In, Pamela Castillo launched Market Publique, the vintage marketplace for hand-picked vintage sellers. Not only is she a long-time vintage buyer and seller herself, she’s an experienced web designer and developer, and I’ve always loved the way she runs the Market Publique brand — from keeping up a great blog to regularly launching collaborativelookbooks. But even more, I love that we’ve gotten to be great friends over the past few years, and that she was up for sharing a few tips and tricks for buying and selling vintage!
I’ve heard you say before that the best thing about buying vintage is that it doesn’t lose its value — that you can buy it, wear it and then resell it. I love this! How would you recommend that a beginner start selling vintage online? Yes! Vintage pieces retain their value, especially if you take good care of them, because they’re one-of-a-kind and don’t go out of style. So when you decide you no longer want a certain piece in your closet, you can always resell it. For beginners, I recommend starting with accessories, both for buying and selling. They are much easier to incorporate into your wardrobe and start mixing vintage with new. Plus once you have that mastered, clothes will be a piece of cake. To shoot your accessories you don’t need a dress form, so you can just get a white piece of posterboard, drape it over the back and seat of a chair, hold it in place with double-sided tape and place it near a window with good light. Then place your accessories on the seat, on top of the posterboard and get in there with the camera. You will have a quick and easy seamless white backdrop!
On Market Publique, you just launched an amazing weekly capsule collection called The Vintage Coalition. How does it work?
The Vintage Coalition is an invite-only group of the best vintage sellers on the web, who put together a collection every week that’s curated around a theme. Each Coalition member selects the best piece from their collection that fits within that week’s theme and lists it for sale in the Vintage Coalition category on Market Publique. The collections launch every Tuesday at 9pm EST.
What’s your favorite piece from this week’s Lace & Crochet Collection?
If you want a great everyday piece, I am loving Hella Vintage’s crochet cardigan — perfect for throwing over a festival dress and then layering once fall is upon us. If you want a show-stopper, Prance & Swagger is featuring a awe-inspiring Edwardian lace peignoir with kimono sleeves — talk about collectible!
