"That price is just too high." "I can find a coat like that in a thrift shop for $5." "I'll find a dress like that myself and pay a lot less."

These are things I've heard in conversations all over the Internet about vintage clothing. I've heard the wails of people saying sellers are pricing things too high. I've heard people saying they can find the same things themselves for $5. So here's my honest opinion about buying vintage clothing and pricing. Remember this represents my opinion and no one else's.

Vintage clothing is not my hobby. It is my business. Like any business there are expenses that are incurred. When we list items we pay Ruby Lane a fee (and let me say straight out that the fees are fair). We have business cards, stationary, flyers, etc. They are necessary to our business and are also an expense. Let's not forget the shelf full of fashion books that we consult when looking at styles, eras and details to make sure we are dating these vintage items correctly. And of course there's our internet connection for how else would we be able to answer potential customers questions about our items, search out patent information and of course blog about what we've found lately.

How does that vintage dress you buy from us arrive at your door all nice, clean and ironed? Well, we clean that dress with specialized products that are friendly to vintage textiles. We iron or steam that dress and check it over with a fine tooth comb before it's packaged for shipment. And those products and new steam iron and steamer are an expense as well.

But the biggest expense of all is hunting for that perfect vintage dress that someone is going to buy from us. It means spending time in places that might have one nice piece of vintage for sale even though we've traveled 50 miles to find it. It means spending time with a family who is selling their loved one's home and they are selling vintage clothing that may or may not have been stored properly. It means listening to the clothing's past and where it was worn (which we absolutely love!). It means bringing home things that we hand wash only to have them disintegrate in the wash bin in front of us because they were touched by cold water and very, very mild soap for the first time in 50 years.

Oh, and lets not forget the displaying of the dress on a mannequin, half form or model. Then the photographing the dress in just the right light so that all the wonderful features stand out (which you will need a decent camera and lighting set-up to do) and of course we also need to make sure if there are flaws that they are well photographed as well.

Then comes writing the listing itself, trying to describe in words what you've just tried to capture in a few images and hoping that whomever decides to buy your dress has actually read what you wrote including those oh so important measurements because vintage clothing does not fit like the clothing of today.

So when you are looking at our listings or the listings of hundreds of other vintage clothing sellers and think in your head "that dress just costs too much" we hope you'll remember the time, skill and dedication it takes to bring a vintage dress to life in a listing. We are your personal shoppers. We use our skills to bring you the best the past has to offer. You're not just paying for that dress. You're paying for our expertise. And we as always remember that we would not be able to do this without you, the customer, whom we will always aim to please.

Marge Leyden, Born Too Late Vintage
http://www.rubylane.com/shops/borntoolatevintage