Hello, and come on in to The Vintage Merchant!

We have JUST renovated to make it even EASIER for you to find what you're looking for! We now specialize in vintage clothing and accessories ONLY, and have marked down and moved all our other home and garden wares to our new Ruby Lane shop: And This And That!

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First of all, be sure that the upper left column has a check mark in the "Search my shop" box; that will insure that you're searching here in The Vintage Merchant for clothing and accessories, rather than in the over all Ruby Lane collectibles lane with lamps and radios and who knows what, too!

Beneath that, you'll find our new category lists, in which we have merchandise grouped by garment, rather than by era, as it works best with the Ruby Lane search engine that way. Or, you can just type in your keywords (1940's dress, or patio, or red,white & blue) and see what pops up!

We particularly are drawn to Rockabilly/Psychobilly and fun-in-the-sun Hawaiian tiki stuff, but we also do well with our tacky Disco club-land and Bohemian love-child clothes, too!

We adore vintage dresses (be it a soft flowing depression era day dress or a goofy skooter dress from the 70's) and interesting accessories (classic kelly handbags or clunky ). We also have some great men's wear items, and a separate section for maternity and children's wear now, too.

We also have a section we're calling "Study Pieces" which are garments with period elements, but are damaged in one way or another. These can be useful for design inspiration, or to pull a pattern off of them, or some could possibly be re-vamped for theatre costume purposes...they are still just too "good" to dispose of them.

We're also going to try to attempt a "Garage Sale" section...not sure how we'll accomplish this yet, but we're contemplating the steps...

so have some fun! we typically discount for multiple item purchases, and always combine to reduce shipping. We also will combine goods from our other shops (Aaralyn's Velvet Dragonfly and And This And That) for discounts and shipping advantages as well.

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Graduate of The University of Hawaii, with a major in Fashion Design.

We are also proud to be a member of the Vintage Fashion Guild.

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As with all good VINTAGE merchandise, our inventory values go UP rather than decline with time.
We are in an interesting marketing situation, as age is an attribute, rather than a scourge! So we rarely run around and mark down an item if its been here for a month, or a quarter, or even for years! We're not in rush to "get rid" of our inventory...we don't need to sell "XXXXXX" dollars to pay the rent...
these are COLLECTIBLES, that we treasure, and that our clients treasure, as well!

Occasionally we have a curious shopper who requests that we discount an item BECAUSE they've noticed it in our online shop for a while, or question why an item that they've been watching will RISE in price, rather than go down...this is the awesome nature of vintage collectibles and antiques!...and as much as we're THRILLED that trends come (kitschy Enid Collins bags) and go (camouflage clothing), once a virgin second-hand shopper owns quality vintage goods with one-of-a-kind personalities,
they understand how enchanting, clever and exciting our world is!

If you're thinking that a price is a bit steep on an item, please feel free to make an offer!
We do have absolutely heart-breakingly wonderful wares that we have totally fallen in love with...and therefore find it really difficult to part with... so, sometimes we price with emotion (research-based, of course, but emotion, none the less!), rather than a mathematically strict marketing formula.

Also, SOME collectors refuse to handle vintage merchandise if it has ANY flaws of any sort...depending on the item, it's rarity, the current demand, AND the condition, we do handle SOME collectible pieces that are less than perfect.

Now, especially, "vintage," "vintage look," and "vintage inspired" is "in" in a big way!
Look in practically any shop that carries only NEW merchandise, and you'll see clothing, furnishings, ANYthing and EVERYthing made and marketed as "vintage"!

We always describe each of our authentic curios in detail, and provide loads of photographs, as well. In addition, we will happily send extra jpg photos via email to clients with questions.

All that being said, please notice that

WE DO CONSIDER ALL OFFERS!!
And will either accept or counter, depending on the item, and the offer.

Please, have a magically delicious time perusing our array of wearable treasures & collectibles!

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We do not have a brick and mortar shop, we work out of our home, so we do not list our address,
thank you for understanding .
If you'd like to stop by in person some time to check out a specific item, though, email us,
and we'll try to set up a time when it would be convenient for you to come by.

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We LOVE Paypal, and we PREFER it for payment options.
We will accept UNITED STATES POSTAL money orders,
but we do NOT accept
PERSONAL CHECKS or small bank/business cashier's checks/money orders any longer
(you can thank some of our previous unscrupulous checkwriters for THAT change...).

Also, we require Paypal for all orders over $250;
it is by far the most secure online payment method for you and for us,
and remember, WE pay the payment transaction fee rather than you.

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Our Layaway Plan (or Lack Thereof):

We have had at least half a dozen customers BEG for a chance to do layaways...each and EVERY ONE PROMISES they will pay within a certain time frame (30 days, 60 days, 90 days...) ALL BUT ONE never even made a second payment...and a few never even paid their initial deposit..."can you hold it til friday?", "oh i'll pay on the 15th...", "oh i'll pay after the 1st..."

ONE customer that we agreed to do a layaway with agreed to pay within 30 days. We received her final payment 3 MONTHS LATER.

So, no, we have never ( NOT ONCE ) had a positive experience with layaway, and will never offer it as an option again. You can certainly pay via Paypal, and ask them about payment plans.

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Sizing Vintage Clothing

Sizes are SO variable:

SO

we always (try to) list our clothing by measurement.

If you are wondering how one of our garments may fit, we suggest you try on a similar one of your favorite items that fit the way you like, then lay it flat and measure it.
Compare your measurements to those of the item you are interested in, keep in mind how tight/loose you like to wear your clothes (knits can stretch, cordoroy won't), and the ultimate decision is yours.

We gladly combine orders from any or all three shops, and will often discount for multiple item purchases!
Thanks for shopping with us!