Hi I'm Makila and I'm starting up an online business selling vintage clothing and accessories. Do any of you vintage lovers know of any vintage exhibitions or markets here in switzerland, where I could sell my beautiful things? I did a couple of flea markets in my area (I live in Aarau-Canton Aargau) but realised it's not for the people here! I have to start getting the word out there Will let you know when my Vintage Charme website is up and running!!! Appreciate any ideas!

Let me know please...

Well what are you charging for your V? I know an awesome shop near the Langstrasse selling Vintage everything else, and it doesn't seem to be working. But if you were near St Germain, you could make money hand over fist.

What is vintage? Like 1800's Victorian type stuff or what?

Good luck with your venture, I hope you do well.

I've found very little demand for vintage clothing here, even high end. It seems to me the Swiss are not very enamored with buying anything used if they can afford not to, and in wealthy areas the most astonishing things show up at the dumps or left next to the dumpsters- nearly new and expensive furniture etc.

There are some small shops catering for women in Romandy, very little for men. I don't know much about the rest of switzerland, though.

A well marketed website might do well if you publicize it well- I would guess English and American expats might be more open to ordering well chosen items from a nice website than the Swiss would be, so you've made a good start.

Depending on the item, anywhere between CHF 15 - 160. What's the shop near Langstrasse called, do you know? I need to check out some places in Zürich. Thanks

Yeah I knew it will be hard here with vintage, but I had a dream and had to follow it. My vintage will be more like trendier stuff that is also fashionable today. I will ship worldwide, so I will try and get customers all over the world, hopefully :-) I know there are also people here who do love vintage, so I just have to tap into that market. I also really feel that the trend is coming, I've seen lots of changes in second hand shops that are bringing in more vintage! I'm sure this venture, like any other new business will be very challenging, but it feels good to finally have the courage to take a leap of faith here in Switzerland. Thanks for your feedback.

Certainly will

Well purists would say that vintage is pre-1960 and post-1960 is Retro. However, nowadays, there are no real rules as long as it's more than 20 years old you can call it vintage. There's a massive demand now in the fashion industry for vintage clothes and accessories. I will be selling things mostly from the 60, 70's & 80's that are more on trend, but also some of my amazing jewellery is from as early as 1930's. So far i've collected things from Australia (my mother land), England, America and of course Switzerland. I've always loved vintage and second hand because you can wear something that isn't mass produced and you can be a little bit unique, you can also mix vintage pieces with new. But it definately isn't for everyone, which is also cool, each to their own. It's also one way to recycle :-) mmmhhh maybe that should be my marketing strategy for the swiss (we all know how much they love to recycle here )

So you are going to set up a stand at the recycle centers and try to re sell them what they just dropped off 5 minutes ago?

he he yeah I just might

Here is my facebook business page link

http://www.facebook.com/VintageCharme?ref=hl

check it out, at the moment I only have women's clothing & accessories. More stuff will be posted!

Nice!

I would put more basic information up so people know how to order, pay, etc.

Make it easy for people and they will buy! Most people will not take the extra step to contact you.

Ooooooooh. Very excited to see you up and running. I adore vintage stuff and can't wait to see what you've got.

Just want to wish you good luck with building up your business !!

Starting something yourself in Switzerland takes courage,

I really hope things will work out !

Check out this store, she might be able to give you some tips, I bought a tie from her not to long ago.

Liliane Braine
Libraco GmbH
Spyristrasse 11 | PO Box 2520 | CH-8033 Zurich
Phone +41 44 251 2085 | Fax +41 44 366 4039
Cell +41 76 37 66 995 | Skype libraco
www.libraco.biz