Before entering the subject of virtual stores, it is necessary to define the term “vintage”, a word that comes from English. The literal translation is “old” or “old”, but not from a negative point of view, treating something old-fashioned or ugly. Vintage, it is really used to name those elements (mainly clothing, but also includes furniture and accessories, among others) that despite their age, said old age has made their value greater, that has been revalued, and not seen like something old or bad.
The birth of “vintage clothing” is located between the nineties and the beginning of 2000, when many people, and mainly music bands, began to use shirts or jackets from earlier times. Either because of its superior quality, the measurements of the garments (which in general were “oversize” in the past), but the truth is that it started a different fashion from those of the time. It wasn’t dressing differently or combing your hair in a certain way, it was wearing clothes already used in the past. Back to the origins.
Regarding the beginnings of virtual vintage clothing stores, they have been on the internet for a long time: in the United States, buying clothing online is something that has been typical for several years and that over time has come to all the world. In Argentina, it can be said that many of these stores (the longest-lived in this area) arose on Facebook, where there were groups to buy and sell clothes, as well as exchanges of both garments and information about them.
The boom came later, with the appearance of Instagram as a social network. Unlike Facebook, which is mostly based on text messages and the occasional photo, the Instagram modality offered great advantages when it came to selling clothes: all the content is based on images, which can be uploaded together showing the entire garment and its details, as well as videos where you can see everything from rips in the garment to reflex details on them.
Another important quality that Instagram has (which Facebook also added but recently) is the format of the stories; photos/videos that after 24 hours are deleted forever unless they are highlighted by the account that manages them. These stories were seen by many sellers as an opportunity to reach a larger audience, but mainly to promote offers that do not appear in the publications, with the aim of creating a community attentive to the uploaded garments and to also help users to get items at a price less than the value of it.
The keys to success
But how do you get the clothes? Is it a scam-free and safe environment? Is it profitable to start a clothing sales business? No answer to these questions is free from subjectivities or personal experiences, but specialists have suggestions.
Regarding the obtaining of garments there are two great ways. The first is by buying clothes at fairs (such as the one in Solano, the one in Parque Los Andes, among many others), where with time and dedication, unique items can be obtained at a very cheap price, with high profitability.
The second method has gained great popularity in recent times, due to videos of many users explaining the step by step, and it is about buying bundles of clothes. In the north of the country, more precisely in Jujuy, on the border with Chile and Bolivia, a lot of American clothing is in sight and at a great price, from American football shirts to Columbia jackets or The North Face appear among the items with the highest cost effectiveness. Despite this being the most economical option, when searching for “Clothes Bundles” in Google, several pages appear which sell these bundles and ship not only to the entire country, but to almost the entire world.
In these bundles, it is not possible to know the products that are inside, it only says the number of garments that they include, the sizes, the gender or age (there are bundles of only “female” clothing, as well as only “male” or even clothing of babies and children) and in some cases, the value of each garment with respect to the total bundle, this with the purpose of demonstrating that they are profitable and that from a well-sold bundle of clothing, 2 or 3 more can be bought.
Entrepreneurs should also look at the issue of security in their store. The vast majority have a section on their Instagram account called “customers” or synonyms for it, where they repost stories uploaded by buyers when their clothes arrived in the mail, as well as dispatching shipments or in some cases, giving clothes to singers or influencers. In turn, other pages also have the delivery point modality, which is previously established and coordinated with the seller (which sometimes adds a cost to the product due to mobility, time, etc.) in order to have the product at the moment and not run the risk of being scammed. In addition, some others have their own website, which shows all the products in stock and, in turn, purchases are regulated by the system (such as Tienda Nube or Shopify). Finally, some of the most prestigious and well-known vintage clothing stores have stores open to the public, such as Urban Luxury (with more than 11 open branches) or Juan Perez Vintage (located in Recoleta), where they can not only see, try and buy clothes, but also include (in the case of Urban Luxury), the possibility of also selling clothes or exchanging them for another.
With all that said, it seems appropriate to say that the sale of vintage clothing is a profitable business, that much can be done with little, but the reality is not so close to that. Although many pages have managed to succeed and establish themselves, being the working method for their creators, many others have failed, suffered great losses and have had to close their accounts. The truth is that the business is not in buying and selling more expensive, it is not a handrail, it is something beyond; it is knowing how to sell, generating trust in the public, creating a loyal community, bringing better and better clothes (it does not have to be more varied, just better brands and clothes), striving to be a good page and not just one of the bunch; implies commitment. Sometimes luck is not on your side, the clothes are not sold, the publications lose their impact.
However, the successful cases seem to show that the key is to pay attention to the tastes and preferences of the clientele, look for really valuable pieces and take this as a job and not as a hobby, sometimes an old bag, a piece of clothing without use, it can be the beginning of an empire.
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