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The general public doesn't know about what it takes to bring those cool, curated pieces to them. So let them know — it's what sets you apart as a seller
A version of this article appeared in The Seller Scoop, our biweekly newsletter for vintage, antiques and secondhand sellers and vendors. Stay inspired with your own copy: Sign up here and select the option for resellers.
Last year, I appeared on TVO (Ontario’s provincial TV station) for a segment about secondhand fashion on The Agenda with Steve Paikin.
I was a little rusty being on camera in the hot seat as it had been a while, but the team was great and it was a fun experience to be in the studio.
The interview was filmed for consumers, and I was required to chat about both the benefits and the drawbacks of secondhand fashion. (I had so much more to say, but with only a 10-minute interview and a wide array of topics we still managed to cover a lot of ground!)
During our chat (also embedded below), the producer asked me about the difference between thrift stores and secondhand stores.
I differentiated the two and noted how the labour of a vintage reseller justifies the higher price point at a secondhand boutique or shop.
I also discussed how prices at the thrift store should not reflect the prices vintage sellers set, and why.
After the interview aired, I had at least half a dozen people not related to the vintage resale space reach out to me to say they didn’t know the difference before watching the segment.
These are just people I know who happened to catch the recording, so I’m going to take them as a microcosm of the public at large.
You know those shoppers who balk when you tell them the price?
Or the people in the social media comments of a viral reel who say resellers are responsible for skyrocketing thrift store prices?
Or the people you’ve just met who have a reaction when you tell them you’re a vintage dealer and you find yourself over-explaining what you do?
That’s the general public.
Not the people who have already decided shopping secondhand is great and who come out to markets or who order on Etsy or who visit your store. Those folks are already in the fold.
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Vintage and resale are still a niche.
As a community, as a sector, we have two options: 1) Ignore people who “don't get it.” 2) Take the opportunity to show people what it’s all about, as much as possible and as often as possible, with empathy and curiosity.
It probably goes without saying I’m not a fan of option 1 and a big fan of option 2.
Because this is still not the default way to shop for most people. And it’s easy to lose sight of that when we are all wrapped up in this world with other people who already value independent resale.
In an Instagram Live with Chizoba Obidigbo-Egbo at April Faith Vintage last February, I chatted about content being one way to reach people.
Many sellers do this already, but sharing the behind-the-scenes, the literal work of running your shop, can help to create connections for consumers.
For example, if you sell a lamp for $80, you can certainly show yourself visiting multiple places to find said lamp. But don’t let the story stop there — if you do, you’re still going to have people operating under the assumption that you just grabbed it at the thrift and flipped it.
What about the time you spent researching on your computer?
What about all the information you found out that was relevant (and the cool, non-relevant info that led you down a wild rabbit hole)?
What about getting into the nooks and crannies with a Q-tip to poke out the dust?
Rewiring it? Photographing it, merchandising it? Your two kids waving as they help you package it up?
Seeing every stage helps the consumer create a mental checklist of value. They start to understand why something is tagged at $80.
Let there be no questions. Go beyond social media. Put a slideshow on an iPad at a market and share photos and videos.
But here’s a challenge: Try showing it in a factual way. This kind of content doesn’t need to be defensive. You don’t need to justify your time. You don’t even need to outright mention the amount of time and labour that goes into what you do.
Just show it.
And then show it again. And again.
In the 1930s, the movie industry coined a marketing principle still in use today called the “rule of 7,” finding that a person needed to see a movie poster seven times before they’d go see the film.
Keep showing the facts, and over time, people will listen.
