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Your core customer base as a seller is your bread and butter, but at some point you may find yourself going a little hungry. Below, thoughts on topping up your customer funnel
A version of this article appeared in The Seller Scoop, our biweekly newsletter for vintage, antiques and secondhand sellers and vendors. Stay inspired with your own copy: Sign up here and select the option for resellers.
Do vintage sellers have a customer replenishment problem?
In a recent Instagram post called “Is slow fashion cannibalizing itself?” (thank you to Tonya at This Old Thing for sharing it with me!), the clothing brand @free.label mused that brands and influencers in the slow-fashion space do such a good job of encouraging people to use, buy and consume less that they chip away at their own customer bases.
The challenge is, because businesses need customers to survive, brands eventually struggle to stay afloat if they aren’t able to replace customers at a steady rate.
The post went on to say that the slow fashion industry needs to consistently top up that funnel of people with new folks who don’t already shop in the slow-fashion space.
It’s a well-timed discussion, because it’s a phenomenon I’ve been thinking about a lot lately as a consumer myself, and one that we’ve talked about at length inside the Vintage Sellers Community.
Tonya at This Old Thing has experienced it in real-time at markets.
“Vintage shoppers aren’t into buying more than they need,” she told me via DM (shared here with permission).
“Once they’re converted, you kind of lose your customer base.”
Let’s look at what’s at play here.
Learning more about overconsumption sure has changed my shopping habits.
I’ve seen photos of mountains of discarded clothing piled up on the beaches in Ghana and in the desert in Chile. I’ve read all the waste-generation stats.
Now, if I buy anything new, I imagine its end-of-life stage first, languishing in a landfill somewhere.
It’s had a trickle-down effect on the secondhand stuff I buy, too.
If I can’t picture myself still owning a vintage item several years from now, it’s not coming home with me — even if I’m “deferring” it from landfill.
Vintage shopping requires you to figure out what you like, because you’re often piecing things together from different eras and design movements — even if you like to shop frequently and “on trend.”
For the past 20 years, I’ve been slowly collecting vintage and secondhand decor and furniture for my home, mostly from resellers because I like to support them.
But I’ve now reached a point where I just don't need much more other than a few pieces I’m on the eternal hunt for. I’m actually also running out of space to put stuff based on my personal preference for how much I want to display.
I love my finds and don’t easily get bored of them, so I don’t change things up all that much. My taste doesn’t shift a lot; it’s not that impacted by passing trends.
I adore looking at barware at markets, but my bar cabinet and sideboard are full. I love the vintage kitchenware pieces I’ve collected and am not overly inclined to change them out.
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Continued from above
If you’re selling a side table that’s lasted 50-plus years, it’s probably going to last another 50 more. That same customer isn’t necessarily coming back for another one.
For better or worse, we tend to view clothing as a bit more disposable than the other items in our homes.
We’re used to replacing items from our closets to freshen up our looks, to incorporate trends, to re-home things we no longer wear or that we’ve outgrown.
But still, when customers invest in quality vintage clothing pieces like I have over the years, they don’t need to replace them as often.
There’s always a story behind a thrifted or vintage piece for a consumer.
Maybe they got a good deal, or they learned about who previously owned it, or they were out with a loved one when they found it, or it reminded them of their grandma’s house.
It’s more difficult to let things go when there are memories involved.
So your customers, even the repeat ones, may eventually hit a point where they aren’t swapping out their things because they are too attached to them.
Or maybe they remember how good they felt when they bought the items from you and supported your small business.
So, what do we as a sector do about this?
As a seller, you need to maintain a viable business in order to survive.
You just had a loyal vintage shopper (me!) give you all kinds of reasons why she isn’t buying as much as she used to.
That’s data you can use, both to talk to your existing customers and as you consider again what @free.label said — reaching people beyond the segment of customers who already are likely to shop with you.
If your current and potential customers make up the bottom and the middle of the funnel, we need to focus on the top.
Sell to them. The people who currently shop mostly or entirely new, or who are just dipping their toes into the secondhand world.
Where do they live? Where do they currently shop? How do you get in front of them? Are there markets you can go to? How can they currently find you? (I wrote about reaching this group in a previous newsletter here).
Your shop needs to be discovered by more people, and they are not necessarily the people who already shop vintage and secondhand.
How are you getting in front of new customers? Let us know in the comments!
