MapsEventsSell & AskAbout
San Francisco Vintage
Resources for the trade

None of it is gatekept.

Guides, templates and toolkits for running a vintage business, built from real experience and real mistakes. All of it is free.

What we ask in return: treat your fellow dealers, buyers and neighbors like human beings. The person you low-ball today is the one whose sourcing tip you will want next year. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.

IWhere are you

Are you in San Francisco, or
Angels Camp?

The San Francisco library

Get set up the right way.

The paperwork nobody explains until you get a fine for it.

San FranciscoLegal basics
San Francisco business licensing guide for vintage sellersThe licenses you need to sell vintage legally online, at markets or from a storefront: the Business Registration Certificate, seller’s permit, DBA filing, and home occupation versus retail. Step by step, with links to city portals.
CaliforniaTax basics
California resale certificate: template and instructionsHow to buy inventory tax-exempt, fill the certificate in correctly, when you must collect sales tax, and what records to keep. Includes a ready-to-use template.

Setting up a booth, and where to take it.

Market fees across the Bay, and everything that goes in the car.

Bay AreaMarket fees
Vend in the BayFees, formats and how to apply for every major vintage and craft market, region by region, with the pro tips every vendor wishes they had known.Open the vending guide →
Printable checklist
Vendor setup kit: the full checklistCanopy and shelter, tables, display fixtures, signage, checkout supplies and packaging, every item rated must-have or recommended. Print it and bring it to your first market.
Live Google Sheet
Bay Area in-person market pricing guideA live, regularly updated fee comparison for 15+ Bay Area markets: space sizes, buyer admission and vintage density.Open the pricing guide →
Affiliate
Shop the kit on AmazonThe curated vendor storefront, organized by category. Links support San Francisco Vintage at no extra cost to you.Browse the storefront →

Signing a lease without losing your shirt.

Storefront basics for San Francisco: permits, buildout and the first ninety days.

San FranciscoGuide
Opening a vintage storefront in San FranciscoChoosing a neighborhood, reading a commercial lease, the permits a retail change of use needs, and what to budget before the doors open.
City program
SF Office of Small BusinessFree help with permits, leases and city programs for anyone opening or running a storefront in San Francisco.sf.gov →
Free listing
List your shop on the vintage mapsOnce you are open, get on the map. Free, equal visibility, no paid placement.Submit your shop →

Know what you are doing before you spend money.

Sourcing, styling, negotiating, spotting fakes. The practical side nobody teaches.

Guide
What to actually expect at an estate saleThe sign-up sheet politics, the 1 a.m. campers, and the useful parts nobody tells you before your first sale.
Guide
How to start selling vintage with $100Which categories to start with, the 3x pricing rule, sourcing in San Francisco on limited capital, and the reinvestment math.
Field guide
How to spot real vintage versus reproductionUnion labels, care tags, zipper brands, dovetail joints, paper stock and country-of-origin marks. A category-by-category field guide.
Guide
How to negotiate at flea markets and estate salesWhen to push, when to pay full price, why the bundle offer works, and how to become the buyer vendors call first.
Guide
How to style vintage in a modern homeThe one-piece-per-room rule, which categories do the most work, and the five mistakes that make vintage look cluttered.

The long reads.

In-depth guides to finding and shopping vintage in San Francisco.

Grow your brand without burning out.

Built for vintage sellers, from real experience growing San Francisco Vintage.

InstagramReels
Instagram growth toolkit for vintage sellersThe attract, nurture, convert funnel, San Francisco-tagged Reels, batch-filming ten Reels in one storage-unit session, caption frameworks and a sustainable weekly schedule.
Template
Four-week content calendar and ten carousel conceptsA calendar template with ten fully written carousel concepts, caption frameworks and the thinking behind each one.

Where to sell, and where not to waste your time.

A frank look at your real options, online and in person.

Our ranking
Where we get the best returnThe platforms San Francisco Vintage actually uses, ranked by what they return on time and fees, and the ones we stopped using.
Decision matrix
Platform comparison guideDepop, Etsy, eBay and in-person: fees, audiences, photography requirements and a category-by-category decision matrix. Includes the honest case against Facebook Marketplace.
Free listing
List your shop on the vintage mapsFree to list, equal visibility for every shop, no paid placement. Storefronts with at least 60% vintage inventory.Submit your shop →

Where the city helps, and where people meet.

Free advising, small loans, and a seat at the table.

North Beach
The networking dinnersFree to attend, every four to eight weeks in North Beach. Dealers, makers and small business owners around one table.See the dinners →
City program
SF OEWD small business assistanceFree one-to-one advising for San Francisco small businesses at any stage, from people who know the city’s licensing and programs.oewd.org →
City program
SF micro-enterprise loan programLoans of up to $50,000 for San Francisco businesses with fewer than five employees, on flexible terms.Learn more →
City program
SF Legacy Business RegistryFor businesses operating 30+ years in the city: recognition, protection, and access to grant programs.sf.gov →

Know where to look. The history is all there.

For researching an estate, authenticating an object, or understanding a neighborhood.

SFPL archive
SF Assessor-Recorder photographsNearly every parcel in the city, photographed for property tax from the 1940s through the 1990s. Block by block, decade by decade. Hosted free by SFPL.Browse the archive →
Community archive
OpenSFHistoryTens of thousands of historical photographs, searchable by street, neighborhood and subject.Browse OpenSFHistory →
SF Chronicle
SF property ownership mapThe Chronicle’s yearly map of who owns what, from public records. Useful for understanding estate sale territory.View the map →
Organization
San Francisco HeritageThe leading advocacy organization for historic preservation in the city.sfheritage.org →
Organization
Shaping San FranciscoA living archive of the city’s radical and working-class history, and the FoundSF wiki.shapingsf.org →
Organization
San Francisco Historical SocietyPhotographs, manuscripts and artifacts from the 1800s on, and the quarterly journal The Argonaut.sfhistory.org →
Organization
SF Maritime National Historical ParkHistoric vessels and one of the best maritime photograph collections on the West Coast.nps.gov/safr →
Organization
San Francisco NeonDocumenting and preserving the city’s historic neon signs.sfneon.com →
Organization
Tenderloin MuseumThe labor movement, LGBTQ+ rights, the Beats, and the immigrant communities of the Tenderloin.tenderloinmuseum.org →
Organization
Northeast San Francisco ConservancyPreservation in North Beach, Telegraph Hill and the northeast neighborhoods.nesfc.org →
Organization
Art Deco Society of CaliforniaFor dealers in 1920s to 1940s objects and furniture, the community that cares most about the era.artdecosociety.org →
Organization
Outside Lands San FranciscoPhotographs, maps and firsthand accounts of the Sunset, the Richmond, West Portal and Forest Hill.outsidelands.org →