The Savvy Picker travels around the Southeast looking for vintage merchandise to stock her brick-and-mortar and online shops. She returned to the beautiful North Georgia Mountains this August and made enough stops to fill up her car! Keep reading to check out her hauls and pick up a few tricks of the trade.
When you head to Cornerstone Antique & Craft Market in Toccoa, Georgia, here is one main tip: allow yourself plenty of time to explore. Located in charming downtown Toccoa, Cornerstone has three floors of well-arranged products offered by a multitude of vendors. I’m not going to lie; I was there for several hours!
A first-floor full of finds
For the careful shopper, it might take that long to see everything in the huge building, which has stuff on every shelf and around every corner.
This mall allows vendors to bring their own style to their booths, so you might find things like quality reproduction metal signs alongside delicately printed miniature porcelain teapots. I was happy to stumble upon the latter while a 50% off sale was in progress, so I nabbed several of them at just $1.50 – $2.00 each.
The value of knowing your market
It was soon apparent I would need a basket, so I dropped off my teapot stash at the register, where you can leave items on hold, and picked up a basket. This was helpful, but didn’t keep me from having to make multiple trips to the register to deposit the heavier items I discovered, like this mid-century leather rooster decanter.
Sometimes things will sell in one region for a much higher price than they will in another. If you are a reseller, it’s important to understand your clientele. Because I live in Gamecock Country, I was able to double the price on this decanter and sell it in my shop in just a few days.
Discovering a dream vendor in the basement
After selecting a few more items on the first floor, I descended into the basement, and it was there that I found my dream vendor. For me, a dream vendor is a seller who has interesting inventory AND has the philosophy that they would rather move a lot of stuff at low prices fast than hang on to an item for a long time to reach maximum profit. As a reseller, this type of vendor aligns perfectly with my goals of scooping up items that are particularly low-priced for antique malls. In this case, the dream vendor had an excellent eye for cool and unusual stuff! Here is a picture of his booth.
And here is a picture of some of the cool stuff I got from his booth.
There were other vendors in the basement who had great items as well, so I also carried an oversized old globe upstairs to the hold shelf, knowing I could sell it at home for triple the $12 price.
The one that got away
Almost every time I visit a shop with this much inventory, I end up regretting leaving something behind. Usually, this happens after I’ve filled a few baskets and know my checkout total is going to be steep, so I talk myself out of buying something that costs more than a few bucks. Below is a photo of the item I regret leaving behind on this trip.
I believe this is a French stoneware crock from the late 1800s or early 1900s. It is very heavy and a gorgeous cream color with primitive markings. It cost $50, so I passed on it, but I did some research after leaving the store, and I believe the value of the crock could be over $200. If I hadn’t been heading home on a different route, I would have returned and purchased it. Alas, it was not meant to be! But who knows, maybe it is still there, and someone reading this article will be lucky enough to make the purchase.
Lessons from a rushed buy
Even though I had quite a large pile of to-be-purchased items at this point, I found more to love upstairs on the building’s top floor. One of the first things I saw there was a Tom Clark Santa.
Tom Clark is best known for his earth-toned gnome figurines, which were wildly popular in the 80s and 90s. There was a time when almost everyone I knew had one in their home. Though most of these have not held their value, the Santas are still quite popular, so I bought this one for $22, thinking I could sell it for $50 or $60. It was pretty dusty, but I assumed this would be an easy fix. It was only after I drove the five hours back home and began to clean the piece that I realized my mistake. There was a sizeable break in the side of the figurine – something I would have noticed if I hadn’t been in a hurry and making multiple purchases. In the end, I sold the cleaned figurine for $20 (labeled as damaged), which was a pretty significant loss considering that’s less than I paid, I had to pay commission at the store, and I had to spend time cleaning it.
So here is a tip for the bulk shopper in a hurry: spend an extra ten seconds looking over an item right before you place it on the hold shelf!
It RARELY happens that I lose money on an item. How could I stay in business if I did? So when this does happen, I don’t beat myself up about it. Instead, I look at the entire bulk purchase and pat myself on the back if the overall haul was profitable.
Finding the deal of the day
Luckily, I was able to do considerable back patting thanks to a couple of great scores I found in the upper level, including this retro string art sailboat in perfect condition. It didn’t have a price on it, so I took a photo of it along with another tag from the booth, which let the person at the register know who to call about a price. A price was negotiated, and it came home with me, lasting just a week or two in my space before it sold for several times the price I paid.
This is another instance of knowing your customer base as a reseller. Because my shop is on the main tourist street in a seaside town, all nautical items sell well for me.
The third floor also housed this lovely carved dragon with gentle gold accents for just $20.
And speaking of dragons, this amazing signed and numbered dragon-themed etching by fantasy artist Real Musgrave was priced at only $45. This ended up being the deal of the day because the etching is in beautiful shape, has a lovely frame, is pencil signed, and is a very desirable print by that artist. I plan to list it in my online Etsy shop for about 10 times what I paid. In the meantime, it will hang in my house.
Make a day of it in downtown Toccoa
So vintage lovers, here is my advice to you: look at your calendar and pick a time when you can spend half a day in downtown Toccoa. Schedule an hour or two for shopping at the Cornerstone antique mall. Then have lunch at one of the many cute eateries right there on the same street. And after lunch, stop in at the quaint and quirky vintage bookstore just down the street that has thousands of vintage books – some of them gorgeous antiques. It will be worth the trip!
TSP Takeaway
Cornerstone Antique & Craft Market in downtown Toccoa is a gem for antique and vintage shoppers. The store is located at 142 North Sage Street and is open Monday-Saturday: 10:30 am – 5:30 pm. It is closed on Sunday.
Visit Cornerstone online at https://www.toccoaantiques.com/ and follow their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cornerstoneantiques/ for more information.
Who should visit: Vintage and Antique enthusiasts with time to explore a large space.
Score of the day: Signed etching by Real Musgrave
Predicted profit on etching: $400
Reseller takeaway: Spend an extra ten seconds looking over merchandise for flaws before putting it on the hold table.
Click here for more great reads and finds. For additional tips on tracking vintage treasures, visit The Savvy Picker website.
