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5 Tips to Look Out For When Shopping For Vintage Ephemera Online

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Online shopping has opened a whole new world of convenience and ease to shoppers and that includes vintage ephemera shoppers as well.  There is a whole lot of shoppers that are looking for either mixed media collage kits for their personal art work or elements they can add to their hybrid scrapbooking kits.

Two of the great places that I really enjoy is Etsy and Ebay, for finding vintage paper ephemera  that is not readily available in my local thrift stores ( or would take up too much of my time to find) or craft store.  While all this is good news to both shoppers and sellers, there are a few caveats you should watch out for.

1.   Know Your Purpose for Buying Vintage Paper Goods

If you are buying to collect actual vintage ephemera to add to your collection from an online seller, then you are going to want to check the authenticity of the item being sold and the reputation of the seller or online shop.  Your reasons for buying will vastly differ from the vintage ephemera buyer that wants to use the items for collage, crafting or other personal use.

2.  Check the Reputation of the Seller

In general, you can check the reputation of the seller by checking the feedback on either Etsy or Ebay online stores.  A good seller usually has very good to excellent feedback.  Try to discount that isolated negative buyer’s feedback, if the rest of the written feedback is consistently positive.  Sometimes a lower number of feedback, means the person just started selling online and is working on their online reputation.  Back to the super negative buyer, there are some buyers almost no one can please.

3. Buy One or Two items to Evaluate Your Buying Experience

As a rule, I don’t usually buy more than one or two items from some one I have not bought from before.  Why?  It’s just safer to make an initial smaller money investment and see how your seller is going to follow through on the whole transaction.  If you are happy with the transaction experience and the product, chances are you will be a returning customer and that will make both you and the seller very happy!

4.   Calculate the Difference Between Shipping Costs for A Similar Product

If you can buy an item from a local dealer, then you are more than likely to save a substantial amount of money in shipping costs.  You can narrow down your searches on both Etsy and Ebay to check for items from local or at least in-state vendors.  If you do buy something from another country, then make sure you spend the little extra for insurance on anything over the amount you can’t tolerate to lose.  Your threshold may vary but get that insurance, you will not regret it.

5.  Buy Items Off Season

Just like brick and mortar stores, online sellers want to move their seasonal merchandise.  Try to get a portion of your money and allocate it for off season items, this is where you can get enormous savings on online items as you are buying winter items when everyone else is thinking sunglasses, and shorts!  It’s a tip I shared in a previous post and to show you I follow my own tips,  I have a few vintage items and their  images I would like to share with my readers!

I purchased a couple of vintage mixed media ephemera packs from an online seller on Etsy.  One was a French ephemera pack and another was a Christmas pack.

Here’s the French mini-packet…

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Here are some of the contents of the French packet… It included a music sheet, dictionary page, alphabet card, an engraved illustration, French Dennison stickers, a piece of Victorian rose paper scrap and a few newer or reproduction items that the seller included in the pack…

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Here’s a close-up picture of some of the elements…

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Woo-hoo!  Wasn’t that awesome?  There were 17 items in the total packet. I didn’t include all of the items in the picture.    I don’t know about you,  but sometimes I like looking at the products as much as I like buying them and using them.  They are like virtual eye candy!

But wait…there’s more (don’t I sound like a commercial?).  Here is the Christmas packet…

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This was a larger mixed media kit, with 36 elements in all and both packages were shipped in 8.5″ by 11″ mailers.  I call these packages “happy mail” because that is what they do is make me all warm and fuzzy inside.  The following pictures are the various elements that were included in the kit:

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Here is a picture of several of the number elements that I had been looking for, there was a combination of actual vintage items (they are the ones that show a patina of age and wear) and it seems newer or reproduction items…

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And the following picture includes several of the vintage amusement park tickets and store elements, I had been searching for as well …for example, vintage milk caps.

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All in all, it was a teeny mini-haul.

I didn’t mean to rhyme, but as you can imagine I am getting a little giddy writing about these items.  As for their intended purpose, well I will be revealing that in a future blog post as a new blog feature!

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy and check back as I share more fun vintage ephemera items as I find them.

Please don’t hesitate to leave me a comment about the items that I bought…do any of them bring back memories?  And if you like, answer the question in the poll and I will reveal what I paid in US dollars after we get in a few results.  Thanks so much!

 

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7 Reasons Why People Collect Antiques

As a fan of PBS’ Antique Roadshow, I often find myself pondering what prompted a person to collect the item they are showcasing in the first place?

In the popular show, you get to see a huge variety of collectibles from furniture, to quilts, to decorative collectibles, to fine art, musical instruments and  paper collections.

The show hosts often asks the collector how they came about acquiring the item and the individual stories often vary.  But other than the occasional person, who basically fell into acquiring the collectible by accident (as an heirloom or gift), most of the guests loved and sought after what they collected.

So after a little soul searching, I put together a list of positive reasons why people collect.

  1. Money and Investment or Creating Family Heirlooms

    You enjoy finding and collecting items that you want to leave as part of your inheritance or to make a statement of who you were to future heirs. Usually your collection, will have a dual purpose of not only pleasing you aesthetically but actually have an inherent monetary value that is established by antique experts and similar professionals.  Most collectors in this category collect fine art, furniture, vintage fine jewelry and other similar items.

  2. Collect for Sentimental Value or Nostalgia – Fond memories of the past or your childhood, inspire you to collect those objects that promoted your happiness and the process of collecting these items inspires these positive feelings.  Many vintage or antique collections can remind you of close relationships with loved ones or admired mentors  and the influence that these people had in developing your personal taste and style.
  3. Personal Hobby – The time and attention you put in researching, finding, purchasing, cleaning or restoring your collectibles and then displaying your collection, relaxes and or energizes you.  Engaging in your hobby makes the cares of life seem distant and provides you with a sense of accomplishment and restored energy.

  4. Personal Aesthetics

    Your sense of style draws you to the aesthetics or beauty and rarity of the items you collect. Most avid collectors enjoy finding unique ways to display their personal collections throughout their homes.

  5. Enjoys the “thrill of the hunt” of finding rare items  One of the best parts about antique collecting is the thrill of the hunt.  The expectation of finding a treasure is a big motivator for the collector.  Many vintage or antique collections have been built by  carefully combing through boxes and tables at a yard sale or flea market, a sudden find at an auction, going through listings in the local paper or online (Craigslist…anyone?), or even an unexpected find at a store.  And when you find that item, it’s an awesome feeling!  This is especially true if you have been conducting a search for a long time or if the item is rare.  Acquiring the item or desired collectible, has less of a thrill for this type of collector than the thrill of searching for and finding it.

  6. Enjoys the restoration of antiques and collectibles – Not all antique collectors restore their collectibles, but many develop skill sets that bring added beauty and value to the items they collect.  These collectors enjoy the process so much and with added practice become so good at it, that they soon find themselves giving away their collectibles to grateful recipients and/or selling the items they restore.
  7. Feeling of Community/Social  – Over time, many collectors have individual and highly specialized knowledge about the items that they collect, that they find themselves joining or participating in groups that collect similar items.  And what should be surprising about that?  Many collectors enjoy the conversation regarding a similar collectible, the praise they get for the items they might have collected, and the additional knowledge and expertise they gather  from engaging in discussions with those who have broader collections of similar items.

So there is my wrap up of what I believe are the reasons why people like to collect.  While this blog post doesn’t address all of the reasons why people collect, I think it gives a broad idea of what motivates many collectors and the underlying reason common to most collectors is that they enjoy it immensely.  What motivated you to begin collecting?

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Limoges Porcelain Boxes: 5 Tips to Consider Before You Purchase


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Brief History of Limoges Porcelain

When most people mention Limoges porcelain trinket boxes, they usually realize you are talking about high quality, upscale, and imported pricey porcelain that will be treasured for generations.  But in spite of its expense, this type of porcelain is worth its hefty price as it has retained its value since they began producing porcelain trinket boxes from this region in the 1700s.  The current trinket or pill boxes were thought to have originated from the snuff boxes of the aristocratic Frenchmen of the late 1700s.

It was the  discovery of Kaolin clay near Limoges France in the 1700’s that  created a new industry in France — hard paste porcelain. (Which up to that time was a highly secret manufacturing process and hard paste porcelain was only being manufactured in  China .)

Although they were popular in France, these collectible boxes were not popular in the United States because no means of exporting to the American market had been attempted.

At the time it took traveling to Europe to find and buy the pieces. In the 1960’s,  porcelain importer Charles Martine contributed to the awareness and popularity of the Limoges boxes we see now.

A collector should expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $500 per piece.  Since prices and reputable vendors vary, the following tips should help you in your hunt for these desirable collectibles.

Limoges Buying Tips to Keep in Mind

  1. When trying to set a value on a piece, looking at the quality of the hand painted decoration can be more important than valuing its age or when it was produced.  Keep in mind high quality hand painting adds more value than the work of an unskilled porcelain painter.
  2. Unlike other porcelain pieces, there are fewer reproductions of Limoges porcelain and therefore, a collector can shop with more confidence that the trinket box he or she is buying is likely to be authentic. It wouldn’t hurt however to invest in a few collector books to get as much information about the different styles and designs available during different time periods.  Armed with this information a collector or shopper is more likely to select what he or she wants, pay closer to its estimated value  and to be satisfied with this expensive purchase.
  3. Understand that Limoges does not come from a specific company or corporation by the name of Limoges, Inc.; but is a city and region in France.  Therefore, porcelain that comes from this region can be defined as Limoges porcelain according to French law.  As a result, this beautiful , delicate porcelain was produced by a number of factories in France from the late 1700s until around 1930 when ornate design styles changed to more basic and simple designs.
  4.  Keep an eye out for the words Peint Main or Décor Main which means the trinket box has been “painted by hand” and check and see if the artist painted his or her initials on the box.  Boxes that are marked Rehausse Main are a combination of a decal transfer and hand painted details.  A decal transfer is a specialized design decal that is applied on the porcelain and permanently bonds with the porcelain during the firing process.
  5. Although many companies over the years have manufactured Limoges boxes there are a few which actually own their own Limoges companies and are known as high quality importers and manufacturers. The company names that are associated with exclusive Limoges designs and high quality porcelain are Artoria Limoges, Chamart Exclusives Inc. and Chanille to name a few.

 

Image Credit

Photo courtesy of Antique Helper