Vintage and the Business Platform - One Hundred Years to Get It Right

Vintage and the Business Platform - One Hundred Years to Get It Right
By Michelle Hatcher

There is no doubt about it, there is money to be made in this industry, but where that money channels itself and how you are able to jump on the merry go round it engineers is another thing. There are ways on capitalising on this wave of hemmed heritage and nylon nostalgia, and like with most things worth having, there is a key. There is always a way.

It is, as a friend said to me recently, this is now a saturated market. You can't walk down the street without falling over a pair of kitten heels or sharp suit. So you have to be quick thinking to stay ahead of the competition. One of the key secrets I found as a former trader myself, was to people watch.

Take an afternoon out and go to a Lou Lou's or a Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair. I promise you, if you can't get up to Camden, Spitalfields or Portobello, then these mobile fairs are the best ones to go to, and watch the customers. Stand back, and look carefully at your market, as indeed it is. Watch not only who buys what, but guess their age range, are they a student? Older person? How are they dressed? Do they have children of their own? Watch your market closely and see what people stop and look at. You won't need to dress in a mac and pretend you work for GCHQ, but I will tell you this, these fairs are dynamite. They draw in the most eclectic crowds in all shapes and sizes. You will find it easier to tailor your market and add to your customer research list.

Stall holders, when they are not snowed under are chatty. In fact, if you spot someone who has a queue, wait for a gap and then talk to them. They are a world's worth of experience and knowledge, and they will share that with you, so long as you don't come across as being pushy or blocking their customers getting to them.
Reputation these days is everything.

When we, as businesses, rely so heavily on social media, it is paramount that any successful business will have made it up to the clouds by gathering an excellent social media following. As a customer, you are more likely to buy from someone on the net who appears to have made good relationships with previous customers. Think like a customer and 'shop' around on line and find the traders with the biggest following. What do they post? Do they promote stock? Do giveaways? Competitions? Are they interactive with customer posts? Promote videos? All these things draw engagement from the followers. Note down what you see and apply it to your own internet image and branding.

Go for a niche. Never swamp yourself in far too much vintage from all eras and all types of vintage. You will just look as though you can't make up your mind what you like and appear desperate to sell anything. Make it look as though selling is not your priority. It is adverse marketing. You are more likely to attract a crowd of buyers if you take a small niche of vintage, like hats or handbags or day dresses of a certain era and fill your knowledge with everything about that corner. People will then see you as an expert in one thing and not a jack about everything.

Don't slap on the word - 'vintage' on everything - especially when you are selling something that clearly is NOT vintage - the customers you have may well be traders themselves and they are savvy, so don't try to fool them. They won't want to know you.

Do your homework - don't feel as though you can sit back and wait for the shoppers to arrive. You have to put your back into advertising and marketing your business as you would in every other corner of commerce. Don't forget, vintage is still an industry - it is a business. There is tonnes of competition out there so you have to keep one step above the rest.

When you are selling online, pictures are paramount. Get your stock photographed professionally if you don't have a proper digital camera yourself. Images rule on the internet for everything but they have to be gobsmackingly brilliant - consider lighting, background, appearance. It is what social media is all about. Tweets are reposted tenfold if they have a picture attached.

Have a gimmick and be creative - something unique that sets above everyone else. Don't follow the crowd. There will be a thousand other people who are providing to the market the same thing as you so use your unique brain and think of a different way to showcase or market your brand. Be different and get known for the very unique thing you do or market.

That will be the key that will help you stay in business. It's the old unique selling point. Even in vintage, you still have to think like a business.

Using pictures of your ancestors is a good way of producing something that is 'new' to the vintage market. Photos of your grandparents when they first met or got married - it's all vintage and if you can pull out these unique pieces of you then it will not only give a feel to your customer that you have cared about what you are doing, but it will warm them to you.

Don't forget - vintage is all about what's happened in design, concept, fashion and lifestyle over the last hundred years so there is plenty still untouched! It is not just one word, it is millions of words, people, books, clothes over thousands of days and weeks before us. You cannot harness the word 'vintage' and expect it to encompass everything. Hundred years is a very long time! Your niche will be other there so go and find it!

Michelle Hatcher is the editor of The Vintage Business Digital Magazine
Sound, easy to follow advice on business start ups and development in the vintage and craft industry focusing on online business
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