6 Steps to Selling Your Vintage Items Online

It's a tough economy and basic bills are getting harder to pay. Many of us find ourselves going through our possessions to see if we have anything valuable that we can sell or pawn.While many markets have gone down, vintage items are still in great demand. (Fact is, many people like the idea of having something that their neighbors and friend can't get so easily!) As long as time exists, so too will vintage collectors.

You may not be sure if you actually own any vintage items but chances are you do. By definition vintage means anything more than 20 years old. Even stuff from the late 80s or the beginning of the 90s can be considered retro and vintage!

Gather most, if not all, of your old junk! The best items to look for are old clothes, jewelry, games, toys and books. This may take a few days if you have a lot of spaces to cover. Don't forget to look in your garage and attic! Search well: sometimes your best junk is the most burried. If you're comfortable search "keepsake" boxes. I have found many vintage items stuffed in them that actually have no great sentimental value.

It might seem tedious looking through everything to find all your vintage items right now but it will save time later to have them all in one place. Make a pile of everything you gathered in your living room or any other large area.

At this point you don't need to figure out what's valuable and what's not. What you need to do is sort your items according to general categories. Further sorting can take place later during the valuation phase of the items. All the jewelry should go in one pile, all your books in another, all you toys in another, video games in another, and so on. (This also helps to make your pile look less like a mess in the middle of your living room!)

You first need to research general prices of the categories in which you're going to sell. While going through each category you should also now separate groups of similar items into smaller categories. For example, divide jewelry into narrower groups, such as pins, necklaces, bracelets, earrings. Put any broken jewelry into small pile too. You shouldn't assume they don't have any value; if you sell them in a lot they may appeal to crafters..

Don't go overboard narrowing down the categories of your items—use common sense!

Also note that while different types of items will pay more than others, if you have a large quantity of lower-valued items than you can still make a fair amount. Just make sure to sell them as a lot so you don't have tremendous shipping fees!

There are two great online places to sell vintage items: Etsy and eBay.

Keep in mind that Etsy charges $0.20 for each item that you list--even if you're selling items in a big lot. For this reason I don't suggest listing a higher quantity of items at Etsy. I wouldn't sell any vintage items for under $20 there either. In my experience Etsy is best for homemade and not vintage items. It's still an avenue that you should look into though. It is more community driven than eBay and you could build up a greater clientele there.

I save large item lots and lower valued items for eBay. You will be charged a percentage of your sale when you sell on eBay but it is worth it for the exposure as well as their reliability. If you ad a buy-it-now to your listing you will also be charged an insertion fee. The best thing to do is forgo adding a buy-it-now and just let the market determine the price.

The greatest downfall to starting out on eBay is that you may have to wait a few weeks before they clear your payment. If you want quick money this may not be your best option.

Note: If you don't already have a PayPal account then sign up with them now! They are the leading online payment processor and as such the majority of transactions on Etsy and eBay are done through them. PayPal is critical to selling anything online.

Research your items. Check the titles of your old video games as well as the year and make of action figurines. If possible then look at the last few sold--this will help you determine a starting price. Check to see if your jewelry is signed. Even if it's just costume jewelry, being signed makes it more valuable. People like to know what they're buying!

Take a good picture of each item. You may wish to take several pictures but keep in mind that eBay charges extra for every photo you add. If you don't have an adequate camera then borrow one from a relative or friend. Tell them it's important. Listings without pictures will never sell for their complete value. Sometimes they don't sell at all.

Make sure that you angle the camera right and don't let the lighting wash out the details of you items. This is especially important with jewelry. Make sure you have a presentable background in your photos. My advice: use a pretty but simple (you don't want it to detract from the item) tablecloth for the background. Remember, you may have considered these items junk once but you want your potential buyers to think of them as treasure!

Finally, when you describe your items be sure to include every possible detail that makes your items more appealing. If you have poodle brooch with black rhinestone eyes, like the one of the right , don't forget to mention that! A good listing really only takes 5 to 15 minutes to write. Minutes that can save you lots of money!

If you're selling on eBay don't forget that the design of your listing is important too! A friendly design appeals to more buyers than a black and white page. I personally use The Artois Project but a quick search on Google will lead you to hundreds of sites that offer free eBay templates. Like the tablecloth background in the photos, I make sure to keep my listing templates pretty yet simple.

Shipping doesn't have to be expensive. If you are selling very small items then you should definitely invest in some bubble mailers. You can buy a pack of 25 for less than $10. If you're selling small items in lots or bigger items than you should use flat rate boxes by USPS. If you go on their website you can order them for free! When you ship your items in the smallest, and in my experience most used, flat rate box, then its only $5.20 to send anywhere in the U.S.

One word of caution: a lot of sellers are known to set their shipping and handling rates unrealistically high. Don't do this. It deters buyers and you might not even sell your items. You could also gain a bad reputation with buyers. This is especially bad when you're selling in vintage categories, which often caters to small group of collectors who frequently become repeat buyers. I personally offer free shipping (words that attract buyers!) and make sure my auction price on eBay or listing price on Etsy more than covers the shipping.

Don't forget to leave positive feedback for your buyers and encourage them to do the same. The more you sell, the more you become trusted in the vintage communities of eBay and Etsy!