"I LOVE IT!" "What is it?!"

 When people first learn about what I do and my Etsy shop, TheVintageVixenShop, their first question is usually along the lines of, but, how do you identify the piece and know how to price it? Of course, shopping, and finding awesome vintage pieces is the easy part of what I do, but I can't sell it if I don't know what it is. Identifying a vintage piece can be challenging, but also interesting, and even fun at times. Knowing how to get started is the hardest part, but once you know where to look, learning the history of the pieces is like uncovering a secret. So, this week, I decided to show you how I go about figuring out exactly what I have, and also how I know how to price it for sale. There have been many, many books published on vintage glassware and, while they are an excellent source of information, it can get quite expensive to purchase books on all the types of glassware you will come across. This is where I can help! The internet holds a wealth of knowledge if you know how, and where to look!

The first place I usually start is a Google Images search. I haven't really had great luck with the reverse image search, so I just stick with a description of the item, and then search for similar images. The gorgeous, sunshine yellow bowl above is one that I had to recently identify. I typed in the most detailed description I could come up with, utilizing what I saw as far as size, color, material, and piece type. In this example, I typed in large, vintage, yellow glass, footed console bowl.

As you can see, sometimes this can be a bit challenging. Although a limited number of images do look similar, none were really an exact match. My next course of action is usually to change the wording in my search by omitting some of the description. In this case, I am going to omit the words large, footed, and console, and try my search again.

Bingo! Once I find a similar image, I just click on the image and see what someone else has identified the piece as. In this case, Pinterest has our gorgeous bowl listed as, "Constellation Yellow Mist" by Tiara Indiana Glass. However, I don't stop there; I always attempt to verify the identification at Replacements, Ltd. ( www.replacements.com ). This website is like my vintage glassware Bible! They have thousands of patterns and styles from virtually every glass manufacturer, and if you are still stumped after doing your own research, you can even submit a photo of the piece, and within a few days, you will receive an email from the experts at Replacements, Ltd. with the maker and pattern of your vintage glassware. When you type in a particular pattern in the search bar, you can view all pieces from that pattern and often the dates the pattern was produced. I know, I know. It is truly a game changer!

Now that I know the correct pattern name, maker, and piece type, as well as what it is selling for currently at Replacements, Ltd., I need to know what other retailers are selling the bowl for. This is when I turn to eBay and Etsy to check for price comparisons. Typing in Tiara Constellation Yellow in the search bars will bring up any available pieces as well as what other sellers are asking for it.

On eBay, I can take it a step further and see exactly what price the bowl has sold for recently by amending the filters to show only sold and completed sales, rather than those items currently for sale. For this specific bowl, I didn't find a completed sale, but usually there will be one for you to see what someone was actually willing to pay for the same type of item you have.

And there you have it! That's my method for identifying unknown vintage glassware pieces and knowing how to price them for sale in my Etsy shop. Let me know in the comments if you have any other tried-and-true methods you use to identify your vintage finds! And if you are interested in this bowl, you can purchase it now, with free, guaranteed safe shipping at https://TheVintageVixenShop.Etsy.com. You can even save $5 off your purchase by entering code VIXEN at checkout.

Until next time, Happy Hunting and Merry Christmas!

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