Tell Us What You Are Hunting For
Everything here is one of one, which means the thing you want is either on the floor today or it is not. A treasure request is how you find out about it the week it arrives instead of the month after somebody else did.
What a Treasure Request Is
It is a description of one thing you are looking for, kept on a list that a person reads. When something turns up that looks like a match, we get in touch. That is the whole of it.
It is not a search, an order, or a promise. We buy what we find, and what we find is not up to us. Some requests are answered in a fortnight and some are still open a year later. Both of those are normal and we would rather say so here than let you work it out from silence.
How It Works
- One You do this
- You describe it below, with a photograph if you have one.
- Two We do this
- It goes on the list, and a person reads the list.
- Three We do this
- When something looks like a match, we email or ring you with a photograph and a price.
- Four You do this
- You say yes or no. Saying no is fine and costs nothing.
We do not hold a piece indefinitely while somebody thinks about it, because the next person through the door is looking at it too. How long we can hold something is worked out at the time, on the piece.
What to Tell Us
The more particular you are, the better this works. The things that actually help:
- What it is, in the plainest words you have for it
- Roughly when it is from, if you have any idea
- The size it has to be, if it has to fit somewhere
- How perfect it has to be, because honest wear suits some things and ruins others
- A photograph of one like it, even a bad photograph off the internet
If all you have is "my grandmother had one and it was green", send that. It is more use than it sounds.
What It Costs
- To make a request
- Nothing. There is no fee and no deposit.
- To say no when we find something
- Nothing. A request is not an order and does not commit you to buying anything.
- What a piece will cost if we find one
- Whatever it is priced at when it arrives. We quote it to you before anything else happens.
Anything not written on this page has not been decided. If a question about money comes up that this section does not answer, ask, and the answer will be added here rather than agreed privately.
What people usually ask
Does it cost anything?
No. There is no fee and no deposit to make a request.
Do I have to buy what you find?
No. A request is not an order. Saying no costs nothing.
How long does it take?
There is no promise about when. Some requests turn up the same week, and some take years. We do not guess.
What will it cost if you find one?
Whatever it is priced at when it arrives. We tell you the price before anything else happens.
Will you hold it for me?
For a short while. The next person through the door is looking at it too, so how long we can hold a piece is worked out at the time.
Make a Request
Describe it as precisely as you can. A photograph helps more than anything else you can send.
Your request is on the list.
It is stored, and a person reads the list. If something turns up that looks like a match you will hear from us with a photograph and a price. If nothing turns up, you will not hear from us, and that is not us forgetting.
If you thought of something after you pressed send, write to treasurehunter@sanfranciscovintage.com and it will reach the same person.
Would rather just write to us? Our address is treasurehunter@sanfranciscovintage.com
Have something to sell instead?