Do you do anything when you see a seller mis-date or otherwise falsely represent an item?

J

Jen S

Registered Guest
This is a question I've been stewing over for a while.

I often see pieces totally mis-dated, as I'm sure we all do, or otherwise misrepresented, sometimes grossly. Of course one never knows if it's intentional or if the seller would welcome or resent any comment. My general tendency is to mind my own business; yet I sometimes feel I ought to be trying to promote "truth in vintage." Any opinions? Any of you do or say something about it? Is there a VFG super-hero who swoops down to right vintage wrongs? :)
 
As a new vintage seller who has sooo much to learn about vintage, I would welcome a VFG member kindly telling me my item is misdated. I try so hard to make sure everything is dated properly, and spend hours researching my items, so if I messed up, it would be unintentional and I would be happy to hear from someone who knew better. I think anyone who appreciates vintage and the stories behind the items would love feedback.
 
Jen, there's a lot to know about vintage fashion and even experienced sellers make mistakes - I've been dating vintage for 34 years now and there are still finds that make me pause and wonder. It's one of the things that I love about what I do: always new things, always learning.

I appreciate it's hard for new sellers and sadly, due to the popularity of vintage fashion there are many "enthusiastic amateurs" out there selling. I admire their get up and go but it is difficult to know what to do when they get it wrong. Some sellers are very happy to receive an educated opinion, some react positively but do not update their listings and many are downright hostile.

I used to offer opinions but now, only do if I'm asked. And I write books and give talks to educate people, respond to VFG forum posts and encourage people to either a) build up their knowledge so they can make up their own minds about what they're buying, irrespective of what the seller says and b) support professional sellers who can be depended upon eg, VFG members.
 
Interesting perspectives!

I love vintage and find it upsetting to see items passed off as something they are not, especially by sellers who seem to have great seller ratings and very high prices! I know mistakes are easy to make, and many things are very hard to date. It's not as if I don't get that. I make frequent mistakes myself :) But sometimes I see things with labels that a seller could have, for example, looked up on the label resource here, and then they would've realized that their "40s" dress is really from the 80s.

Yes, it is unfortunately caveat emptor for many vintage purchasing opportunities. I somehow wish there could be a VFG authority which, when alerted by someone, would check out the offending item and send an official notice to the seller. A different kind of fashion police! But I guess until that day we will all just have to support the good sellers and do our best to educate ourselves.
 
Oh, yes, I've seen many rookie mistakes - it's horrifying! And I hate to say it but Ebay and Etsy are awash with misdatings and the more you go back, the worse it gets eg, "Victorian" dresses with zippers up the back and "Gunne Sax" labels, "1920s shoes" made of vinyl.

I have a rule that I apply to all my datings mercilessly: I always, always plumb for the most recent possible date. So if that mens suit could be '20s or '30s, I'll say '30s. Any vintage item is automatically more likely to be more recent than older, as the older it gets, the rarer it becomes.

I could write a book on this stuff. I really could. There is so much to know about dating things: style, fabric, construction, labels, detailing, damage. Many sellers put too much faith in either labels or style. The later can be removed from one item and put on another and styles come back repeatedly so you need to look at the whole picture.
 
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