Procuring thrift shops, flea markets and property gross sales may be overwhelming. With the sheer quantity of stuff, how are you aware the place to begin? How do you see gems amid all of the junk?
As an expert reseller who has been combing via thrift shops for the higher a part of 30 years, I may also help. In the event you’re prepared to chop your buying time in half, rating greater bargains or stroll away with brag-worthy finds you’ll be able to flip for money, learn on.
From hard-to-find home items to resale money-makers, all the pieces featured in my “Thrift Store Like a Professional” collection qualifies as a BOLO (“be looking out” for) merchandise. Once you discover it, purchase it!
Featured discover: Classic Heath Ceramics
Heath Ceramics was based in 1948 by Edith Heath and her husband, Brian Heath. Skilled on the Chicago Artwork Institute and the San Francisco Artwork Institute, Edith was the potter.
The couple launched the corporate shortly after Edith’s dinnerware bought the eye of Gump’s, a luxurious housewares retailer primarily based in San Francisco.
Behind the scenes, Brian managed the enterprise and helped design new tools to automate manufacturing with out sacrificing high quality.
Collectively, Edith and Brian made Heath Ceramics an internationally recognized model recognized for high-quality trendy dinnerware in addition to architectural tile.
Shortly earlier than Edith’s loss of life in 2005, Heath Ceramics was bought by the design group of Robin Petravic and Catherine Bailey. By collaborations with new artists and an expanded product line that features wallpaper and linens, the corporate continues to be going sturdy.
Why purchase it?
Edith Heath is a midcentury icon. Her designs are deceptively easy, the results of exacting requirements and an unbelievable understanding of the properties of various clays and glazes.
Her work is a part of the everlasting assortment of the San Francisco Museum of Fashionable Artwork and the Museum of Fashionable Artwork in New York Metropolis.
Virtually talking, Heath items are extremely straightforward to stay with. Glazes are pretty impartial and the clay formulation the corporate used produced sturdy tableware that may final for generations. In the event you’re fortunate sufficient to come upon a whole set, think about making it your day by day dinnerware.
And if you’re enthusiastic about reselling for revenue, Heath dishes make needs come true.
This massive serving bowl lately offered for $250 on eBay and these 4 dinner plates offered for $125. On Etsy, this hand-thrown studio bowl is priced at — prepare for it — $8,500. If that doesn’t get your thrift-shopping juices flowing, I don’t know what is going to.
What to search for
No must guess whether or not you’ve discovered an genuine Heath. Classic items are well-marked with an impressed emblem on the underside.
The most typical model options an all-caps “HEATH” with the descending line of the “T” dropping decrease than the wordmark to create an “L” form. A small inverted triangle rests on the horizontal line of the “L.” Although there’s little info to assist us deconstruct the emblem, I consider the “L” and triangle mixture is supposed to evoke a bit of pottery resting on a desk or potter’s wheel.
Professional tip: On factory-made items, the impressed HEATH mark is usually obscured by glaze that swimming pools throughout the firing course of. Affirm the maker by analyzing the underside floor from completely different angles. Shifting mild helps catch delicate particulars of the emblem.
Heath studio items are sometimes marked by hand with a easy incised “HEATH” in all caps. In the event you’re not paying consideration, you may simply dismiss the “signature” as that of a highschool artwork pupil or novice potter.
Although all classic items are helpful, Heath collectors significantly prize the next:
- Studio items: Studio items are handmade one-off or restricted version designs. Establish them by the roughly inscribed wordmark talked about above.
- Serape items: Heath’s Serape line encompasses a putting blue glaze that was created by mixing three glazes along with Heath’s Moonstone glaze. Fairly uncommon, Serape items can promote for triple the quantity of different manufacturing items.
- Buttons: Dubbed “kiln fillers” by Edith, ceramic buttons have been a short-lived extension of Heath’s product line. Examples are so uncommon that I used to be unable to search out worth estimates.
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