circa '20s/'30s silverplate rolltop chafing dish with lovely deco engraved designthrift price: $35market price: $150-$325 — circa '20s/'30s silverplate rolltop chafing dish with lovely deco engraved design
thrift price: $35
market price: $150-$325

Thrifting helped put me through graduate school.

I used to really make a business out of it, getting my route down to a science, consistently shopping it, and reselling either on eBay or to dealers at The Garage (RIP, what a great market). I no longer buy for resale, or even thrift more than once in a blue moon.

But on a beautiful day last week, I had a meeting end two hours early in a neighborhood I used to frequent (but haven't visited in a long time). I grabbed a latté and thought, why not? I found some really great stuff and couldn't help but take home a couple things. Too bad I only have one body and one apartment! I had such a soothing, nostalgic, solo afternoon, which inspired me to share my best thrifting advice with you. All these photos are of what I found just that day!

entirely hand-stitched quilt circa '30s/'40s with one old patch repairthrift price: $13market price: $60-$70 — entirely hand-stitched quilt circa '30s/'40s with one old patch repair
thrift price: $13
market price: $60-$70

A FORMER VINTAGE DEALER'S

ESSENTIAL THRIFTING TIPS:

1. EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFOREHAND

This is undeniably the toughest tip to execute, but it's the most important. To find great stuff, you have to know what you're looking at. The best way to learn which antiques, works of art, and vintage clothes are valuable is to go to places that have the stuff, and learn from people who know a lot about it. I have honestly had innumerable incredible thrift finds, but after reflecting for 10 minutes or so I think my favorite finds over the past 10 years have been: a '50s Dior couture New Look coat ($50), a 19th c. Japanese watercolor ($8), an 1820s/30s French 20k gold and enamel brooch ($2 or $3 in the costume pin basket), a chicken blood jade bangle ($6), two! pre-1950 San Leucio silk bed coverlets ($32 and $18 respectively), a pre-1930 heavily hand embroidered Chinese silk jacket, definitely worn by an official or other elite ($8) . . .

and I wouldn't have bought any of these if I hadn't known the difference between:

-a cheap '90s Dior licensed coat and its label, as compared to a '50s era coat exhibiting couture level workmanship and tailoring, with its set of Dior and numbered couture labels

-a cheap 80s/90s art print with a faux finish antiqued frame, as opposed to a genuine antique watercolor with gallery framing and label verso

-modern goldtoned metal, versus antique tarnished high karat gold

-plastic, glass, or dyed marble, as opposed to jade/jadeite/nephrite

-polyester/rayon/nylon compared to real silk damask

-cheap modern machine embroidery versus priceless antique hand embroidery with rare stitch types

Museums are fantastic for recognizing quality and workmanship, though the odds of finding something of true museum quality in a thrift store are infinitesimally small.

The absolute best settings for learning are auction previews, high-end retail shops, and trade fairs. While it may be intimidating at times, and you really might get snubbed by the help, many people showing the merchandise are kind (or bored), and would be happy to educate you at length on anything that catches your eye. This in-person experience of seeing up close and touching is priceless. Auction houses post their calendars on their websites; the seasonal Vintage Fashion Guild newsletter lists exhibits, shows, fairs and sales, as does The Magazine Antiques Calendar.

Second best are the same auction houses, dealers and retailers, but in print and online. Anyone can look at the online catalogues and results for Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonham's, Doyle, Skinner, Drouot, Tajan, Phillips, Freeman's, etc. You can usually subscribe to catalogues on certain types of sales, and they have good resale value. If you have no idea where to begin, 1stDibs is a great place to start. Check to see if the dealers there, or those exhibiting at trade fairs, have websites or Instagram accounts. And of course, watch Antiques Roadshow!

I'm sure you've seen lots of blog posts and Youtube videos where people haul the most POINTLESS things at thrift stores, or noticed that Etsy shops with subpar stuff never seem to sell anything. Education is as much about knowing what NOT to buy as about knowing a good buy when you see it.

Mid '60s Jim Thompson Thai Silk Hostess Gownsthrift price: $55 eachmarket price: $500-$700 each — Mid '60s Jim Thompson Thai Silk Hostess Gowns
thrift price: $55 each
market price: $500-$700 each

2. Shop in wealthy, elderly neighborhoods

Obviously, wealthy people donate better things more frequently. Also keep in mind the average age in a neighborhood; thrift stores in places where grandparents and parents pass away have better finds than areas where young people live, and the merchandise typically moves more slowly as well.

Antique costume design gouachethrift price: $65market price: $200-$500 (depending on the company/performance) — Antique costume design gouache
thrift price: $65
market price: $200-$500 (depending on the company/performance)

3. Go as early as you can

Most merchandise is put out in the morning before opening, and then little by little continuously throughout the day. End-of-day pickings are relatively slim.

4. go on slow days

Thrift stores receive and process most of their donations on weekends, when the people donating are off of work and school. That makes Monday and Tuesday the best days to go.

Antique Chocolate Easter bunny moldthrift price: $15market price: $100-$200 — Antique Chocolate Easter bunny mold
thrift price: $15
market price: $100-$200

5. wear an excessive amount of perfume

Thrift stores do not clean their merchandise, and even high-end ones tend to smell. I wear a solid 8 prophylactic spritzes.

**6. don't touch everything; instead, really really look**

If something doesn't leap out at you as fabulous, it won't leap out to a friend, guest to your home or buyer either. Lots of people get into the terribly time wasting (and kinda gross!) habit of flicking every hanger or picking up every thing and giving it a cursory inspection. There is no need to touch every hanger on the rack; take a step back and carefully scan the rack twice. Are any textiles notably beautiful? Start there. A cheap ugly dress doesn't get less cheap or ugly when you pull it out and examine its label, even if that label ends up having a designer name. Likewise, you will very quickly learn to see the difference between sterling silver, Sheffield plate and cheap EPNS without flipping over every single tray looking for a hallmark, believe me.

circa 1920-1950 sterling silver screwback earringsthrift price: $8market price: $40-$60 — circa 1920-1950 sterling silver screwback earrings
thrift price: $8
market price: $40-$60

7. bring your fully charged phone

Once you've picked out your potentials, you want to make sure you're not overpaying. Don't assume thrift prices are always low. On this most recent trip I came across a really lovely 50s etching by a well known Italian artist of the era, selling for $125, which seemed like a bargain! But when I checked the price, I learned there are actually a LOT of them around and they sell, framed, for $40-$75.

Picclick.com is my favorite site for figuring out market prices on the spot. It's a site that indexes eBay listings with a proprietary algortihm. When you type in any given search term (for example "blue and white tray"), it displays large photos of comps with their prices. Click on the ones that look most like your item, and it not only pulls up more photos and the description, but displays the popularity of the specific listing (in terms of views per day), and value proposition of the item (based on the range of prices of the 50 closest comps currently listed), as 0-5 "star" ratings (flame symbols for popularity and dollar signs for value), with 0 being the worst and 5 the best. Finally, it shows a second endless scroll of listings that match the clicked-on item the best, constituting a refinement of your initial search.

Here is a visual: (my original search term in picclick.com was 'blue and white tray'; this is the item I clicked on that looked most like my find)

Screen Shot 2018-04-04 at 4.05.23 PM.png

The stats of comps helps me see quickly what my profit margin might be and how quickly I can turn the item over.

PicClick

If you don't know what search terms to use in picclick:

FOR CLOTHES: Vintage fashion guild's vintage label resource helps quickly identify the era and designer of a piece; their 'fabric looks like' section helps you find the correct name for a fabric type, and their fur resource helps you discern the different types of fur. All of these have very helpful photos that you can compare to your thrifty find in the store before you buy.

An example of their label resource, search term 'Dior, Christian'

Vintage Fashion Guild

FOR ANTIQUES: Rubylane is full of vetted, knowledgeable dealers who thoroughly describe and tag their items, and call each other out on mistakes and misrepresentations. Just typing a simple term like 'gold sconce' into the search box will bring up enough well photographed, highly detailed comps to figure out if you're looking at mid-century/Dorothy Draper style/gold leafed plaster or circa 1910/ French art nouveau/gilded bronze.

Visual results for search term 'gold sconce' show different types of related items with very different values, from different eras

Ruby Lane

FOR ART: I love Artnet! If there's a signature or gallery label anywhere on what you have, type it into the searchbox. They will show you photos of artworks, artist bios, exhibitions, plus the galleries and auctioneers that have handled the item or artist in the past. Once you see the piece or artist, click through to see current auction estimates or gallery prices, and google "(piece or artist) results" to find auction price results. Invaluable.com won't show you realized prices if you're not a paying member, but they will show pre-auction estimates from past auctions, which is fine when you're still just standing in a shop trying to decide to buy or not. Sotheby's, Christies and Bonhams results from the past 20 years are listed on their sites and show up in google searches.

Here's an example: Once, I encountered a small sculpture signed "Frink," which didn't ring a bell, and searched on artnet. Look at all the info about the artist and the current market for her work! Clicking on the specific sculpture, I immediately knew it was worth buying at any (thrift) price:

Even if you can't figure out the artist or read the signature, if there's a gallery label from a place listed on artnet, you're onto something good: they only list legit high-end places. If it's signed and labeled clearly and not showing up there, it's probably not good, but check PicClick just in case.

ArtNet

Circa 1910s-1920s French gilt bronze wall lightsthrift price: $125market price $300-$1000 — Circa 1910s-1920s French gilt bronze wall lights
thrift price: $125
market price $300-$1000

8. Be Picky

I could have purchased and resold every find I've photographed here (plus the 5 others that didn't make it into this post) at a profit, eventually. Key word being, eventually. I learned the hard way years ago that the thrill of taking home a find is not worth turning my tiny apartment into a bubble wrap accented warehouse. Margins are high but turnover is very slow in the vintage/antique world, so unless you've got a lot of extra space (physically and emotionally), it's best to only take home what works for you, your family, and your home, right now. Or really small things!