You See What Sells

Figure 1

The first phrase that comes to mind upon entering Sabra Wineteer's office is "organized mess". A mishmash of multicolored and patterned scarves hangs on the back of the door. A mountain of clothing, along with some hangers and boxes, takes up most of the room. The pile is simply so chaotic it takes a moment before you realize there's a couch underneath it. Mrs. Wineteer sits at her desk, perusing endless amounts of jewelry. Some are in boxes and trays, other pieces are loosely strewn about the table. (Figure 1) "I’ve had costume jewelry since I was a kid, playing with my mom’s stuff." she explains. "When my grandmother’s sister died, I went and helped with an auction they were having to sell her things and my grandmother said I could have any of the costume jewelry we found. I also used to go to auctions with my parents and pick up various things."

Indeed, Mrs. Wineteer has had a lot of experience with thrifting and finding valuable vintage items. Therefore it comes as no surprise that she's been singlehandedly running a successful Etsy shop for over a year. Etsy is a website that allows its users to sell vintage and handmade items. Sabra specializes in selling high-end vintage jewelry and clothing and knows all the tricks of the trade. She started the shop in November 2016 when she realized the low cost of items at auctions compared to their resale value was an opportunity to make some money. "What I normally do is I go to an auction and count up how many earrings there are in a tray of jewelry. I know I can sell each pair for at least $4, and then I’ll decide how high I want to bid. I try to get at least a 400% return on my investment, which means if I buy a pair of earrings for 50 cents, I want to at least be able to sell it for $2."

Figure 2

Auctions are gold mines when it comes to good vintage finds. Earlier this week, Sabra went to the T. Sterling Auction House, a place she frequently goes to for jewelry. (Figure 2) At the beginning of the night, she checked labels on several lavish hats: Christian Dior, Adolfo, Miss Claire. Seconds later she had pulled up a Pinterest page on her phone displaying a photo of one of the hats, along with a price of $225. Throughout the night she won quite a few trays of jewelry, taking some time to show off pieces she knew her customers liked. By the time she left, Mrs. Wineteer had amassed several jewelry boxes and cardboard boxes, all completely full, as well as some paintings, a parasol, and all the vintage hats she'd been looking at.

In her office, Sabra has a mannequin that she uses for clothing photographs. Wearing a red bowler hat and dark shirt, it blends in with the long blue curtains in the room like accidental camouflage. Below the feet of the mannequin sits one of the practically overflowing boxes from the auction. Inside, necklaces lay in a tangled heap of pearls, beads, and chains. It's a modern day treasure chest, bound to have some expensive or rare items hidden deep underneath. "I do look for certain name brands; Trifari, Crown Trifari, Coro, Lisner," she continues. "As far as pricing items, I go on Etsy and see if there is the exact same item offered, then I will specifically price it lower as long as I get my ROI (return on investment) back. And because I tend to get my items so cheaply, I can usually undercut any other seller on Etsy. The other thing is, just being in business for over a year, you see what sells."

Her most popular sale times occur during Christmas and Mother's Day. She made a quarter of all her sales in 2017 from the Christmas season alone. Repeat customers can also drive sales up. “I have sold over 250 pieces. I’ve sold to three repeat customers that I know of. I have a customer, she likes cluster bead earrings, and I think this is the third or fourth time she’s bought them from me in the past year. I listed seven pairs recently and sure enough, this particular customer bought one of the pairs for $10. I know if I buy those earrings, it’s very likely she’s going to buy at least one pair and I’m going to start getting some of my money back.”

Sabra now has her laptop on her desk open to Etsy and is searching some of the items she recently won at the auction. She looks up at the window in front of her. "If it’s sunny and I have time I like to photograph the merchandise because direct sunlight is the best light for photos. If I have a sale, I’ll need to go to the post office, sometimes I walk, sometimes I drive, it depends." She talks in a scatterbrained sort of way, staying mostly on topic but straying on occasion. "If I get an order I have to mail it out within a day or two. I have bubble envelopes, and I have craft boxes, jewelry boxes. I put items in the jewelry boxes just to ensure there’s not any breakage and then put them in the bubble envelopes. You never know with shipping how much stuff is gonna get jostled around. My shipping’s a little higher priced than some people’s, but care goes into it; I’ve never had any breakage in a shipment."

An example of the unique finds Sabra gets from auctions.

Mrs. Wineteer prides herself on running an honest establishment with quality products. Unlike some other sellers at Etsy, money isn't the only thing in it for her. “What I really like about this is finding cool things you wouldn’t see in a store. Some of these things are just so unique, and some of them are rare. You just don’t see this stuff in a mall or a Claire’s, for instance.” (Figure 3) However, being a mother to three teenagers and five dogs, she considers her shop more of a hobby than a full-fledged business. “I wouldn’t necessarily want to do this full time. It’s nice, a little extra income. Pays for my son’s guitar lessons, pays for my kids’ braces. It’s something I enjoy and something I would be doing anyway, going to auctions and getting 50 pairs of earrings for $27.” 

To find out more information about Sabra and her shop, please visit greatgreenheron at Etsy.com.