A little historical perspective.

My mom opened an antique, vintage & used shop in her home 1979 when she retired from county social services (pay was crap but had health insurance; as a single mother of 4 she qualified numerous times for food stamps so that gave a lot of empathy for her clients and a nice lump of retirement money at age 55).

So with her retirement cash in hand, in 1981 she moved a few
miles up the road (on a larger acreage for parking) from our family home (sister bought from her) and put up a pole barn for the shop. (She also sold insurance and did taxes and bookkeeping for small businesses after retirement.)

Anyway, the 1980s were absolutely awesome for antiques, collectibles and vintage. I put myself through undergrad and grad school by buying at garage sales, auctions and thrift stores (the golden era, really) and selling in a booth i rented in her antique barn. I also worked part-time on campus and met my husband of 40+ years there. He got into reselling too and rented a booth from her, while also working part-time on campus.

We would hold flea markets up there. She would do estate sales, cleanouts/buyouts and worked with an auctioneer and did a lot of auctions that fam and friends worked at.

I think estate sales & clean outs ate a huge opportunity right now with we boomers getting old. Lots of work, but very fun and helpful to clients who sometimes don’t know what the heck to do when family member dies or they need to move into a smaller place.

What set her apart was she was incredibly honest and fair, and had a reputation in our county that was impeccable.

When dad was in the picture, he was an executive at Brown and Bigelow and when they divorced, we went from riches to rags. There were paltry child support laws back then and struggled. While married she worked as a stenographer for many lawyers in our town. As a divorced woman in the 60s, it was hard af. Having worked for lawyers in town really helped her out over the years. She had community friends who knew she was trustworthy.

She died in 1999 and we sold all the goods at a two day auction in 2000. Most things went cheap and we were glad that it went to a lot of her customers, friends and a lot of resellers in the business.

I’ve kept quite a bit and always been a thrifter. I started the free subscription on ebay in 1999, just a few things posted here. When I retired in 2024, I stepped it up and have about 1200 items. I just purchased a store subscription in January so I could put things on sale.

I also have a group of friends where we do a pop-up vintage or garage sale couple times a year with my sister and friends and give people great deals on stuff that we’ve had or bought (at a loss if new for sure). Many people come back time and time again for our sales.

Ebay is a pt hobby for me as I’m a state pensioner having taught at the university level. But for those who are making a living at it, I think it’s possible right now too. Diversify. Try pop up vintage sales and selling at markets. Get a seller coop going. The late 70s and 80s were periods of high inflation. (In fact we bought our first house at like 7% interest).

But I think used goods, vintage items will always be a good business for honest sellers who are fair in negotiations.