Thrifty Upcycled Packaging Ideas: How Do You Ship Goods?

I love shipping playful vintage goodies from my Etsy shop all around the world.

I'll eventually replace my thrifty packaging methods with streamlined, professional wraps, but for now I appreciate the routine of cutting shipping labels and "thank you" cards from bright paper. Here are techniques I use to spend $0.00 on packaging supplies:

1. Check Curbsides and Dumpsters: They often yield the boxes you crave in excess!
2. Cut Big Boxes: I often cut down the sides of big boxes to get the perfect sized box.
3. Ask Friends: A friend gave me a huge stockpile of boxes and packing material for free! :)
4. Ask Stores: Ask if they'd set a pile of packaging aside for you instead of trashing them.
5. Use What You Have: I use excess construction paper for shipping labels for example.

In the future I may order pre-printed "thank you" cards but they'll need to leave room for me to add the customer's name and a space for me to draw, it makes packaging unique and it's free! It doesn't have to cost anything to make an impact!

How do you ship your packages? Where do you buy supplies? Let's discuss and help each other out in the comments.

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Why Reselling is the F*cking Best Job Ever! No Regrets, No Surrender.

Graduation season comes with mixed feelings; pride and regret. When I watched two of my best friends accept their diplomas, I wished I'd worked to get a degree at 25, too. Yet I know I chose the best route. My friends have debt and no jobs, I'm employed with savings and no debt- and I love what I do.

Freelancers and Resellers who may feel regret or doubt, here are 5 reasons that prove we have the best damn job ever!

We're Passionate: My friends told me they hated their jobs. They'll look at the clock, wishing time will speed up and mercifully end their shifts. We can't stop working. We love it!

Flexibility: Complete flexibility is a dream, especially if you have a family! I can change the day's tasks. I can do twice the work one day (or even week!) to take the next off. Sky's the limit!

No Debt: Starting a reselling business is a very low cost start-up. No debts, less problems!

No Boss: I've had nightmare bosses that made me hate living. No longer! I love to choose what I do and how I grow my business. In the words of the immortal Cartman, Whutevuh, Whutevuh, I do Whut I Want!

Most Importantly...Happiness: The combination of the above factors lead to complete satisfaction. Reselling is overwhelming. I'm never completely caught-up, but I'm truly happy. My friends will eventually (By the way, I LOVE them, don't think I'm dogging them in this post) get good jobs. They're going to out-earn me by far in their lifetimes, but I'll never trade happiness for money. Full stop.

Resellers, speak up! Do you feel like you made the right choice? Through the long hours and hard work, do you still feel pride and satisfaction?

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Warning: Retail Giants are on to us! Vintage Reproductions, your thoughts?

In the photo above we even have some owl string art! Wow! Photo sneakily snapped with a smart phone.

Squint your eyes, there's blinding light from 1,000 lamps in this exotic territory. We're not in the thrift stores we're familiar with, we're in Earth Bound Trading Company, a retail titan not unlike Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie. You'd be lying if you said they didn't appeal to you, with their diverse array of colors and texture, impeccable branding, and perfectly staged merchandise. This is just one vignette of many revealing they're on to us!

Exact Made-in-China reproductions fill the shelves of stores across the world. The trend of seeking unique items from vintage shops, thrift stores, and online has been replicated effectively by retail shops, they're hitting us where it hurts! You can't even walk down the aisles of Walmart or Target without seeing a "treasure" that looks like what we seek in the thrifts. And sometimes you'll want it! Or buy it, fess up!

Some resellers and thrifters love it, some hate it. As for me, I'm ready to compete. There's no substitute for real vintage items made in the past, and people will pay to have it over a Made in China copy. In the meantime, I love browsing these stores for inspiration. They're borrowing from us, but it can go both ways! Bring it, Retail Man!

How do you feel about the vintage reproduction trend? Is it directly hurting our business? Do you love, hate it?

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Answering Your Question: Is Your Thrift Find Valuable? (Yes, It is!)

I'm often asked about specific thrift store finds. People give me the era and the details on their lamp, purse, stove, or cup set and they want to know if it's valuable. Will someone buy it? I have one universal answer for your questions: Yes! Someone will buy it. It's just up to you to sell it!

There's a Market for Everything

If your item is vintage (remember, 90s is vintage too) there's someone out there who will want it. But being a reseller goes beyond reselling vintage finds, you can resell anything you find and be successful if you market it well and work hard to carve our your niche. And don't you dare doubt me! People resell dusty dead animals and you, too, can sell anything!

Create a General Theme

One key is to create a theme for your wares. The sky's the limit! Don't do what everyone else is doing and don't limit yourself to vintage if you don't want to. Want to resell used blenders you find while thrifting? Open your "Blend O Rama" shop and sell it!

Curate and Tell Your Own Story

Once you've got your theme, you need to curate it well. Stick to it. Sometimes you can be super specific and stick to one thing like my Blenders 'O Rama example. You might be like me, telling a kitschy, animated story with your wares. Be a little picky here, you can be eclectic, but make sure every piece you sell is helping you tell your story. 

Most importantly, have fun with it! I keep things fun by adding unexpected surprises in my art and merchandise and making it interactive and unpredictable.

Give Your Imagination a Work Out

The creativity required to be in the second-hand market is what keeps my artsy-ecclectic soul coming back to it. You have to exercise your creativity. You're an inventor. You use your resources, flex creative muscles and turn someone's "trash" into a desirable product.

Drop-kick your doubts right now hard, don't let anything hold your back. Stop asking if something will sell. I promise, there's a market for everything so that question is already answered. (Look to any TV infomercial if you still don't believe me!) Instead ask yourself, "How will I sell it?"

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Sponor Hello: Drew of Kitsch Café's Etsy Reselling Tips

Drew is the guy behind the popular Etsy store Kitsch Café. He's constantly adding colorful new finds to his online shop and his photography is outstanding! I had to ask him some questions about his success as an Etsy reseller. (You can follow Drew's adventures and read inspiring interviews on the Kitsch Café Blog.)

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself, Drew.

Hi, my name is Drew and I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm the face behind Kitsch Café. Along with selling vintage knick-knacks, I am also a freelance graphic designer as well as director of a high school color guard. I also like to sew quilts and knit. I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I am addicted to the internet and espresso. I love Korean food. Oh, and I am the youngest grandchild on both sides of my family.

2. When did you start Kitsch Cafe, and what's the story you're trying to tell with your line of Kitsch goodies?

I started selling on Etsy in the summer of 2008. I love thrifting and would find all sorts of great items that I wouldn't buy for myself, but knew someone out there would love. It became a part-time job in spring of 2009 when I quit my 9-5 graphic design job.

I tend to be attracted to items that are humorous and also vintage illustration. At first, I focused on items that made me smile and sometimes laugh at how unique or ridiculous it was. Being in the Mid- west, it's easy to find kitschy vintage pieces and that's what I was finding the most of.

Since then, I've refined my inventory to be more mod with a bit of kitsch thrown in for fun. I've definitely learned to be more selective when I shop for items.

Set of Eight Plastic Cups on Kitsch Cafe.

3. How long have you been collecting vintage, what got you started?

I was shopping for clothing at thrift stores when I was in high school. I really didn't start considering thrift furniture and other items until I was living on my own during college and needed some inexpensive decor.

Because I was a design major in college, I was educated about all the amazing designers like George Nelson and Charles Eames. So, I was looking for mid-century modern furniture before the trend hit. I was able to find some great Danish modern chairs, a great dresser, an awesome credenza and some Eames molded fiberglass chairs before they were considered cool.

Those early successes got me hooked and I have been thrifting ever since.

4. Your finds are incredible, what are your top 3 thrifting tips?

- Go often and to as many thrifts as you can. I usually go once a week to my local thrifts and about every 2 weeks to the suburban locations. When I travel someplace regionally (like Dayton, Columbus, Indianapolis) I schedule extra time to thrift shop. Recently, I've been in Los Angeles and New York and found time to go thrifting in those cities, too.

- Take your time and dig. I've looked right past amazing items sitting on a shelf that I've caught after taking a second look. Also, be willing to dig and look beyond what you see on the front of the shelves.

- Edit yourself. Don't buy every vintage thing you find. Only buy the things that truly get you excited or else you'll end up with a bunch of vintage crap in your home. A few great pieces make a better statement than a bunch of mediocre knick knacks.

5. Another talent of yours that stands out is your crazy photography skills. Please, share some hints for taking amazing product photography.

Thanks, Van! I get a lot of compliments on my photography. The truth is I use a cranky digital camera that's 8 years old and only spend about 1-2 minutes photographing each object. You really don't need a lot to take great photos. Here are some thoughts on taking some great photographs...

- Use natural light. I take my photos in the morning since my windows face east. Let the light fall across/from the side of your item instead of from the back or front.

- Use props to show the scale of the item. However, simplicity is key... don't get carried away.

- Photoshop is your friend. Learn how to use it or another photo editing application to touch up your photos and adjust the lighting.

Illustrated Kitschy Snack Tray from Kitsch Cafe.

6. Your famous online shop has been featured on Etsy and is loved across the globe, can you share some secrets for success selling on Etsy?

I was fortunate to start selling vintage on Etsy when there were not a lot of vintage shops. I got a lot of exposure early on because of my crazy photo backgrounds I was using at the time which was something different for Etsy.

Here are a few things I have learned:

- List new items daily. At the very least, renew old items.

- Learn about SEO and how to use keywords. There is lots of great info about this in the Etsy forums.

- Learn the trends that shoppers are looking for. Be willing to change and adapt while staying true to your vision and style.

- Become social on Etsy and online in general. It's called "social" media for a reason. You need to create an online persona and be consistent with it. This doesn't mean be fake... just be yourself and have fun interacting with other people. You never know when someone will ask to interview you for their blog or even on Etsy!

- There will always be another shop that has more sales than you and has better stuff than yours. Learn what you can from that shop instead of comparing your shop to theirs.

- Hard work. Plain and simple.

7. How do you keep your ample stock organized, any tips? (We resellers all need all the help we can get. Boxes! Boxes everywhere!)

- I'm fortunate to have a two bedroom apartment. I keep my inventory in my spare bedroom on three giant shelves that I have recently made curtains for to hide the chaos. My apartment does look like an episode of "Hoarders" at times, but every 1-2 months I frantically have what I call a "feng shui attack" and get everything cleaned up and organized again.

- When you go shopping and have new items, put it away when you get home. Don't set it down in your living room with the intention of putting it away later... it will sit there for 2 weeks until you get the time to photograph it.

- Periodically go through and clean out any "old" unlisted items and send them back to Goodwill. I will also remove items from the shop if they haven't sold or I think to myself, "why did I put THAT ugly thing in the shop?!"

8. What is your favorite thing to collect?

I have a few collections...

- White pottery. It's not necessarily vintage or made from clay. I have some glass pieces and some are new.

- Mid-Century modern wooden candle holders. This is a new collection I have started. I love finding them while thrifting. I love their "less is more" characteristics.

- Vintage orange and red European pottery. I have found some great Scandinavian and German pieces over the years. I love their heaviness and ugliness.

- Vintage painted portraits. I love wondering who these people are, seeing their dated/period clothing and the amateurish qualities of the painting.

Vintage Paisley Children's Baggage.

I love Drew's tips, and I can't wait to apply them to my own reselling efforts! Drew is offering ThriftCore readers 20% off their purchase at Kitsch Café using coupon code THRIFTCORE. If you haven't been to his shop before, check it out. There's so much selection that there's literally something for everyone.

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

3 Tips on Being Productive and My June Business Goals Follow-Up

It's been exhausting, but I've thoroughly enjoyed dedicating June to Creative Business Posts. Chatting with so many creative professionals ignited my art mojo! I've learned so much, and I'm already applying the lessons with successful results! I'm sharing a little of what's been helping me make more money and get shit done this month, as well as a compilation of June's best posts!

Writing Lists, Kicking Ass: I've been writing to-do lists and kicking their asses! I've been writing my goals, then diving the goals into specific action steps. The more specific, the more likely you'll get it done!

Getting Organized: After my disorganization confession, I got proactive and tackled house clutter. I sorted everything into "donate", "yard sale", and "organize later" boxes and put those boxes out of the way. The house is still clean and clear!

Special Creative Time: My friend Birdie and I (interviewed here) started a creativity night. Every Tuesday we meet with friends at my favorite cafe to draw and create our hearts out. I finished over 50 line art drawings this month! I'll follow-up with my art line progress soon!


Creative Business Interviews:

• Thrifter Profile: Comic Book Artist and Haiku Writer Birdie
• Ismoyo's Etsy Reselling Tips: And Going from Blog to Published Book
• Brian Adams Turns his Pop Culture Passion into a Dream Job
• Art Walk Interview: Thrifter and Artist Teresa of Artefact Redux
• Art Walk Interview: Meredith's Tips for Creative Business Success

Antique Store Improvement Tips:

• Antique Store Wisdom: 10 Action Steps to Improve Sales, NOW!
• Antique Store Wisdom: The Vintage Cabin's Expert Selling Tips

Blogging and Reselling Tips:

• 5 Features Your Blog Needs: But Doesn't Have
• Top 3 Free Reselling Tools You Need to Use

Keeping Organized:

• 5 Confessions From a Busy Thrifty Professional: Finding Balance
• Peeks Around My Office: Art Keeps Me Productive
• My Home Office: Welcome to Thrift Core Headquarters
  
  

Creative Business Posts (Since 3/31/2011): 

For an extra boost in creative mojo, I'm throwing in all of the creative biz tips post I've written for Papernstitch, too! I hope you find these helpful!

• You Don't Need Art School to Sell Art
• Why You Should Start at the Shallow End of the Creative Pool
• 5 Steps for Spreading Your Creative Business Message Today!
• How to Get Them Talking About Your Art

• How to Become an Instant Success in Your Niche
• Come Out on Top of Your Competition
• Writer's Block? 5 Endless Wells of Inspiration
• Define Your Purpose for Business Success
• 5 Ways to Use Twitter to Engage Your Community
• The Secret Ingredient to Blogging Success: Passion

If you've been kicking creative ass and taking names along with me, it's time for a well-deserved break! Enjoy your fourth of July weekend. Expect fun sponsor giveaways and features next month. (Also, there's still time to be a July Thrift Core sponsor!)

Starting Your Own Antique or Thrift Store: I'm currently interviewing successful thrift and antique store owners. Do you want to know how to get started? Price items? Make sales? Leave your questions in the comments, and I'll get the answers from the pros! I want to write content that will help you, so give me your feedback!

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Top 3 Free Reselling Tools You Need to Use!

Everyone knows that Etsy and Ebay are excellent reselling tools, so I wanted to highlight a couple of  extremely easy to use and free reselling resources. They're great for starting out or for using in conjunction with the Ebay and Etsy shops you've already got set up.


Storenvy Attractive and easy to use, Storenvy has 5,000 stores and was just named as one of Entrepreneur magazines 100 Brilliant Companies.

It's time to update you on my experience setting up a Storenvy shop! It might not have as much traffic as Etsy or Ebay, but listings are quickly captured by Google (I can tell by my Google Alerts) so people can find items in your shop with a Google search. My biggest sale was my beautiful tiki-style siestaware cups, they sold for $70!

A Social Environment:  The main differentiator from other e-commerce sites is that Storenvy gives sellers a standalone online store and social marketplace that helps you get organically discovered. Just like with Etsy, you should interact in the marketplace to get your name out there and make friends!

More Perks: Stores are fully customizable, you can buy a custom domain for your shop, and about 15% of sales come directly from people surfing the Storenvy marketplace.

The Real Deal: Storenvy has so many tools that are excellent for beginning resellers. It prompts you to make item numbers for each item you list, there's a simple checklist you can use to track who you've shipped stock out to, and it's user-friendly and attractive with social media widgets.

I can confidently recommend Storenvy, but remember that it'll be up to you to promote it, just like you have to work a little harder to promote your Etsy shop to make sales.


Krrb The perfect tool for a reseller on Etsy or Ebay, you can add 30 posts in 60 seconds!

Another newcomer, Krrb is another extremely user-friendly reseller tool. The best feature is that it allows you to add posts from Etsy, Craigslist, Ebay, or LeBonCoin (French) in one click. You can literally add 30 posts to Krrb in 60 seconds! See this video and post for detailed instructions on using the 'Krrb it' tool and signing up on Krrb.

More Perks: Every Thursday morning at 11am, an automatic email notification is sent to Krrb members that are near you with any new and re-listed posts within the last 7 days. It's like a free email blast of your stuff! (Other companies charge tons of money for this kind of service!)

The Real Deal: Krrb is excellent for bartering, trading, and making sales online. When you can add all of your Etsy and Ebay posts in one click, it doesn't hurt to make an account and see if something sells!



Antengo Real-time reselling, from your smart iPhone! It only takes 45 seconds to post an item!

To disclose The Real Deal on Antengo, I haven't used this yet! I'm not a smart phone user (I love being disconnected from the web on the go, I'm on it 50+ hours a week for work!) However, the developer emailed me about it and it looks like an excellent tool. I ask him to tell me how it would help thrifters and resellers. He says:

Antengo is a real-time and Hyperlocal buy/sell marketplace.We already have a very high percentage of “crafters” and “thrifters” using the service to sell goods locally. It takes 45 seconds to post an item for sale. Antengo doesn’t take any money from a transaction. Sellers simply use Antengo as the venue to post their content and handle sales offline. It’s actually preferred to the online eCommerce marketplaces because those require shipping across the country, when the motto should be to “live locally.” Antengo is the location-aware, mobile etsy.

Antengo is currently accessible via a free iPhone application or you can post using your twitter handle from here: www.antengo.com/quickpost.php. As of a week ago, Antengo is venture-backed and launching the marketplace in hundreds of college newspaper apps, and much more!

In Conclusion: If you already have an Etsy and/or Ebay store, it won't hurt to try your luck listing merchandise on Storenvy and Krrb. More eyeballs and exposure means more sales! If you try any of the tools above, please follow-up and let me know if they work for you!

By the way, I haven't been paid to endorse any of these tools, I just wanted the share the wealth! You guys can pay me if you want though, here's my tip bucket. Now let me do a little dance for you! With a song, laalala....

What reselling tools do you use?

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JoRetro Vintage Giveaway: Win $200 in Vintage Swag

The JoRetro shop specializes in my favorite kind of retro goodies: the kitschy, eccentric finds! Sisters Irene and Jolene have put together a beautiful online shop of vintage treasures to salivate over. I wanted to introduce you to their shop, JoRetro: Eccentric Antiques and Collectibles, their fun blog, and let you know about an amazing giveaway they're having:

The winner gets to choose one item valued at $200!

How to Enter to Win one Sexy Vintage Item Worth up to $200 from JoRetro!

1.  Like the JoRetro Facebook page.

2. Look through the JoRetro shop and select the one item worth up to $200 that you want to win.

3. Leave a comment on her facebook wall letting her know which item you want to win BEFORE the deadline, May 31, 2011. That's it!

 Vintage photos of Jolene and her family, generously shared with us on her blog. 

I was immediately taken with the JoRetro shop and blog. Both weave in Jolene's love of crafts and her memories of the past. There are sweet posts like this one about her mom's classic vintage fashion, and craft tags like From Trash to Tags, a practical post on making more merchandise for your antique store, for free!

Jolene will be back again soon to answer some questions about her success as an antique reseller. Her shop looks amazing, and I can't wait to pick her brain and get reselling and antique hunting secrets.

If you have any questions for Jolene's success as an antique reseller and hunter, please leave them in the comments!

Note: This is not a paid post, but JoRetro is a Thrift Core Sponsor. Read my Sponsor FAQ and Advertising page if you're interested in being a Thrift Core Sponsor.

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

The 90s is Now Vintage: How Do You Feel? (Old?)

[Photos are of my friend Kira's 90s-tastic Guest Bedroom in Philly] 

Some people feel offended that the 1990s are now considered vintage. They don't like the 90s being coined as retro; but I don't share that sentiment. I very much feel like we're in a different era. I miss the 90s, but at least the thrift stores have plenty of its clothing and other tacky fun to collect or resell.

Here's what my fellow thrifters on Twitter have to say about the "90s" being officially retro-cool enough to use as keywords for reselling:

ChicModern I guess you can consider 90s clothing vintage
 
thevintagecabin yea, i'd say it's vintage. if it's trendy then sell it! docs/grunge is all back so... for decor, that is another story tho.

FHCShopping Pah, it ain't vintage, but if people want to buy it, label away! I still have things in my wardrobe from university (just)

Tudorks Do we say "retro" or "vintage"? 90s are back. Bust out the mini backpacks!

alamodern I sorta do,but if means I can sell all my college crap as vintage... =) RT @thriftcore: .. 90s considered "vintage": who disagrees? 

Thrifting4Good Can't think of a thing that makes me think of the 90s (in terms of vintage) but I suppose it is.

vintagedamage   for me: Is the item strongly of-its-time and does it represent how we view the era?

sputnikmoss 90s belted high waisted GAP jeans with a bodysuit, not that I have any actual photos or anything!

  
SllabStudios I actually still wear Chucks. They saw heavy rotation w/ Doc Martin boots in the early 90s. cc: @Thrifting4Good @thriftcore

alamodern Flannel shirt,jeans,old ratty Vans=90s outfit

fennarama Retro for anything that is less than 20 years old. Vintage for 20 years old and older.

FHCShopping Ugh, who wants to emphasise back flab with a teeny weeny rucksack? You know how gammon is tied up with string?

Thank you everyone for participating with enthusiasm! (I love the retro college/high school photos we shared, anyone brave enough to share those in the comments, too?) Who's had success reselling 90s clothes? How about decor? (Although that gaudy plastic crap is likely filling landfills and guest bedrooms for the most part!) 

Also, what are your 90s favorites? Here's mine:

Movie: Anything Batman! (Since Michael Jackson Moonwalker and Transformers The Movie are 80s) 

Cartoon: Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, though "Batman the Animated Series" was amazing for many reasons. The 90s is the Cartoon Renaissance!

Music: Michael and Janet Jackson, Prince

Video Games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Resident Evil 1 & 2, Parasite Eve 

Fashion: Neon-colored things

Activities: Science/Astronomy Clubs, watching cartoons, drawing, writing, playing "teacher" (never "doctor"!), bouncing off the walls like a gnat on crack.

Tell me about your 90s favorites and your 90s reselling successes!

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.