Hi everyone. I thought I’d do a quick round up of our latest thrifting finds – the theme of today’s post is “Buy or Pass“. Many times, just finding a potentially valuable item at the thrift isn’t the last decision you have to make. Sure, there are times when it’s a no-brainer to pick something up. But as a reseller you’ll often be forced to make quick decisions about whether you should buy an item or pass on it.

I guess this is somewhat related to our earlier thrifting post, Taking Chances at the Thrift. However, that post mostly dealt with items that you don’t know much about. Today we’re talking about items that you DO have knowledge about, but you need to make a decision on whether it’s worth buying.

I always have a tough time passing on any of the blue Bitossi pieces by Aldo Londi. They’re just so hard to come by. This is a large ashtray, which I also have a rather strict rule about not buying. Basically, we try not to buy any ashtrays to resell unless they are really spectacular, or by a rather famous company/person. I guess this hits those points… but still, it’s an ashtray with some damage and not dirt cheap. I ended up getting it anyway, LOL. This was one of those instances where I just had a hard time passing – though experience tells me that I probably shouldn’t have bought it.

Here are two different vases. One is glass and the other is porcelain. I picked up both of these at the thrift for different reasons. The one on the left is a newer vase by SEA Glasbruk of Sweden, which is actually part of Kosta Boda today. I got it because it just looks really nice, and it’s hard to find undamaged glass at thrifts near us. It’s not worth a ton, but it’s worth more than what I paid for.

The simple, white porcelain vase next to it is by Bing & Grondahl of Denmark. A nice looking object, but pretty unassuming right? Would it surprise you to learn that versions of this vase sell for $200-400? It sure surprised me. It’s designed by Lisbet Munch-Petersen, a fairly famous ceramicist.

In the case of these two vases, I knew of both of the companies that manufactured them, but I didn’t know the details. But I took a buy on them – because the price was right. This is probably the most important factor in a buy vs. pass at a thrift for me.

This Ford advertising dog bank almost didn’t make it home with us from the thrift. It’s produced by Florence Ceramics of Pasadena, and because I knew of the company (from dealing with California pottery) and because it was an obvious advertising piece – it became a buy versus a pass. Ordinarily, we’ll pass on “cuter” stuff like this for the main shop. But our Etsy outlet does have quite a few items like this, because it’s what a lot of people over there have interest in. However, it just barely squeaked by as a “buy” – and it was because of the low price.

I’m always on the lookout for any teak pepper or salt mills – especially if they’re from Denmark or other Scandinavian countries. So this interesting pair was an immediate buy. I haven’t been able to find out much about them – they were made by Peugeot, but definitely aren’t any of the more famous ones like those made for Dansk. Instead, they were made for an obscure company called “Saap of Denmark” (not Saab). I thought about passing on these because they were originally so dirty. I was really pleased that a lot of the dirt came right off with just some brief washing.

It was pretty easy to make a decision on these next two items. The vase on left is by Rorstrand of Sweden. I’ll pretty much take my chances with anything by Rorstrand as long as it’s a decent price. The Hazel Atlas yellow polka dot bowl was also an instant buy, because of the popularity of any vintage goodies with colorful dots on Etsy. I didn’t even think of passing on either one.

Last up is this silver plate sugar and creamer set by Merle F. Faber in San Francisco. Er… you can also see this set in the Brooklyn Museum – so I guess it’s probably worth something. It’s circa 1930s-40s, with a definite art deco vibe. However, if you can believe it, I seriously considered passing on the set. I don’t have as much knowledge in post 1950s art and design, and the sugar IS missing its lid. It was also taped up and shoved together with all the old Christmas items at the Goodwill. (Tell me again, why does the Goodwill have an Xmas display in April?)

However, I had a hunch that they could be special – and seeing a set of Faber candlesticks on the iPhone listing at a thousand dollars at auction was enough to convince me to just go for it.

OK, hope you enjoyed this thrift roundup. Obviously, if you’re thrifting only for yourself and not to sell, this isn’t as big of a deal. But for the thrift-resellers out there, I’m curious – how do you make a decision on whether or not to buy something to resell? Do you have certain criteria, or is it a combination of factors?

This post is linked up to ATG’s Thrift Share Monday and HLA’s Flea Market Finds.

Did you find something cool at a thrift or flea market lately?
Please leave a comment here if so…