Dorothea's Closet Vintage wants to help you SHOP SMARTER! I heartily recommend shopping with me, of course.....but I realize the vintage clothing category is chock full of fabulous finds, and since I tend to shop alot for myself (can't sell it if you don't wear it!), I've decided to give some tips to fellow shoppers based on my experience both buying and selling. These tips will help you find great vintage for prices you can live with....for those who collect and those who wear it!

Navigating the eBay system has gotten trickier as eBay has grown over the years. Speaking from a buyer's point of view, it has truly gotten harder to find good vintage clothing at a decent....not necessarily "cheap".....price. Affordable, good vintage. Weeding  through vintage reproductions, fakes, pieces placed in the wrong category, items touted as being a certain look that are far from it.....it all certainly makes it a challenge! I have heard comments ranging from there being no good vintage to be had anymore on eBay anymore to it being too expensive to buy. Neither has to be the case, if you know how to shop for it! Here are some tips on having a happy, successful hunting experience.

1) KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

This would seem to go without saying, but lets assume not everyone knows that the mod look was primarily 60's, that flapper was 20's, etc. When you know what you are looking for you can expand your keywords to search with.....or, narrow them down. Just as the buyer doesn't always know that mod goes with 60's, the sellers do not always know either. Armed with knowledge, you can expand your hunt to ALL 60's dresses, say, and quite likely come away with a mod gem that many hunters missed because they were limiting themselves to only the keyword mod! Look around on eBay to educate yourself on what look you are after. See what words are being used to describe it, the decade, fabric, color names, style names, labels. If you want to really HUNT, leave the options as open as you can.....but expect to spend some time looking! Use search engines to find vintage resource lists to read up on. When you have more ways to search you are bound to find more!

Bear in mind not everyone will list specifically to how you "think" of vintage. Get creative. Don't just search 50's dresses. Try 50s, 1950s, 1950's.....dress rather than dresses. Misspell harder to spell designer labels. If you're used to searching "vintage 50's dress", try "antique 50's dress". No, its not an antique at 50 years old.....but not everyone knows that!

2)LIMIT YOURSELF

Or limit eBay, rather. Once you've typed in "50's dress", you will see off to the left of your screen a box with a breakdown of categories coming up that have those words in the title. Under the broad scope 50s dresses, it will break down women's & children's. Beyond that, in women's, it will give you  the option to only search whats listed in the VINTAGE category. This should eliminate the 50's reproductions, 80's that look like 50's, etc. It won't always eliminate them, as not all sellers are going to list honestly, but it will weed many out! At this point you should have a more manageable bite of 50's dresses....REAL 50's dresses.....to deal with. Maybe you only want an aqua dress, or a size 38. Once you have clicked on the vintage category within your 50's dress selection, you can use the search box just at the top of the left side and type in "50's dress aqua 38". Now eBay's search function will only hunt within the 50's dress category. As you use this approach you will learn how to refine your search to always find exactly what YOU want (if its out there!).

3) DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF

That covers a lot of area. While I certainly love repeat customers, a shopper who only shops with me stands the chance of missing out on thousands of other items listed by wonderful, reputable sellers. No 2 sellers are likely to have the same dress in the same colorway & size! By only looking at your favorite sellers stores (which of course you SHOULD do! And make me one!), you do indeed limit yourself to their listings only. If you are looking for the perfect 50's circle skirt dress in a size 36 in pink & black & none of the sellers on your list have one.....go LOOK! Someone is bound to. And by expanding your hunting ground, you not only may find the thing you were looking for but you may find something you didn't KNOW you were looking for!  

One way to find more reputable sellers of vintage clothing, learn about vintage and some of the people who sell it is to visit the Vintage Clothing & Accessories Message board here on eBay. Just click up top on Community, then Message Boards, then scroll down to the Vintage Clothing board. Drop in, read up! Sellers (and buyers) there exchange valuable information about the very things you are hunting for, preview finds and more. While I am mentioning sellers, many buyers have become gunshy about trying any seller outside of their favorites after having a bad experience with one. Another great tool to use to see a sellers selling habits, feedback & more is toolhaus.org. It helps to know your vintage but a great find is not so great if the seller has a reputation for shady dealings, inflated shipping or misleading descriptions.  

4) DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF Part 2- KEYWORDS

Keywords are the sellers best friend. Its how we get hits from people who have taken the leap from shopping with only their favorite sellers to hunting listings! If you get overwhelmed by the glut of items listed within the KW category "rockabilly" that AREN'T rockabilly, see tip #1. Research. It won't take a lot of time to really nail down what the true rockabilly era is, what style clothing.....maybe you are calling the dress "rockabilly" but its really a 50's Hawaiian Sarong Dress. By researching, you may find you truly only want a 50's Hawaiian Sarong Dress by Alfred Shaheen. Research it, google it, look at listings from sellers you trust & find a way around the obvious keywords. Limit yourself to what YOU want....avoid clicking on the search titles AND DESCRIPTIONS to avoid a whole lot of listings with little to nothing to do with your search. Conversely, when you know something as specific as label and you DO click search descriptions, you can successfully come up with some great things very much related to what you want! A great source of vintage labels to familarize yourself with is at vintagefashionguild.org.

 The unfortunate reality is that there are sellers out there who are happily grabbing hits by using popular fashion trend related keywords.....sadly, the 80s sweater they are trying to push on you as being ROCKABILLY GOTH PUNK EMO BOHO MOD is none of the above, and only making it harder for people to find any single one of those looks. Don't let them scare you away from the vintage world! Know your keywords, shoppers!

5) DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF part 3-eBay STORES

You have typed in 40's platform shoes, narrowed things down to ONLY 40's platforms by clicking on the vintage category......you're down to a couple pages. There are bound to only be a handful in your size and color. Why not search the stores? True, you don't get the thrill of bidding. You DO get the thrill of instant gratification! Underneath the auction & fixed price style listings there will be a place where eBay mentions there are items listed in eBay STORES matching your description. Click and voila! More pages to peruse. Lest you think the stores automatically come up when you hunt, they do NOT.....so remembering to click to see more selections in stores gives you a better shot at finding what you seek, and buying it immediately!

6) DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF part 4- Vintage Sellers

Always check to see if a seller you like has a MePage.......many MePages have a link to the sellers website off eBay. Again, no auction style thrills..........but more VINTAGE! You can't go wrong finding even more to look at!

7) SUPPORT GOOD SELLERS

If you do love a cetain seller, let them know. Drop a note that you love a listing but are looking for X item you don't find there......many sellers have stock yet unlisted & you may still find what you seek. You are also giving your favorite seller a little incentive to keep working! We need a little boost now & then to keep hunting and listing!

Thanks for loving vintage!