fee to sell there. This means you could walk into one store and find a huge variety of items. Each shop owner usually has specific items, style or time periods that they specialize in. I went to one the other day and they had a huge collection of salt and pepper shakers, another booth was full of dishware, and another was filled with linens.
Because these dealers have an area that they specialize in and the store specifically sells antiques they charge fair market value. This means you will find a wide range of prices depending on how rare items are, but each booth owner is able to set their own prices.
Thrift Store
Thrift stores are a great place to find vintage items at a lower price point. Some thrift stores have separate cabinets or shelves for vintage items, while others incorporate vintage wares into the rest of the items they’re selling. Either way, both of these are usually sold at a lower price point than at antique stores. My biggest suggestion here is to find 1-3 stores that consistently seem to have vintage items and stop in frequently. In my experience, chain thrift stores like Goodwill are not a place I have good like finding vintage items.Old yes, vintage no.
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Estate Sale
Estate sales are a great place to find unique vintage pieces. If you can read the description for the sale, it will give you some indication of the type of items you should find there. An estate sale just means they are selling the contents of the house. This is everything from clothing, to dishes, tools to cleaning supplies. You will find anything and everything at an estate sale which can be good for a laugh and also finding treasures. Another thing to know about estate sales is that a lot of times if there are a lot of antique items its common for the family to hire and estate sale company to either price or run the sale. Which means the prices are set to fair market value (and sometimes higher), but everything is negotiable and the last day of the sale everything is typically market down to half price and nearing the last hours of the sale any reasonable offer will be considered.
Grandma’s House
Your grandma probably has treasures hidden in her basement and attic that you’re not even aware of. Let her know that you love vintage treasures and if she’s ever getting rid of anything to keep you in mind. Also, if she has an item around her house that makes you feel nostalgic and gives you all the grandma vibes let her know. Maybe Uncle Bob already “claimed” that item, but if not she’ll be aware that that item means something you to and she might make mention to other family members that she wants that item to go to you. We have items that belonged to grandparents and my dad simply by expressing our interest in that item. If you have grandparents who have said they need to work through cleaning out their home offer to come over and help. You might go home with treasures that would have otherwise ended up in the trash or at a thrift store.
Etsy
Etsy isn’t just for buying hand made items. Sellers are also able to list items that are 20 years old or older. A few bonuses about Etsy is that there are thousands of sellers, so unlike a thrift store that can be hit or miss, you are likely to find exactly what your looking for relatively quickly. Another great things is that you will likely find multiples of the same items and they will range in price. So you can find the item and the price that fits your budget.
If shopping Etsy is something that interests you check out my Etsy Vintage shop. I stock new items weekly. You’ll find lots of vintage decor and dishware.
Ebay
Here’s another great option for buying vintage online. While I’d go to Etsy as my first choice with Ebay you have the option to buy or bid with most items. I’ve noticed that prices can really vary on Ebay, so make sure you’re shopping around to be sure your paying a fair price.
Facebook Marketplace
You will find junk and treasures alike on FB Marketplace. One perk of Marketplace is that sometimes people have no idea what they’re selling so you can get garage sale prices and some gems. But you have to be looking often and you have to move fast. If you see something you like don’t think twice, message that you’re interested and tell them exactly when you can be there to pick it up. I’ve even heard of people offering above asking to jump the line to get the prize.
My recommendation if you’re just getting started try to find vintage and antique items would be to choose 1-3 of these suggestions to get started with. For example if you picked thrift stores you might be playing a slow game to find what you’re looking for. But if you try Etsy along with it you should have more success, which would give you a quick win! If you want to learn more about thrift shopping, decorating your home, and great deals on things for your home subscribe to my email mail for the best information first!
