A Pro’s Guide to Vintage Shopping

Photo by Max Burkhalter

AOI SPOKE TO THE PROS TO GET THE BEST TIPS

Estate sales are the source of many a cherished item, from interior decor to jewelry. Kate Schelter, artist, illustrator, and author of Classic Style: Hand It Down, Dress It Up, Wear It Out, says, “I check Estatesales.net more times a day than my Instagram. I browse the photos during the week and determine if the sale is worth going to. Then if I see one item of interest, I go—first one in the door—and, if I’m lucky, I get it. The key is to stay focused—and arrive early. The early bird does get the worm.”

Schelter recommends arriving first thing to get what you came for, or being the last shopper, when prices are slashed and you don’t know what you’ve missed. “Sometimes I know what I’m looking for and I have to figure out where it’s located in the house, and it’s this mad dash once they open the door. I bring red stickers that read ‘Sold Kate’ on them so I can tag anything I see and want to purchase. I’ve decorated half my house with items that were handed down from Granny or found for a fraction of the price and reupholstered or painted to make them my own,” Schelter says.

Graydon Sikes, director of artwork at Everything But the House (EBTH), a premiere online estate sale marketplace where every item starts at $1, recommends sifting through inventory by gravitating toward what catches your eye. “It’s most important that you collect and cherish things that appeal to your individual sense of aesthetics,” he says. “When people ask about values and how to be a discerning buyer, remember that most experts will suggest that you buy what you like. After all, you have to live with it. So bring it home if you love it!”

“If you love it, buy it. If you doubt it, leave it out,” Schelter says, but with a caveat: “Buyer beware—estate sales are not antiques stores. You have to have a keen eye and a vision for how things will fit and work in your house. One needs to know their stuff and how to spot it. That’s why it’s so great for deals!”

Tom Burstein, head of the American jewelry department at Christie’s, says, “A ‘hidden treasure’ does not have to equate to finding an object of great value; for a true collector it means finding an object about which they are passionate. The common bond among all collectors is a shared drive to acquire objects of particular interest regardless of what it takes to do so.”

But if you are shopping with value in mind, there are a few key things to note about each piece:

“One idea is items that are ‘fresh to the market’—you’ll hear this phrase often,” says Sikes. “It indicates that the item has been squirreled away for years, in someone’s home or collection, and hasn’t been offered for sale in a long time. Collectors place a premium on fresh to the market material; so if you see something that has been buried away for a long time, that could indicate it’s a neat find.”

“The way to get the most out of being a collector is to first let your passion lead you to the subject matter and type of object you wish to collect and surround yourself with in day-to-day life,” says Burstein. “The next step is to not only learn through reading, but train your eye through viewing and handling the objects as much as possible and try to learn every small detail and possible nuance. The final step is to go out in the field—to auctions, estate sales, antiques fairs, et cetera—to learn market prices and to meet fellow collectors to form a personal network from whom you will buy and sell.”

Condition is also important and can be judged by even the most inexperienced eye, says Sikes: “Check the thing out. Turn it over. Crawl underneath that chair. Look for any elements of condition that might appear irreversible. If something is in pristine condition, that’s often a good sign in just about any category.”

In addition to online resources and your neighborhood yard sales, there are many levels of estate sales. You can find pieces at big shows, such as those in Brimfield, Massachusetts, and Round Top, Texas, where items are offered by dealers but are bought quietly from homes when fresh to the market.

Often, small, local sales can yield the greatest finds. “There are tag sales and estate sales in every city and town,” says Sikes. “Usually, those sales don’t have broad exposure like with EBTH, and so sometimes surprises can be found or items can be bought reasonably because they don’t have international exposure.”

Sikes also recommends looking for sales in transient cities—areas where there are a lot of people moving in and out. “Detroit was a great place for many years; a city with enormous old wealth from the car industry, and for a period of time, those families were moving out, leaving the contents of their homes in their wake,” he says.

And if you do happen to find yourself with a gem on your hands, feel free to ask the seller a few questions, but don’t expect to always find the answers. “Sellers are [generally] too busy accepting payments. Estate sales are feeding frenzies, like sample sales, only with larger pieces of furniture in tighter spaces,” says Schelter. “There is never anyone to ask, except for your fellow yard-salers, and even they can be competitive. People take this very seriously.”

If you are successful in sequestering the sale runners, Sikes recommends inquiring about the provenance of the item, how much they paid for it originally, if any experts have looked at the piece, and any other general information they can think of. “[At estate sales], there are no stupid questions,” he says. “It’s often your one opportunity to glean something about an item without the basics of online research or consulting an expert. It’s the verbal Druid-like passing of information.”

*This article written by Ariel previously ran on Vogue.com in 2017.