Hunt for treasures and sell curated vintage items. Success comes from knowing your niche, understanding values, and presenting items attractively.
Consider these related business ideas and specializations:
Hunt for treasures and sell curated vintage items. Success comes from knowing your niche, understanding values, and presenting items attractively.
Consider these related business ideas and specializations:
San Juan Islands-specific considerations for this business:
Test this idea before investing heavily:
Spend $200 at estate sales and thrift stores on items in your target specialty. List them online with quality photos. Track what sells, what sits, and your profit margin.
Can you spot value others miss? What categories move fastest? What prices does the market accept? How much time does listing and shipping require?
You double your money on the test batch, or you identify specific items that consistently sell fast with good margins.
Expected startup and operating expenses:
Areas where quality investment pays off:
One authentication mistake on a fake or misidentified piece can cost more than months of profits. Reference materials and authentication pay for themselves.
Good enough: Start with library books and free online resources; buy reference guides as you specialize and encounter more valuable pieces.
Online buyers can't examine pieces in person. Poor photos mean lower prices or no sales, regardless of item quality.
Good enough: Smartphone with good lighting works fine—you don't need a professional camera, just consistent, well-lit photos showing condition and details.
Areas where cost-cutting makes sense:
Financial timing and planning notes:
Strategies to reduce risk and increase odds of success:
Join shomby today and start selling to your local community. We provide the platform—you bring the passion.
We build shomby around your business—not the other way around. If there's a feature, integration, or tool that would help your vintage & antique finds business succeed, we want to hear about it.
Build a resale clothing business with carefully selected pieces. Sustainable fashion is growing as consumers seek quality over fast fashion.
Buy and sell collectibles for passionate hobbyists. Deep knowledge in specific collecting areas allows you to find undervalued items and connect them with collectors.
Give electronics new life through cleaning, repair, and resale. Technical skills allow you to buy broken items cheaply and sell them working.
San Juan Islands-specific considerations for this business:
Test this idea before investing heavily:
Spend $200 at estate sales and thrift stores on items in your target specialty. List them online with quality photos. Track what sells, what sits, and your profit margin.
Can you spot value others miss? What categories move fastest? What prices does the market accept? How much time does listing and shipping require?
You double your money on the test batch, or you identify specific items that consistently sell fast with good margins.
Expected startup and operating expenses:
Areas where quality investment pays off:
One authentication mistake on a fake or misidentified piece can cost more than months of profits. Reference materials and authentication pay for themselves.
Good enough: Start with library books and free online resources; buy reference guides as you specialize and encounter more valuable pieces.
Online buyers can't examine pieces in person. Poor photos mean lower prices or no sales, regardless of item quality.
Good enough: Smartphone with good lighting works fine—you don't need a professional camera, just consistent, well-lit photos showing condition and details.
Areas where cost-cutting makes sense:
Financial timing and planning notes:
Strategies to reduce risk and increase odds of success:
Join shomby today and start selling to your local community. We provide the platform—you bring the passion.
We build shomby around your business—not the other way around. If there's a feature, integration, or tool that would help your vintage & antique finds business succeed, we want to hear about it.
Build a resale clothing business with carefully selected pieces. Sustainable fashion is growing as consumers seek quality over fast fashion.
Buy and sell collectibles for passionate hobbyists. Deep knowledge in specific collecting areas allows you to find undervalued items and connect them with collectors.
Give electronics new life through cleaning, repair, and resale. Technical skills allow you to buy broken items cheaply and sell them working.