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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Thrift Poll Results: Are vintage items a tad too pricey nowadays?


Yep, you voted, and here are the official results! :-)

A majority of you agree that vintage items are too pricey! Only a small portion of you believe that you're paying good money for heirlooms, and the rest think that the current prices are fair enough. HMMMM... Any thoughts on why the results are so?

Vintage blogshops, your customers have voted, so, what do you think? :-)

20 comments:

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 12:09 AM  

*This is my third attempt at posting, not sure if the others went through but if they did please delete, thanks*

Can't say I'm too surprised at the results. We're all always looking for bargains, right? ;)

However I think many customers don't realize the amount of work it takes to maintain a vintage blogshop. In fact, I believe most blogshops are actually underpricing their items - I see a lot of items around the RM20 mark (too much competition, perhaps?). Believe me, it's not an easy way to make money.

Let's see. You have to thrift for the best items in pristine condition - that means sifting through lots of dresses with yellow pit stains before finding a gem. Sometimes buttons and hooks are missing so you have to replace them. Then laundering, and ironing those wrinkles out before taking measurements and photos. Phew. That's not counting having to come up with enticing descriptions to draw customers.

You young chicas have it so good :D I started seriously thrifting for vintage 12 years ago (yes, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth) and there were not many places selling vintage items locally. Got-lah, but very few - there was this really awesome shop with vintage wedding dresses and trapeze artist costumes. In 2002 I paid 50 pounds for 2 dresses from the 60s in Camden and it was worth every fricking penny. I still treasure those dresses.

Huh, this is long. So. In conclusion, support local vintage blogshops, and let's hope this isn't just a passing fad. Wearing vintage = doing your bid for the environment. Plus, it doesn't make sense to spend, say, RM200+ on a dress from Topshop to see someone else wearing it too.

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:05 PM  

i so agree with the majority! we pay so much for their mom's clothings! as if we bought em at topshop or sthing.. :/

-min

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:06 PM  

Min, mom's clothing? Your are mistaken dear, these items are carefully handpicked and are in top notch condition. Plus, u should know that your beloved Topshop pays 22 p per hour. Slave wages! The boss is the 7th richest man on the Sunday Times' Rich List. Now who do you think is overcharging, local blogs? No.

-Fee

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:06 PM  

I would rather buy Topshop for their quality assured and they will fit nicely unlike vintage clothes.

- Emily

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:08 PM  

vintage clothes fit great, you just have to make sure of the sizing and always, always ask for measurements. the vintage stuff i see is a lot edgier than topshop sometimes. and cheaper, too! (:

and hooray for 5 vintage dresses for the price of 1 at topshop! or maybe even 20plus dresses if you search hard through the RM5 heaps!

- vintagelover

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:08 PM  

I gotta admit, sometimes topshop quality arent that great at all. In fact, i think most of the vintage items here are way better and nices. OH and cheaper too (:

- S

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:09 PM  

so just because they're handpicked they should be expensive? no doubt i love these vintage clothes. but, these blog owners should know that they are not new! 5 vintage dresses for the of one?

it should be 10 dresses for the price of one! haha.

- sall

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:09 PM  

i have a friend, who juz bought a top from this one vintage blog, for rm35, when it got into her hands, the color was all faded as if it had been washed with clorox. poor her :(

- Hailey26

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:11 PM  

Hailey26, I'm sorry to hear that. Responsible blogshops should always give the measurements and item condition. If there are flaws, close up pictures. She should leave feedback.

sall, I fail to see how RM25-RM50 = expensive :) Esp items in excellent condition. I'd pay more if it were unique - ie not typical 80s dresses you see so often on blogs these days

Don't jump on the bandwagon if you don't actually like the clothes. Leave them to people who really appreciate vintage.

Thriftbook, I think you guys should move this over to the comments for posterity ;)

- Fee

[note from TB: comments from cbox were manually moved to original post here]

Anonymous,  March 4, 2009 at 4:49 PM  

Rania,

Was it a vintage top? Or a new one? Maybe she underestimated the size ;) Let us know the details!

Anonymous,  March 5, 2009 at 12:07 AM  

Vintage clothes rock, but anything above RM35 for them is too expensive. :(

Unless it's brand new vintage.

Anonymous,  March 6, 2009 at 3:59 AM  

Too expensive, eh? Take a look at this dress and tell me if you still think Malaysian blogs charge too much. The bid started at USD19 and ended at USD477! Note that it's a used dress. Sigh, Malaysians would probably offer RM20 including free Pos Laju shipping and get offended when the seller says no.

I'm not saying that all Malaysian blogshops should start charging hundreds of ringgit for a vintage dress because let's face it, most items offered locally are not really rare. But RM25-RM50 is reasonable, depending on the style, condition, fabric, age, etc.

Sigh. Most of the so-called vintage fans here are missing the point. If you can't get over the fact that most vintage you come across will most likely be used, kindly get off the vintage train and get down at Topshop station. Don't you think that it's wonderful that there's a story behind each piece? How wonderful it is not to worry about someone else showing up in the same outfit?

Anonymous,  March 6, 2009 at 3:42 PM  

i definitely agree with Fee and Lola.
Vintage items are overpriced here?
I dont see how RM20-RM 35 could be labelled as expensive?
They are probably blind or just too ignorant to notice that oversea vintage shops are selling 100 times our prices here!!
Have they checked oversea vintage blogshops?
Rm20-rm35 is not expensive darling. Why must you be so calculative if u really really call urself a vintage lover? Vintage items dIdnt come in many pieces. They only came one piece each from the prev eras!
If you think they are overprice here in malaysia, then pls pls do not buy vintage items or better yet, dont call urself a vintage lover. U know how hard it is to find vintage items these days? Know how much work one vintage blog owner has to maintain n handle vintage items?
They sometimes dont really make profits coz of the presence of these kinda ppl-whine, complain of pricey vintage stuffs.
Fee is totally right. Some vintage items need to be sent to laundry n sew again just for the sake of pleasing and satisfying their customers. But, nv tot that the customers are still so ungrateful.
my point is, vintage items in malaysia are not overpriced as they claimed to be. =)

Thank you.

Anonymous,  March 6, 2009 at 10:12 PM  

If you don't appreciate Vintage Collection,then don't buy!
Price range between RM25-RM50 is not even expensive and if you fancy Topshop then just buy Topshop,why bother about Vintage.
Give space for only those who appreciate Vintage Stuff.

Sigh Malaysians....

Anonymous,  March 10, 2009 at 4:13 PM  

im not saying that rm20 to rm35 is expensive. but when it goes over rm35, it becomes expensive. nobody says about favouring topshop either. im just saying the price should be reasonable according to its original value and how much its worth. and we are not talking about asking for bargains, the price should be reasonable! that's it....

Anonymous,  March 11, 2009 at 5:38 PM  

I think you don't get it, sall. If vintage items were priced according to its original value and how much it's worth, you certainly would not be paying RM35 and below. Please check my previous post and click the link to the vintage dress auction in US.

It's simple, really. Supply down, demand up, price goes up. If you can't see yourself paying over RM35, don't pay. You're welcome to go thrifting yourself.

Anonymous (March 5, 2009 12:07 AM): Brand new vintage is commonly referred to as deadstock or new old stock. Then again, every fashionista knows that ;) Unless you were talking about those Made in China/Korea/Thailand dresses with retro prints?

Anonymous,  March 12, 2009 at 4:42 PM  

i dont understand why u guys simply conclude that i dont appreciate vintage clothes and what not,and simply ask to not pay if i feel that it is expensive. this is just me, a vintage clothes customer,who would like to voice out my opinion in regards to the price of vintage items nowadays. dont just simply cut off my point of view and conclude such conclusions.. :(

sophis March 14, 2009 at 9:42 PM  

Actually, it depends on the quality and the condition.

Some blogshops sell vintage clothes at high prices that are thin pasar malam quality and/or with stains/discolorations. And they wud say it's 'vintage'.

Just because clothes are preloved and look like 80s or 50s or etc, doesn't mean its really good vintage.

Plus with the growing trend of vintage & retro, prices are set a tad higher. Of cos, I acknowledge the fact that sellers go thru the pain of finding the items to sell. But recently I found some good vintage clothes from bundle shop, imagine my surprise.. it's RM5 per piece. Haha!

Buyers, just observe the quality in the pics and ask as many questions on the condition and age before confirming orders.

I have bought some really good vintage bags from blogshops and absolutely lovin' them. One thing though, if bag is branded (eg chanel, polo ralph..) pls confirm with sellers whether it's authentic to avoid disappointments.

Anonymous,  March 18, 2009 at 10:11 PM  

I think the price is reasonable for most vintage shops ...

However, I bought 3 items from White Lace and Promises but the clothes were all faded when received.

So I NEVER buying stuff from that blog again.
It is just a comment from mine, not trying to bring down their business, but (~_~) it was seriously FADED.

Looks like its worn again and again everyday, and I am not exaggerating. I think their pictures are photoshopped a tad too much that it looks vintage, but preserved or ... they washed it before giving it to me, and they washed it until the most of the colors faded.

Anonymous,  March 19, 2009 at 1:29 PM  

Hi Lynn,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Have you brought up the issue with the seller? I think if the buyer is unhappy with their purchase it's very important to let the seller know. Most sellers are quite accommodating and would be happy to resolve any issues.

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