Featured Trending Towards Smaller Collectables?

I see what you mean about the urban areas, and younger people living in apartments, etc. Just last night I saw a rerun of an episode of "Flea Market Flip," where contestants buy some old piece of furniture or a cabinet, etc. and re-do it or turn it into something else and try to sell it. One team had made a table that turned out to have a huge glass top on it. They were having a hard time selling it because it was too large for most people's apartments. People there were mostly looking for colorful and/or unusual, funky things they could use for furnishings.

 

I sell mostly jewelry for the reasons mentioned above. It's small and easily shipped. More to the point, cheaply shipped. People will always wear it, but the styles they wear will dictate what sells. If I were smart I'd be checking Pinterest boards for what's currently considered "Cool". So of course I don't. Another wrinkle there is it can be cool, but if it doesn't have a name or a good set of search terms, it isn't going to sell.

I do have to admit to having turned more into a scrapper; it's far easier to melt someone's old wedding gifts than it is to sell stuff on line. The money is immediate, and that 50s mass-produced weighted stuff isn't worth anything now and never will be.

 

@evelyb30
I also switched to jewelry eventually, still have a hoard of costume stuff I can't sell, but will give away in time. It's good to have for spare parts, when you get a good piece missing something.
Found a way to ship average size antique and vintage glass vases economically, and small Asian antiques or vintage pieces.
Now, I also look at what I have accumulated in cupboards and closets, and will never use such as good fabric, because I used to sew quite a bit, making my own curtains, pillows, bed covers and so on. Clothes too, but not so much.
Problem is nobody else sews much either...lol.

 

Fabric you can sell, especially vintage pieces and quilt cotton. It's easy to ship too - a ziplock inside a tyvek and off it goes.

 

Yes, vintage sheets and pillowcases are easy to ship and not a lot of work. But some sets of sheets can be heavy, but so far buyers are not complaining.

 

@evelyb30 and @pearlsnblume
I hit the mother lode once, with an estate auction close to where I live, which is unheard of up here it is so rare.
The household of an old family doctor, with a wife that made a lot of her own accessories, clothing and bedding.
There were mountains of fabric, hat accessories, quilts and other nice stuff, furniture, trunks etc. We packed the van and went home. I still use some of it.
I like natural fabrics like cotton, wool, and silk. So do have some really quality pieces. I bought a lot of some light summer cotton rolls from Japan, they use for kimonos and lighter garments. I see on Etsy a lot of people are selling fabric. I am doing so as well. Again the shipping cost is the problem.

 

Yes, toomany, Etsy is a good place to sell fabrics and textiles.
I had a lady buy a NOS Sheet to use as a backing for a quilt she was making.
I wish I had discovered this niche years ago when out treasure hunting.

 

Funny I did the same thing, bought 3 sets of matching color printed sheets, and used one flat sheet for the backing, and the rest cut up to make a square quilt about 7x7 inches pieces sewn together. I also like to browze and see what fabric is selling, I really dislike when they want to sell you a yard or a meter, at a time for 10 bucks. A bit much. Of course those would be for the quilters, but the whole point of making a quilt is to use cheap fabric that you either have already, or can get. This is another disappearing folk art form.

 

Hi,
When I lived in Brooklyn, I bought king sized flat sheets to make drapes and curtains. They also made wonderful tablecloths and napkins. I had no sewing machine so everything had straight seams a little wobbly but no one knew. Everyone thought I had custom made drapes. Besides they washed wonderfully.
greg

 

I sell a lot of ephemera. People right now are into decorating their homes with vintage paper if it's framed nicely.

 

That's true, which I had some to sell. Others did and they are doing very well right now...

 

My mother collected stacks of things. It's amazing what people will buy. All I have to do is purchase those hard cardboard mailers. No packing, no fuss.

 

That made me laugh, as often I also resort to hand stitching rather than go to the trouble of setting up the machine, adjusting it, etc. As you say, who can tell how straight and even you go at it. Great hobby while you watch something on TV.

 

My tagline on the old Ebay boards was swiped from a quilting group and modified for antiques. The original went: She who dies with the most fabric still dies. When's the estate sale? People will pay shipping on fabric, even internationally sometimes; I shipped some vintage crushed orange velvet to Canada this summer. It was a good sized hunk, and a Canadian hit the BIN and paid immediately. I only wish I'd found more of it.

 

@evelyb30
You are cracking me up, LOL. Orange crushed velvet, yuck! Must be for those funky new interior decors..... 1970s again.
My Japanese cotton rolls do well. Still have several to go. Of course I used up the best ones. Saving the silk for the fall sales. We all die, I want to know when? Maybe.

 

Well, it was a very soft fuzzy apricot orange. (LOL) With the original fabric store tag.

 

HAAA! That makes a BIG difference.... Sounds like my orange and pink Japanese embroidered silk cushion, made from an obi (sash).

 

Nice! I love Japanese fabrics. Japanese quilts too, but those are even harder to find.