Home › Forums › Buying and Selling › Selling on eBay › What to look for when selling women’s vintage clothing
- This topic has 7 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 1 month ago by Pikapop.
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09/09/2022 at 1:38 pm #97625
I am helping my neighbor to downsize by selling off his wife’s stuff (he was windowed at the beginning of the year). Much of it is clothing, and lots are new with tags. However, he asked me to sort through a walk-in closet this weekend, which contains older clothing. I believe that most are ordinary, run-of-the-mill type women’s clothing, but it does look vintage.
My question is what should I be looking for as I do the sorting? I’ve got to sort quickly this weekend, and then list later. I’m not an expert in the subject as I try to avoid clothes if I can.
Below are some of my thoughts. I’m hoping a few sellers who know more about the subject will offer some insights.
Reject:
Anything stained, unless it’s really interesting
Anything just ordinary or mundane, even if it has shoulder pads or has some fashion aspects of the decade
Consider:
Something with bold colors or an interesting pattern
Something really showing vintage fashion, such as thick shoulder pads and puffy sleeves
Anything very fancy perhaps
Anything really pretty or very ugly
Keep an eye out for certain brands, but Member’s Only is all I can think of
Does anyone else care to add some general guidelines for me to consider when I’m looking through all this clothing? I have a feeling that I’m going to find lots in a similar category, and it will be easy to decide. But, right now, I’m concerned that I don’t know enough of this subject to really make the right decisions. The closet is packed, and I’ve got quite a bit to go through.
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09/09/2022 at 2:40 pm #97626
I think you’re on the right track. I wouldn’t wholly discount plain vintage if the fabric quality or cut is good. What is the decade? Vintage dresses tend to be one of the higher selling categories. 90s denim jumpers are back in style as are those “Mom goes to church in the late 80s” dresses, so don’t discount those because they may look plain. If you hit upon Laura Ashley, that’s a goldmine but generally brand is not as important as the overall look.
Other than dresses I would prioritize sweaters and interesting tops. I would steer clear of pants and skirts unless the skirts were a blanket-wrap style or otherwise had some exceptional quality. Those items tend to have slower sell through and higher fit issues.
Another one is ugly 80s/90s grandma windbreaker jackets. They’re having a bit of a moment so depending on the size and pattern, can be sellers.
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09/09/2022 at 4:07 pm #97628
Actually, that is a gold mine of information. I do recall seeing a dress. I’m not sure whether these are 90s or older. I will find out on Sunday and report back.
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09/09/2022 at 8:00 pm #97630
Okay great! I can’t wait to hear what you find!
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09/12/2022 at 5:43 pm #97684
I finished maybe half the hanging clothes yesterday. They were in nicer condition than I had thought they would be. Good thing Pikapop told me to keep the dresses. Seems my neighbor’s wife saved all her dresses and nice clothes from the past forty years or so. I took a few pictures, see the bottom of this post. The last two photos show very nice women’s three piece suits. The last one is wool, has tags, and (I think) was made in the USA. They are junior sizes, so that might reduce their value.
I have a follow-on question. On the floor of the closet are a bunch of boxes, all full of clothes, but these are more used with more wear. I went through one and found lots of t-shirts, vintage, many made in the USA. I’m assuming that even those t-shirts aren’t worth anything unless they are in good condition and have interesting decals. I saved one Epcot Center shirt even though it had been through the wash a few times. There were several shirts from an Irish festival or something, but I only saved two kids shirts that she must have bought as gifts (they never had kids) because they were in good condition. Am I on the right track? I assume a Bermuda or Club Med vacation souvenir or something from old festival in greatly worn condition is of no interest.
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09/12/2022 at 6:43 pm #97687
Some interesting pieces! I think the red double breasted will sell, especially as large puffed sleeves are trending too. The black one as well may sell in the next 6 months if priced reasonably. The tweed suit looks nice but I would expect some difficulty with selling. Not many women are wearing full sets like that. You may want to experiment with running the individual items through Terrapeak and seeing if it makes sense to split the set (for instance, the blazer might sell on its own). I would also look at the measurements and see if it makes sense to call it “petite” as opposed to Juniors sizing.
Another thing I do with vintage is I make it clear there is the tagged vintage size and then give my estimate for the modern equivalent according to garment measurements. I take the measurements and convert them according to the GAP’s size chart. So a made up example, “tagged size 6, modern estimated size XS”.
Vintage t-shirts are trending so if there is any kind of quirky graphic or famous logo, I’d keep those. If the Irish festival has a cool logo or looks very vintage, I’d consider selling it if you’re willing to price it low. It would likely sell around St. Patrick’s Day. If the other t-shirts are plain but in good condition and made in the USA, I’d sell them as a lot.
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09/13/2022 at 10:45 am #97692
I’m not excited about splitting the suits (both of the last two photos are three piece suits), but I will do the research. I think one was marked as a 5/6, which I think is juniors size. Perhaps I can give a modern equivalent as something like a 0. I won’t actually get to these for a few weeks, so I can think about it and do the research.
That’s a good point about St Patrick’s Day and the t-shirts. I already rejected them and he put them in bags for donation. I don’t know that I will have time to go through them. Let’s see what happens for this coming weekend.
Thanks for all your help!!!
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09/14/2022 at 11:08 am #97703
Yes technically odd numbers are juniors sizing, but if the piece is vintage and also has a dual women’s size on the tag, I would list is as women because listing it as juniors (particularly a wool suit) is likely to hurt the demand for the listing. Yes no worries on the t-shirts and other things, just take what you can handle! Good luck!
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