Welcome to my new series: A-Z Vintage Items. I'll be going through the alphabet and highlighting a vintage item or brand to buy and potentially sell. I'm only shining the spotlight on items I've sold personally. I sell for friends and people in need (the disabled, elderly), so I've sold a lot of vintage items. My last A-Z series was well received so here we go!
A-Z Vintage List: A
Avon
Avon is a brand that pretty much everybody knows and finds all the time. Most Avon items are not worth much money or your time, but there are a select few that can make you a nice profit.
Avon was founded by David McConnell, a traveling book salesman, in 1886; after he discovered his female customers were more interested in his free perfume samples than books. McConnell noticed most of his female customers were isolated at home, while their husbands went off to work. He purposely recruited female sales representative because their natural ability to network with other female customers. Avon was one of the first social networks. At a time of limited employment opportunities for women, Avon was revolutionary. It brought the beauty shop to the home and marked the start of Avon's long history of empowering women.
By 1920, Avon sales reached $1 million. By 1972 they were $1 billion and in 2008 Avon's sales hit $10 billion. Avon is still a giant in world of beauty and home goods.
As you would expect there are TONS of Avon items listed on eBay. Currently, there are 56,497 vintage Avon items listed and 18,039 have sold recently. The most valuable vintage items are:
Vintage jewelry lots can sell for big money. The top sales were almost all vintage jewelry lots, so start collecting it as you see it!
I consistently saw 1876 Cape Cod dinner plates near the highest selling vintage Avon items also. $347.00 was the highest selling price, but several more were close.
Elizabeth Taylor Avon jewelry was BIG on eBay too. Search for it!
Nativity sets would be a perfect find for this time of year. I will be searching a friend's house this week to see if she has one. Her Avon collection and Nativity collection are on point, so there is a chance!
Another perfect find for this time of year that I just might be able to find this week.
Another consistently high seller! Look for this cute bear.
I actually have some of these in my possession right now, but might give them as a Christmas gift instead of selling.
Your most likely find on the list is an Avon brush. They don't all sell this high but generally do pretty well.
My mom sold Avon when I was a little kid to help our family survive (I'm sure some of you can relate). Honestly, I never thought Avon products would be worth much, but given the right amount of age and scarcity; they can be very valuable.
My mom sold to a family friend, who is now elderly and has a house PACKED with stuff. Bordering on hoarder level. Ok she is a hoarder but not a messy gross hoarder. A hoarder who is no longer physically capable of organizing all the stuff she buys. Well, I help her organize her home. I've spent close to 200 hours so far organizing her home. When I find something valuable that she won't miss, I sell it and we split the profits. Well, she has a TON of Avon items. I've only sold two so far, but now that I've done some research I may be grabbing more. Here are the two items I've sold:
Not the exact ones I sold but you get the idea. I sold them for $6.00. I wouldn't advise selling them unless you get them for free.
I sold this exact brush last October for $30. Vintage Avon brushes are a great investment.
Most Avon items, even the vintage ones, were sold in such great quantities they aren't worth much. If you search for the items I listed above, you'll make a good to great profit.
Honorable mention: AT&T Cordless Phones
Next A-Z Vintage Item: B
Banana Republic Safari Items
