For most resellers, profit margins are razor thin. Between finding the product, taking photos, writing descriptions, buying shipping supplies and paying listing fees, any misstep can obliterate our bottom line.
And after 30 years in the resale game, I know the worst misstep I can make is to buy something out of a sense of nostalgia when the market has shifted and buyers have moved on.
So, keep your expenses lean and your margins fat. There’s no “meat on the bone” when it comes to the following brands.
1. Longaberger
If you were in the workforce any point in the 1990s, you were probably invited to more than one Longaberger party. The company’s baskets, basket accessories and pottery became status symbols in suburban homes everywhere.
After a heady ascent and steep decline, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2018, leaving its basket-shaped headquarters in Newark, Ohio, empty and facing an uncertain future. Today, Longaberger baskets are hard to sell, even for thrift stores. Once held behind the counter with a store’s more expensive treasures, you can now find them in big bins with other cast-off baskets.
2. Isabel Bloom
A friend of painter Grant Wood, Isabel Bloom began selling her small cement sculptures in the 1970s. By 1979, Bloom’s Iowa-based enterprise employed five full-time sculptors to keep up with demand.
Like Longaberger baskets, Bloom’s pieces became wildly popular in the late 1990s. Back then, finding one in a thrift store was a stroke of unusual luck, and flipping it for a profit was easy. Today, these pieces are far more common, and resale prices have slumped. Typically, a small (8 inches or less) Bloom figurine will sell for $5-$10.
3. Nambé
Maker of kitchenware and home decor items, Nambé has been around since 1951. Most Nambé pieces have a unique design sensibility that makes them blend well with contemporary and even midcentury interiors.
The company’s signature polished aluminum alloy products are easy to spot on thrift store shelves. Even with the inevitable surface scratches that comes with thrift-store processing, Nambé pieces sold well — until recently.
Shifting tastes or an over-saturated market has made Nambé a “don’t buy” for me. Small pieces (trinket dishes, holiday ornaments, candle holders, etc.) in good condition typically sell for $10 to $20.
4. Avon
As the local go-to guy for quick appraisals, I get asked about vintage Avon perfume bottles at least once a month. It’s helped me learn how to tactfully deliver bad news: Avon made many millions of each design, and the market is still flooded with these novelty bottles.
Most resellers struggle to get $2 to $3 for Avon pieces, box or no box, filled with perfume or empty.
5. Precious Moments
The original 21 Precious Moments bisque figurines were introduced in 1978. Consumers’ loved the doe-eyed figures so much that by 1981, the company’s collector’s club had more than 400,000 members around the world.
Popularity and collectability held steady until the mid-1990s, but tastes changed and the market reach a saturation point. Today, the brand is still producing new figurines, ornaments and the like, sold directly and most notably at Hallmark stores. But most vintage Precious Moments figurines sell for $3 to $5 online. A few rarer pieces like this 1988 Easter Seals edition have sold for as much as $649.
6. Rae Dunn
Rae Dunn kitchenware is the vintage Avon bottles of tomorrow. Sales of the brand’s simplistic word-adorned ceramic mugs and cannisters peaked about five years ago. But today, the market is so oversaturated that the brand has become the butt of jokes and parody products.
With a few exceptions, most Rae Dunn mugs (eventually) sell online for less than $10.
7. Vera Bradley
Quilted bags and purses by Vera Bradley were a staple for resellers until the mid-2010s. Back then (before Google Lens), researching fabric patterns could take an hour or two. But the margins were solid — buy a bag for $4.99. Flip it for $70. Repeat.
Today, vintage Vera Bradley is a slow sell. Most crossbody purses and small totes sell for less than $20. If you decide to take a chance on a Vera Bradley piece, know that large duffel bags and dark multi-color patterns tend to sell best.
8. Frankoma
Most collectors have had a “Frankoma Period” that was driven by surging prices for pottery of the same era by McCoy, Roseville and Van Briggle. But resale prices for this Oklahoma-based pottery company just never caught up.
With a few exceptions such as this early figural piece, Frankoma Pottery isn’t worth the time or trouble.
9. Couroc
For the past 20 years, I’ve been waiting for Couroc products to catch up with other midcentury collectibles, but the market never delivers.
The company’s inlaid mosaic resin trays are striking examples of midcentury design (and they’ve found their way onto the bars and coffee tables of many stylish homes). Still, resale values remain flat decade after decade. Small trays and bowls typically sell for less than $10 online, and serving trays (18 inches or larger) sell inconsistently for $20 to $30.
10. Sperry
Formerly known as Sperry Top-Sider, this footwear and apparel company rebranded in 2015, and in the process became simply Sperry. I have hunch that during that same period, the company’s manufacturing location and quality standards changed.
Until recently, the company’s iconic nautical shoe was gold in the resale market (and yes, there is a thriving used shoe market). A pair of Sperry’s canvas boat shoes in good condition would consistently bring $40 to $45 online and leather versions could hit $80. Today, prices are less than half that and many pairs don’t sell at all.
See also: “11 Secrets To Finding Quality Clothing at Thrift Shops“
