via Grecian Goddess Blue Lace topped Maxi Dress S by Pasttimesvintage.

Springs Coming and some thoughts to Prom, Parties and all the fun of summer!

Gently Pre-loved Vintage  is such a positive reflection of who we can be.  Unique, Personal, Tied to the past, Saving our future by keeping beautiful  items out of landfills. 

Just a thought. Check out all the vintage stores and sites and Re-sale shops before picking your dresses. I know you will find a dress or sundress for summer that reflects JUST YOU.

Recycle, Upcycle, Keep our world Clean and Green!

There’s a need for Gently Used clothing which we wash and distribute.  Sweat pants and shirts are greatly appreciated. Jeans in all sizes.  Warm coats, Shoes, Non itchy sweaters and pretty much anything that can be used. Kids clothing too.

New items needed are socks, Underwear and Bras mens, womans and kids in all sizes.

If you have a bunch of stuff in your closets and Would like to send it to us Please mark it FOR PADS on the box. We Wash, Sort and store all the clothes in our storage unit and then we can fill requested needs. This week a family with children need size 5 -7 clothes for the kids which we’ve got covered.

Also backpacks, School supplies , Hygeine articles like shaving cream, deodarant are greatly needed.

Were not an official non profit  so we can’t give you a slip for your taxes. We do this simply to help because theres’ too many people suffering from lack of basic needs.

In the area of chicago or suburbs drop an Email to ianproof@aol.com. We pick up too. 

It all goes to help those in need. There’s no mixing of business with Helping so we don’t sort and pull anything for our store. Mark it donate and it ALL goes to Charity no exceptions.

Thanks in advance. 

Sandy Past Times Vintage Clothing

The web site is ticking along nicely with daily plus sales since I’m listing there every day now. I used to always go list on etsy then tend to fall in there and never get around to my web site except for about twice a week max.

Now I go to etsy and  look at my slower then slow views, read the community forums about how a lot of shops are way down on views and sales, then I go to my web site and work.  Its hard to be motivated to list on etsy now as seems no matter how many key words I put in a title I can’t seem to get it to budge to the front page of search.

I guess all in all I don’t want to have to dwell on all this nonsense either though. My favorite part of etsy was the simplicity of it plus the nice people. Nice people are all still there but its no longer simple.  Now I have to look up keywords, whats the most searched, stuff all that into the title, Shelf creativity and become another mindless drone who blends in to get to the first page. Yuck.

Loved the old search where you’d type in something and get cool items with such creative fun titles . The imaginations and passions of the sellers were all over the item titles. Now its 10 pages of the same old , same old formal stuff.

Second good thing about the change in the etsy search is that since  there’s no sales for me now on etsy I stopped listing there for the moment and have more free time. I’ m reading again more, Watching some late night movies, Basic me time I haven’t had for awhile.  Since I had the blood clots in my lungs  last month I’ve been trying to work but also relax to heal, nows a good a time as any to focus on getting better .

Besides the search change killing my etsy sales the major Yuck thing is that I did finally bite the proverbial bullet and wander back over to ebay again. Signed up for auctiva Again and Will have to start back to listing there so I have a good flow of income.

Its not creative at ebay, Best match is a pain, Lots of rules and silliness but all in all with all the changes their making on etsy I’m not really seeing much difference between the two sites now. Ebays got a lot of traffic and Pretty much always good sales.

So its  been an interesting month in my online selling life. More adjustment and changes. Some free time which I could use for this week then my move back to ebay with my web site and ebay as  the primary again.

I’ll keep peeking into the etsy forums to see if sales are up-ticking for the long timers. I guess when they do I’ll test the water again and see if it works out better the second time around.

The fights over the relevancy over recency. The Its good for me , not good for me debate. And Finally the name calling and general ugliness that  I’d never experienced before  on etsy.

Crappy sellers , Big sellers, Great Sellers, God Like sellers, Hobbyists and a bunch of other random names and debates as this wonderful “change” works its way thru etsy and changes the goodwill between sellers  into fighting and name calling in the forums.

Only good thing is that after a few pages of general ugliness everyone started getting back to what etsy was really about and started working it out and apologizing for mis-understandings.  How long that will last as all this plays out remains to be seen. Things got ugly real fast on that other site that changed everything and never came back as a community site .

Anyways Sorry to see it going down this way but its not a big surprise. Etsy  the site  is happy to report its sales are up and thus their profits. I’m unhappy to report the general good spirit of the sellers  is down. In the business world though I guess what really matters is that profit wins hand down over every other consideration and etsy it seems is on a winning streak.

As for me I’m going to take a break from etsy and all the drama and wander over to my web site and list over there a bit. Slower sales but no drama.

Best,

Sandy Past Times Vintage

Ebay in the meantime  morphed into a powerhouse for  buy it now name brand new items and not so much the unique , weird and wonderful it used to be. So be it. Its their company and they can direct it any way they choose.  Just happy I moved along when I did as what I sell is not new.

Now Its been awhile since I settled into etsy. Love  it. Funny, Friendly, Relaxed, weird one of a kind stuff. Seemed like a home away from home again with a family rather then business atmosphere.

Now etsy’s starting to make  me nervous  as a seller and buyer the same way ebay was back in the day. 

There’s a new CEO I believe. There’s lots of “improvements” in the user experience. Now there’s a change in the search and how items appear. Used to be stuff newly listed would be the stuff a searcher would pull up first. Now its relevancy.

Prior to the relevancy change  the newly listed stuff would float along the first pages first. Now I see my Vintage Dresses but their some dresses that have been in the shop a bit. I get exposure but I’d really like my newer listed items to be up front as I List by seasons  for sales. Right now I’d like my Halloween and Christmas Vintage Dresses to come up on the  first few pages. Heck if I know how to do that anymore. Before I’d just list them daily and re-list them so They’d be what buyers would see first When they searched . 

Now I’ve read the tutorials  on the new search and I could play around with all the listings to make them more ”relevant”. Change the titles. Play with the tags. All the stuff I’d done before with ebay when they started tinkering with everything. To be honest I’m not wasting my time  just yet. Been there, done that. I’m going to wait a bit to see where etsy is going with all these changes.

Fixing my listings Didn’t work out with ebay because after I’d fixed them I’d wake up to find another “change or improvement” and A new list of things I had to edit  again to make my listings work again. I’d edit again…..and again….. and again. 

Maybe etsy will just make one change to search and thats all she wrote but I am going to wait it out and see in case they get a case of the ebay fix it  again and again syndrome.  I hate editing and the thought of doing it over and over makes me shudder! 

Another new Thing on Etsy is you can now buy ad’s. I think Ebay did that too But don’t call me on that one as that was a long time ago and its hard to remember the order of all the chaos.  

Alla Ebay now I can pay just an additional 5.00 a week or more if I’d  like to make my stuff more visible to the buyers. More I pay the more visible I become I guess.  Call me naive but again as with ebay I thought being visible to buyers was  what my  listing fees covered. My bad.

So as the new etsy changes are in effect  I  know I just need to change and tweek and edit and morph all my listings to work well with the new search and then Pay more to get myself more visibility on top of all that and its all good again Right? 

As long as they don’t change it back or again or ?????     

 Since I  already Built my own web site after the hard knock lesson of ebay. “Its their business and they can do what they choose with it” I’m taking  etsy changes  more in stride.    I realized with ebay that any time your listing and selling on another businesses site that things can change. Sometimes for the good. Sometimes for the bad. You have to play by their rules ,  adhere to their fees and if they suddenly change the whole game plan accept that your business may suffer  or grow as a result of the changes. Its their playground like it or not.    

I still love  etsy. Folks are still friendly and cool. Still laid back and fun. Yet all the  new changes are definately making me leery  as they work to improve the site for the buyers and sellers.  Like with ebay I really didn’t see much wrong with it in the first place …..I was really liking it. 

I hope as Etsy “ improves”  itself  it  stays the same personal, family style, fun, funky, weird and wonderful site thats focus is more on the fostering of creativity with profit coming secondary to the experience site.  If etsy changes to be a site more interested in making a buck then in listening and supporting its users  that built it in the first place I will just move on the same as I did with ebay.

There’s Always the new kid on the block just hovering around waiting  for “improvements” and “improved Buyer Experiences” to send an established sites users running off for greener friendly pastures.

With etsy though I would really really miss it!

Next week hopefully they’ll be putting vintage costumes together for this year and we’ll be adding  them to etsy and our web site.

I Love the idea of Vintage For  Halloween And then wear all year.  I’m heavily  into recyling  so I personally am not a fan of Package costumes that you wear and  then discard.

We’ve also started Piling up the Proverbial ugly Christmas Sweaters  in Guys and Gals . Can’t be too  overdressed for the holidays with glitz and bangles and demented looking santas and reindeers and all. They’ll be going on in about a week or two so you can pick early if you like .

All in all some serious vintage Holiday  fun!

Check back as we add them all in.

Happy Holidays in advance! 

Sandy

Eye opener.

There were dressers, Hutches, Bikes, hose Holders, Kids Chairs, Boxes of 

Kids toys…. Basically too much to even list.

We have a big van so Now I’m randomly picking up what I can

thats not to big to handle and passing it on to those in need.

I know its a pain to move a big item out and even bigger pain

to drop it off at a salvation army or donate it. Easier to toss it.

Still these items are in great shape and there’s so many people who

desperately need so much.

The small stuff  like boxes of kids toys and random chairs just throw

them into the trunk of your car and you will pass a place where you

can donate them. There’s goodwill, Salvation army, boxes set up randomly

you can toss in clothes.  Trust me when I say theres many that will be

happy you did it.

The big stuff theres organizations that pick up free.

Just call and set up a day and you can even gather all the stuff

into one area and they will take it all.

Just please, please , please don’t toss it on the curb.

Or if you do put a curb alert up on craigs list and it may find

a new home that way.

Other options are barter and freebie sites where you can exchange or

simply gift the items.

Churches in your areas.

Just please pass it on.

My daughter was in the van with me as I tossed up a bunch of items

and then swung them over to a charity organization we work with.

She looked befuddled. “Thats perfectly good stuff, why are they throwing

it out like that . People can use that stuff”

Good question.

Why are we wasting so much when theres so much need in the world

right now.

Simply take the time to pass it on. Only takes a few moments or a simple phone

call to set up a pick up.

You’ll make some family very happy.

Another 4 weeks and then break out the warmer items and start planning the summer fun!

One of my favorites is anything lilly pulitzer. Fun, Sunny, Crazy and bright!

Sundress added to our site to get in the mood for sunshine!

WOMANS VINTAGE CLOTHING – 90\’S DRESSES – Babachic Paris Tie Dye Plaid Sundress S M

via WOMANS VINTAGE CLOTHING – 90\’S DRESSES – Babachic Paris Tie Dye Plaid Sundress S M.

Selling online.

We’ve moved off ebay pretty much all the way.

Now were very casual sellers over there. Just

To keep a foot in the door in case it  returns

to the good days of old. Doubt it but I can always

Hope.

We’ve Established ourselves on etsy.com which I

have to say I love. The people there are awesome.

Incredibly friendly and fun!

Selling there is also a breeze and the sales are doing

very well there now. Took a bit to add inventory and

be found but great place to be for selling vintage.

Our web site is gaining traction which is surprising

because I’m pretty horrible about listing there.

Instead of daily there I do daily on etsy and weekly

on the web site. This years resolution for business

was to add daily to the web site and I am sticking to

it now.

Amazon is doing great in sales. Busy place there as

always.

So for the beginning of this year were going to

keep it as it is for selling online.

Ebay upon occasion but sales are still low there

for us with low sell thru rate . Lots of fees on top of

it so still not worth the bother for us.

Etsy Coming on strong in sales and growing daily.

Fun and friendly place. If your moving off

Ebay and sell vintage 20 years or older try etsy

as your alternative selling site. You’ll like it!

Amazon as always is realiable.

Web site is gaining traction so if your thinking about

doing a web site give it a try. Low cost. No-one

looking over your shoulder with a bunch of rules and

fees.

Slow to grow but worth it in the long run.

  All the Ebay changes were not good for our business

but I have to admit that if they didn’t make the

changes I would have never opened my own web

site and Expanded to other sites.

In the long run I guess they gave me the push

To dream.

Dress on Ebay after several people I know complained

about searching in that category.

Main complaint, their not vintage dresses anymore.

So Typing in Vintage Dress on Ebay I waited and

Finally best match spit out what it thought I’d

like to buy.

huh???

I went to each and every offering on the first page

all of which had vintage in the title and found that

about 70 % of the “Vintage ” dresses were actually

New dresses in Vintage Style.

Now as Ebay seems to load really really slowly as compared

to other shopping sites on my computer

 (I have no clue Why its just annoying) it took

awhile for each listing to load soI could check them

out.

Not Only was I annoyed I totally wasted my time.

Ebay Note to self – Vintage Means a Previously owned dress of

at least from the 90′s grunge era and preferably even earlier.

Remember the 80′s, 70′s, 60′s , 50′s , Those are the

era’s with vintage dresses.

If I wanted Vintage inspired, Vintage maybe,

Vintage Looks like it could be 60′s cocktail I’d go

to the mall and find one or I’d look in the new section.

When I type in Vintage Dress and It says Vintage In the

Title I don’t want to find a whole bunch of stuff not

related to Vintage At all.

So yeah I get the complaints.

When I switched to ending soonest on the search I

found more Vintage dresses that were really vintage.

Also found a lot  had no bids or weren’t selling.

Perhaps Its just the frusteration level from the buyers

who gets thrown a bunch of listings that they

patiently look thru, Waiting and Waiting for each page

to load in the hopes of finding that one special

not re-produced carbon copy dress and instead

they find Nwt dresses with multiple copies available

in the same style.

Whatever happened to key word spamming where

listings got thrown off if they weren’t true to form?

If you put in a Coogi Like sweater before and it

wasn’t Coogi sooner or later, Mostly sooner, You’d

find your listing in trouble and it would get pulled.

I guess now maybe there’s too much going on at E-bay to

make sure Vintage Dress really means Vintage Dress.

Either that or there’s new rules that allow Vintage

In the titles of items that aren’t vintage  in which

case I have a great Coogi Like Sweater I’d love to

List with Coogi in the title so I get more Search hits.

As for my advice to those who complained about

the plethora of New items in Vintage Dress I

suggested like I always do now.

Check out Vintage Dress on etsy.com.  The majority of

the dresses are over 20 years old that pop up on

a search over there. There’s the occasional oops

of a dress that’s late 90′s that pops up but theres

no multiple quantities available mass produced

dresses under vintage.

If your In love with Ebay try Narrowing your search.

Don’t just type in Vintage dress ,Go to an

era like 50′s or 60′s to weed out more of  the

Vintage Like Listings. Also fill out the side bar

Where you can mark used which also helped weed

some out.

Check out the little and big online stores that

sell vintage for a living. A lot of them are

sellers that have left other online selling venues

and started their own vintage stores.

Lastly just go into your own neighborhoods and

frequent an estate sale or one of the little

Vintage stores where you can browse real vintage.

Note To Ebay – Its time to police those listings again so

you really do Want to Focus on the buyer needs.

When a buyer searches for “Vintage Dress” they

Mean a dress from another era , A unique and not

mass produced item with 10 and more available.

. Vintage means aged to perfection, unique

and one of a kind like the person who chooses to

wear it and patiently searches for it.

Got it? Good!