The 10 Best Places to Find Cheap Vintage Items
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It’s no secret I love vintage trinkets.
But I do NOT love how expensive they can be! I want my home to be a cheerful expression of myself while also being affordable. Here are the 10 best ways I’ve found to source vintage items for cheap and even free.
Thrift Stores
This is #1 because it’s where I find almost all of my items. The best way to find vintage items is to see what thrift stores retirees visit. For instance, Bibles for Mission is a local thrift store chain in West Michigan where I live. Almost everyone that volunteers there are retirees. Bibles for Mission always have the best vintage selection because the people who donate are generally older. My local Goodwill generally has a younger population who donates so I don’t visit very often.
Thrift store prices are cheap enough as is but you can get them even cheaper! A lot of the thrift stores I go to have sales that they post monthly. I make sure to always go on 50% off linen days for my vintage sheets. Bibles for Mission as I listed above has a Black Friday sale which is how I got this Formica table for only $25.
Check out my blog post on 10 Cheap and Common Thrift Store Items to Add Personality to your Home
2. Estate Sales on the Last Day
I LOVE a good estate sale! Nothing beats digging around a dead person’s house for vintage goodies (I’m sure my estate sale someday will be fantastic)! But estate sales can be very pricey and you have to wake up early to wait in line.
Instead, consider visiting on the last day of the estate sale. You won’t get first picking but you will get a great deal! Some of my favorite items I’ve found for pennies because I visited in the last few hours of a sale.
Read my Estate Sale Tips blog post to see my shopping strategy to get the best deals.
3. Yard Sales on the Last Day
The same concept applies to yard sales. On the last day, I try to bundle all my items together and offer a cheaper price. Most people are desperate to get rid of their junk and will take whatever you offer on the last day.
4. Flea Markets
You can find a range of very expensive to very inexpensive vintage items at flea markets. At flea markets, you should always haggle but especially if items are out in the rain or if it’s towards the end of the day. Check out my flea market shopping guide for tips on how to get the best deals.
If you’re looking for a specific item just ask! A lot of vendors keep items in their trailers because they might not have room to put them out. I went to a flea market looking for a lot of picnic baskets for my vintage wedding. I found 3 baskets from one vendor and asked if he had any more. He had a bunch of them in his trailer and I got a great deal because I haggled and bought them all. Be friendly with flea market vendors and it could save you big bucks.
5. Antique Stores
Most of the time you would never consider an antique store to be a cheap place to find vintage. But antique stores can be really affordable when they have sale events. Individual vendors will put their booths on sale during holiday events like Christmas open houses, Memorial Day sales and other holidays. You can get really great deals when an antique store dealer’s booth is leaving. For instance, my favorite green shelf was purchased for only $25 during a New Years Day sale at an antique store when a dealer’s booth was going out of business.
If you’re in the west Michigan area you can read my blog post listing my favorite antique stores.
6. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is another area where prices can be all over the place. If you see an item that you think is overpriced and has been for sale for a while, send a message. I’ll let them know I’m interested in the item for less and if they can’t sell it to message me back. A few days or weeks go by and I get a message that they are ready to sell for a lot less. It doesn’t always work out but I’ve had very good luck with this method.
If you find good vintage items for cheap on Marketplace let the seller know. Ask if they have any other retro goodies to sell. I bought 50 vintage greeting cards from a marketplace seller and let him know how much I loved the cards. He told me he had thousands more in his garage! He invited me over again and I ended up going home with 400+ cards and he gave me half price because I bought so many. Sometimes it pays to be friendly.
7. Ebay
My wife’s favorite hobby is to browse Ebay for dirt cheap retro junk. I swear every other day we get a package from Ebay and I’m not allowed to open it because it’s a birthday present for me. She finds the best and cutest stuff on Ebay by searching really general things like, “Vintage Disney” and then sorting by lowest price + shipping. You never know what you’ll find and it will be inexpensive.
8. The Side of the Road
Now onto the free ways to find stuff! I’ve found some awesome pieces out on the sidewalk for trash day. Go ahead and stop traffic to do an illegal u-turn for a free item! I found this fabulous purple lawn chair while driving around and it was definitely worth pulling over for.
9. Ask your Relatives
Whatever happened to Grandma’s teacups? Grandpa’s photo albums? Maybe you don’t know but someone in your family might. I can’t believe some of my favorite vintage Shiny Brite Christmas Ornaments from my Oma and Opa’s house were sitting in my parent’s basement. I never thought to ask! I had just assumed it was all been sold at their estate sale. Ask your family members if they have any old stuff they want to get rid of from their storage. You’ll be doing them a favor by getting it out of their life and you’ll (hopefully) find some unique pieces too!
10. Let Your Friends and Followers Know What You’re Looking For
I can’t tell you how many wonderful things I received from friends, acquaintances and followers on my social media. If you let people know what items you’re looking for they’ll think of you when they spot them. An old co-worker of mine from ten years ago sent me a Facebook message that she had some vintage sheets to give me for free. A friend on my Instagram sent me an adorable floral hankie for Christmas because she thought of me.
I had been looking for a set of vintage Fire King tulip bowls for years and I let my Instagram followers know. An Instagram friend sent me a message that she had a set she would sell to me for $20. Put it out there what you love and what you’re looking for, you never know who will message you!
There you have it! 10 ways to find vintage items cheaply. What do you think? How do you like to find your retro pieces? Be sure to check out my blog post on 25 Affordable Vintage Pieces to Start a Collection
