Effects of the economy on vintage and ephemera market

[Ruth Cooper]

I just wanted to share my input into sales with the current economic conditions. We have actually noticed an increase this quarter compared to last year, especially in the ephemera portion of our shoppe. We have also seen an increase in new clients. One of the things we hear from regular clients and our new clients is the long term value of items. People seem to feel that vintage items will not loose value like new items. Consumers in this goegraphic area seem to be looking for more thoughtful ways to approach gift giving and home decorating. Our average sale (of ephemera) is approximately $26.00, which by today's standard is good when you consider the price of new items even at discount stores. The little advertising that we do now includes these benefits of "investment". We have very limited hours, mostly by appointment.

It would be nice to hear from others on how sales are doing in this economy.

[Nancy]

Good afternoon.
I noticed in the last three months my sales on the big site have gone down from 50% sales to about 10% sales.
I went out an looked for new sites to list my ephemera items on and I am happy to say I found this great site called Etsy
Well my sales have gone back up to 50% again. I am a happy camper.
I stopped listing on the big site and just list my ephemera on Etsy

[Alana]

I only sell on my websites, so that is what I can compare to. I am still doing very well, sales everyday, and there were a few times last month that I went a day or two without sales. So for me sales are still normal with a little bit higher averages on my books site for this month compared to last. That would be the site that I sell my ephemera and it appears to be selling continuously slightly higher then last month.

I had a tremendous number of international buyers on both sites from Jan to mid Feb and during Christmas of last year, those sales have slowed down on both sites.

I have more control over my websites then I would on a venue with how I set up my metas, and sales, etc...I have lower some prices and tested doing more sales on both sites as well.

This is a good subject, I try to stay on top of what other store owners are doing and how this is affecting their sales and have done a couple of things like offered more discounts to my buyers and increased my "on sale" listings.