The idea to do antiques came to him before the New Year. Together with his family, Dima, who was then twenty, decorated the Christmas tree with Soviet toys and thought: “What if there are those who want to buy them?” I went on the Internet and saw that they are in demand. Two years later, he set up his own business: he sold antique toys for 120,000 rubles to the Ural political elite, Moscow actors and the main socialite of the country, Bozhena Rynska. In an anonymous blog, a young antique dealer told Moments how to make money on the love of retro, why Yekaterinburg residents still throw out old things and what miracles can be found in landfills.

I was walking next to a dumpster and saw an ajar Soviet suitcase...

Since childhood, I liked old things, I really liked to look at them. When I grew up, I began to think about how to translate this hobby into a commercial basis. I studied antique literature, re-read history books and decided to sell the first thing. At home there were retro things of parents and grandparents, but it was taboo to touch them. Therefore, I bought a Christmas tree decoration at the opening day in Moscow and resold it to a friend with a small extra charge. With experience, I stopped doing things that I could not sell at a markup of 300%. Now I buy things from people who find something interesting on flea markets Europe, I often see something interesting myself.

My most unexpected find was in a garbage dump in Yekaterinburg. I walked past the containers next to the house and saw a slightly ajar Soviet suitcase standing next to them, from which Christmas decorations stick out. Without disgust and a twinge of conscience, I just took and carried away this suitcase. I only made a couple of thousand then, but what I liked most was digging through that suitcase: there's a thrill in when you slowly take it apart and think whether something valuable will come across or not.

It looks like a Christmas tree, fully decorated with antique toys. The bear cub on the right, according to Dmitry, costs 2,000 - 3,000 rubles. Photo: provided by the hero of the material

All Rublyovka decorates Christmas trees with antique Christmas decorations

There are Soviet Christmas decorations that are really cheap - from 100 rubles apiece. This is a trifle, not money, but there are also toys for 150,000 rubles. The price is determined based on three factors: condition, rarity, age.

Toys that were produced in the 70s, roughly speaking, in a million copies, are sold for 100 rubles, because they are in every apartment. Christmas decorations of the 30-50s are rarer: some collections produced only a thousand copies for the entire USSR. They cost more than 100,000 rubles.

The most expensive toy that I sold cost 120,000 rubles. In Moscow, this is now a trend: the entire Rublyovka decorates Christmas trees with antique toys. I have clients from there: Bozhena Rynska is a lady of a specific nature, designer Alexander Arutyunov. People spend a lot of money because it's atmospheric. Among the intelligentsia, in a bohemian and business environment, people with good incomes are interested in antiques.

Left: toy from the 1950s from the Circus series. In good condition, it costs from 5,000 rubles. Right: Swaddle toy that was popular in the 50s. There was a whole collection where there were children in the envelopes and for some reason pigs, cats and dogs. The approximate cost is 3,000 rubles. Photo: provided by the hero of the material

The Ural political and business elite are often deceived

There are also buyers in Yekaterinburg, but, alas, our interest is not so great. I judge by my sales. It is a pity that people do not appreciate old things and throw them away without knowing the price. I sometimes conduct free assessments - in this regard, I am not greedy, I name the real amount. People are surprised: “Oh, we wanted to throw it away.”

Everyone, figuratively speaking, is breaking into IKEA, striving to have no old things in the house at all, and adore high-tech and loft styles. People are still living a little bit in the 2000s. It was the same in Moscow two or three years ago, which means that soon they will start collecting antiques in Yekaterinburg.

If we have anyone interested in antiques, then for some reason they are ordinary people of the middle class. The Ural bohemia is still absorbed by the glamor of the 90s. The Yekaterinburg political and business elite buys antiques, but they don't understand anything about it. I feel very sorry for such people, because they are often deceived - they can sell a fake, this is very widespread. Maybe they will never realize that this is a fake, but nevertheless they made money.

Many people buy an old thing just to boast about it. Such people are like "expensive" girls who walk down the street with an air of: "What a pity that you have to tear price tags off your clothes." Or the men who buy cars not to drive them, but just to show off.

Left: A phosphor-coated ball glows in the dark. It is popular with antique dealers and costs from 5,000 rubles. Right: Baba Yaga's house was made in the 50s. Dmitry says that this toy has a high artistic value. In good condition from 15,000 rubles. Photo: provided by the hero of the material

No one ever talks about deals from half a million or more

The antique community is very closed, they try not to let outsiders into it. O big deals nobody ever tells.

Big deals - from half a million and above - take place behind closed doors. No one ever talks about them, extra attention, and, therefore, no one needs problems. Rumors spread quickly, especially in Yekaterinburg. Due to my age, I have not yet reached the level of transactions with such amounts, my biggest sale is 250,000 rubles. I would not like to voice what and to whom I sold for this amount.

The oldest thing that I was able to sell is a service from the middle of the 19th century. There was an incomplete set - ten silver-plated items. I took three thousand rubles per position. It's funny that people think that if they find a thing that is more than a hundred years old, it means that they will get rich and buy an apartment in Moscow. Actually this is a delusion. There are rare things from the 90s that cost a hundred times more than a 19th century item. For example, there are ugly abstract toys made by a well-known master in the USSR. They may be only thirty years old, and this is not even a vintage, but their rarity and the author's fame allow you to sell one toy for at least 20,000 rubles.

Left: A "surprise" toy made from the late 1940s to the 1960s. On the cover were drawn the heroes of fairy tales and fables. This copy costs about 4,000 rubles. Similar toys from the same series can sell both 1,000 and 30,000 rubles. Right: a pure silver bottle for 3,500 rubles. Photo: provided by the hero of the material

Every deal is always a risk.

I don't rent a warehouse. At home I have a small room where I keep things: they are all in boxes, neatly packed. I am very sensitive about such things, even if they are inexpensive. On trifles - transactions for 500, 1,000 and 2,000 rubles - the main income is formed. On antique Christmas tree decorations, I quietly earn 150,000 rubles a month. But this is not my only income. Yes, it generates income, but at the same time it is very unstable: it can be “wow” for half a year, and then you suck your paw. The first year I worked in the red - I had to invest in a business. Some people think that when you sell a thing for 200,000 rubles, then the whole amount is pure profit. But this is not so, because I also bought this thing for a certain amount.

Selling antiques is in its own way, but a huge job. Sometimes it takes more effort than to unload the wagons. You constantly communicate with people, it doesn't matter if you like the person or not. You need to constantly look for buyers, this mainly happens at social events - you already know approximately what kind of people are interested in antiques and what you can offer them.

Transactions, if both I and the buyer are in the same city, are made personally. If a person is in another city or country (I sold Christmas decorations to people in the USA, Germany, Belarus), then I send him a photo of the thing. Sometimes they ask to make a video to better assess her condition. Negotiations sometimes go on for a month. You're wasting time, and the person ends up telling you that he's changed his mind. Until the money is transferred, there is no sale. Any transaction is always a risk.

For one copy you can get 150,000 rubles

It's time to set up a Christmas tree in the house and get an old suitcase from the mezzanine. The one where most of the year live Christmas decorations, lined with cotton wool and newspapers. Here is the balloon that we bought last year, here is the garland from the eighties, and at the bottom of the box are the oldest toys, still grandma's. We take them, hang them on the Christmas tree - and we don’t suspect that collectors are killed for these balls, bunnies, bears and other lanterns. And they are ready to pay more than one thousand rubles for them.

"MK" figured out which of the toys can be of value not only for the soul, but also from a financial point of view.

What can be in a family Christmas suitcase? Toys made of plastic, glass, cardboard, foam, cotton wool, wood. Factory and homemade. On strings and on special clothespins, stands, forcing the toy to stand, and not hang on a branch. Cotton or rubber Santa Claus and Snow Maiden. Finally, accessories: tinsel, rain, garlands - from flags or electric ones ...

Least of all questions plastic toys. They appeared in our everyday life in the 1990s, so most likely you yourself remember how and when they appeared in the collection. To become a rarity, these toys will have to wait for another half a century. The main thing is not to rush to throw it away if they don’t like it: maybe children and grandchildren will like it.

Next - everyone's favorite glass toys: balls and figurines. They are produced from the earliest times to this day. Each glass toy- handmade: no one has yet developed a technology for stamping thin-walled glass. Both blowing and painting are individual, although the toy was made at the factory. Here it is not easy to determine the age and rarity of a toy - you need to flip through catalogs (they are also available on the Internet).

Some hunt for certain series of toys, ”collector Inna Ovsienko told MK. - For example, "Peoples of the USSR", "Pushkin's Tales". This last series, by the way, was a jubilee one - dedicated to the centenary of the poet's death, launched in 1937. She became one of the first Soviet series of glass Christmas decorations in general.

The axial date for domestic Christmas decorations is 1936. It was then that the celebration of the New Year with a traditional Christmas tree was again welcomed by the state. Throughout the 20s and early 30s, the tree (as an attribute of the old Christmas tradition) was uprooted and destroyed. Pioneers were shamed for decorating a Christmas tree in their house; the neighbors looked askance at those who carried out the Christmas tree in January, so they had to do it secretly, at night ... But suddenly they were allowed, and all Christmas tree rituals were restored. Only, of course, without angels and crosses on the branches and crown. New time - new characters.

Propaganda toys were blown out of glass,” says Ovsienko. - These are bugle balloons, and blown airships, and red glass-bead stars on the top of the Christmas tree ... If you have such a toy, it’s enough to find out when this or that campaign was going on (for example, the airship is 1937), and the date of manufacture toys is understandable.

Post-war toys are brighter and more diverse, as well as more "childish" - without politics. Bears with and without harmonicas, geese and swans, fish and vegetables. The balls are simple and "flashlights" - those in which the garland bulbs should be reflected. Santa Claus and Snow Maiden - in assortment. But glass beads - toys made of strung beads and glass cylinders - have been fading away since the mid-1950s. Difficult, low-tech, old-fashioned and dangerous: children love to taste toys ...

The next material is cardboard covered with a layer of multi-colored foil. These toys are very old, pre-war. Such artels were produced by various artels back in the twenties, almost underground: Christmas trees, albeit secretly, were set, which means that there was a demand for toys. Take care of them - this is already a rarity! Although they do not fight, it will be a shame to give such a tooth to children or animals. Moreover, collectors sometimes pay tens of thousands of rubles for cardboard toys (as well as for pre-war glass ones).

A special story - wartime toys, - says collector Inna Ovsienko. - At the Moscow plant "Caliber" then they launched the production of toys from production waste - substandard light bulbs and so on. They were made quite a lot, but more than 70 years have passed, so now such toys are rare and valuable.

Well, the oldest toys - wadded and wooden - may well be of pre-revolutionary origin. By the way, then most of the toys were homemade - so if your family has preserved decorations of those years, it is quite possible that your great-grandfather and great-grandmother made them with their own hands.

Single song - cotton grandfathers Frosts and Snow Maidens. Until the 1950s, their faces were molded from clay by hand, later polymer substitutes came. This "chapter" of the New Year tree is characters that you can look into the eyes and soak up the atmosphere of the holiday.

Real collectors of Christmas decorations do not measure their value in money, Ovsienko smiles. - Much more valuable spiritual, or something, importance for the family. I always discourage people from selling family toys - after all, it is with them that family history comes to life every year on the New Year tree. If you lose it, then you can not buy it for any money.

HELP "MK"

How much do collectible Christmas decorations made in Russia/USSR cost:

Thumbelina on a swallow (cotton, papier-mâché, early 20th century): 32,500 rubles.

Set "15 republics of the USSR" in a box (cotton wool, 1962) - 65,000 rubles.

Border guard Karatsupa with the dog Ingus (cardboard, 1936) - 150,000 rubles.

Negro (cotton wool, 1936) - 14,000 rubles.

Set "Doctor Aibolit" (glass, 1950s) - 150,000 rubles.

Mizgir from the set "Snow Maiden" (glass, 1950s) - 20,000 rubles.

Pioneer (glass, 1938) - 47,000 rubles.

In our country, the New Year is first of all associated with gifts. So this business will be very beneficial. Before the holiday always start to appear outlets who sell various New Year's goods (toys). You can buy them from a supplier or make your own. To start a business selling Christmas toys, you need to take the following steps:

How to make money selling Christmas toys

1. Register with the local tax authorities as an entrepreneur.

Get a TIN and act within the law.

1. Suppliers.

To find a quality supplier of Christmas toys, just go to global network Internet and type in the search query the desired information. Focus on an organization (supplier) that has been on the market for a long time. It is necessary that he fulfills (delivers goods) obligations in due time. On the part of the recipient of the products, the full payment specified in the contract is required. If a future entrepreneur decided to make products on his own, then you need to learn the technology for the production of New Year's toys. This product falls into two categories:

- glass

They are made by hand using the blowing method from the blank. This procedure is done using gas burner and own lungs. To do this, you need to have experience and qualified personnel. On the day the glass blower can produce desired products no more than 300.

Note to the reader: If you are interested in repairing washing machines in Kostroma, then contact the specialists on the website kostroma.restadom.ru. I am sure you will be satisfied with the price-quality ratio!

- plastic

It is much easier to produce in a time period. It is necessary to purchase only the necessary technology, which can also be found on the Internet.

1. Analysis of the assortment market.

Think in advance what products are in demand on the market (toys). To do this, the future entrepreneur can hire marketing agency which explore all preferences potential client and will give the most acceptable assortment. Also, this agency, for an additional monetary reward, will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the market, in which it will recognize the main competitors in the market, find their weak and strengths and much more.

1. Point of sale and sale.

Find a profitable place for sales in advance. Better place in the center. It is possible to sell directly from the warehouse if the volumes are equal to wholesale. The main thing is to notify future buyers in advance about new products or assortment.

1. Advertising company.

1. Stock.

With large volumes of purchases, you can provide discounts on a range of products that are not in great demand.

1. Money for business development.

Financial resources for starting your own business exist in credit institutions or from private investors. Credit institutions (banks) require a business plan from an entrepreneur, which must be drawn up correctly. It indicates exactly where the funds will go, what are the future income and expenses for a certain period of time. The business plan must be defended before the banking commission in order to receive the desired funds. Private investors require a certain part of the income from the proceeds or a share in the company.

In Russia, it is not customary to save on New Year's holidays. It is believed that "how you meet the year, so you will spend it." And since the Christmas tree is the main symbol of the celebration, they decorate it exquisitely and pretentiously - especially if children grow up in the family. Someone must satisfy the specific consumer demand that arises in November-December. Many individual entrepreneurs are thinking about how to interest buyers with home-made Christmas toys for the Christmas tree.

Handmade and New Year's decor shop

According to the IRG agency, the average citizen of Russia spends from 15 to 17 thousand rubles for the New Year. Consequently, a family of three is ready to shell out approximately 50 thousand rubles for the holiday. It is difficult to calculate how much of this money will be specifically for the purchase of jewelry. However, there is no doubt - quite a lot. Such purchases tend to dissolve into total spending, which is why consumers do not count the cost of toys.

“On the eve of 2016, the authorities of Kazan announced an auction for a single supply of Christmas decorations worth more than 8 million rubles,” says Igor Malyugin, an expert on small business. - It was about decorating the New Year's town in the capital of Tatarstan - albeit in a large, but only in one regional center. In addition to city halls, private organizations also spend money on toys. One "forest beauty" takes from 300 to 1000 rubles. Taking into account the fact that about 2.2 million Christmas trees are sold annually in the country, the total amount of proceeds from the sale of Christmas decorations is from 1.5 to 3 billion rubles.”

For such money, businessmen are ready to offer consumers both traditional Christmas balls and original toys. handmade. Those whose products will be the hit of the upcoming new year holiday will definitely win. Forum reviews show that entrepreneurs understand this and strive for originality:

“Handmade is incredibly popular today,” writes a user with the nickname Olesya. - You won't surprise anyone with New Year's toys from shops today. Many companies and offices, salons and boutiques seek to decorate their premises in an exclusive and unusual way, not like everyone else.”

“... I often see that they sell various New Year's toys made by hand,” adds Rulad. - My friend makes decorations for champagne for the New Year. Buys a lot of bottles at wholesale price and decorates them…. One bottle, for example, in the form of a Christmas tree, the other - Santa Claus or Snow Maiden. People buy three or four at a time.”

However, there are posts like this:

“I am very skeptical about such undertakings of small businesses, since I myself am somehow connected with this. How to sell goods if the demand for products is situational?

“It’s hard to sell crafts. You need to have a lot of ideas in order to enter the markets. But again, they will only buy for gifts before the holidays. And where to go next? I was engaged in knitting toys, and Kanzashi, but, unfortunately, I could not really enter the sales market. Girlfriends bought - and that's it. Didn't make much money."

Nevertheless, a survey of businessmen showed that many stores sell New Year's decor and toys. “I will always take it for sale, please bring it,” says Anna Ivashkina from Moscow. - The question should be put differently: does the product correspond to the quality that the buyer would like to see? Sometimes they bring toys in the Tyapkin-Lyapkin style and ask for wild money for them - three, or even five thousand rubles, they say, this is an exclusive!

New Year's toys on the Christmas tree - a hit of the season?

So, selling Christmas decorations is real. But, firstly, they must be original, secondly, of good quality, and thirdly, they must have a reasonable price. For example, in England, the sale of New Year's toys made "at home" using the beading method is going well. Such production does not require special skill.

“It is not difficult to make jewelry from beads and wire,” Lena Smyshmynova gives a master class. - For example, for a "Christmas tree" you will need large green beads, beads of different colors and sizes, thin but hard wire. Of the tools - pliers. Make a cone out of thick paper and form a wire spiral on it, on which you will string beads and beads later. At a cost of 30 rubles, they are bought for 100.

Note that New Year's beaded wreaths are bought very well. True, in order to make them, experience is required - and beautiful gift wrapping.

Of course, Christmas figurines made from polymer clay, resembling ordinary plasticine, which hardens when heated to 130 degrees. “Practice,” advises Lena Smyshnova. - If you get beautiful figures - it's just super. Mix clay with bright colors and sculpt cheerful Santa Clauses and attractive Snow Maidens. And after hardening, polish the toys sandpaper. Such things always sell out with a bang.

Is it profitable to sell Christmas decorations?

One could cite dozens of the most different ways making Christmas decorations, but now in the century high speed internet it's easy to find articles, photos and even video tutorials on this topic on your own. Not all of them will be in demand; the main thing in the "toy" business is to find exactly the product that has the greatest added value.

“I know a lady who knitted toys from woolen threads well, but this work took a lot of time, and the toys themselves turned out to be very interesting, but discreet,” comments Anna Ivashkina. - Despite my timid protests, she persuaded me to take them for sale almost at cost. I had to turn down other providers. In the end, they didn't sell anything."

It is curious that knitted New Year's toys (for example, in the form of mittens or slippers) are actually in demand - for example, they are sold well at New Year's street fairs. Customers are cold and are subconsciously drawn to warm clothes. It turns out that it is not enough to make a good toy - it still needs to be successfully sold.

“New Year's toys and holiday decor are in demand in offices, banks, kindergartens - that is, where the implementation depends on the head of a separate human community, be it industrial or social,” explains Igor Malyugin. - Thinking about your business Christmas decorations, analyze marketplaces. If you are “from a timid dozen” and are unlikely to decide to personally offer your product, then you will have to find a sociable companion. But you have to share with him.

As for monetary issues, experienced businessmen estimate the starting costs for materials and tools at 20 - 100 thousand rubles. However, if successful, it will be possible to earn up to 200 thousand rubles in just a few weeks. It is exclusively about individual entrepreneurs who make Christmas decorations and New Year's decor at home.

Conclusion

Making and selling Christmas decorations is a short-term seasonal business. However, needlework skills should not be lost. They will be in demand again in February - you can make souvenirs for the Defender of the Fatherland Day, and then by March 8th.

How to overcome seasonality and provide yourself with orders throughout the year, and not just on holidays? How to sell a product that is clearly more expensive than the rest? And how to do it with one package of brains and hands?

Use Velvet Marketing! If you make something tasty, let people try it. And then they won't be able to return. How did it work for us?

We, the Mon Bon company, make pasta cakes - perhaps the best in Moscow. As our company began to develop, two things became apparent:

• we are positioned in the “premium” segment and are clearly more expensive than analogues;
• there is a demand for the 2b2 format of such a product. That is, for a corporate gift: pasta in a beautiful package, with a print and decorations;

And we were faced with the task: how to notify the b2b market about our services and attract buyers while remaining in your segment?

At the same time, we decided to overcome seasonality and provide ourselves with orders throughout the year, and not just on holidays ( New Year, March 8, Oilman's Day and so on).

To withdraw New Product needed for the market

• time (at least six months!)
• marketing department
• good budget.

Instead of all this, there was one set of brains and hands - your humble servant. But a guerrilla marketing strategy emerged, which later became known as "velvet marketing". How and why does it work?

This concept is not new, I heard it from Kirill Gotovtsev. Its essence is as follows: if you make something tasty, let people try it and get used to it. And they will definitely come back and buy.

How is it implemented?

Paragraph 1. Classic cold calls.

I made cold calls to the b2b database of clients who made orders to the company's office. He offered to order pasta with a personal 10% discount. The result is an increase in the base of b2b clients by 2 times. Classic!

Point 2 . Work in social networks

I needed opinion leaders and cross-promotion in publications. I just wrote in the comments to the posts that came up on the topic, a proposal to try our pasta. And sent a box of cakes as a gift. It looked like this.

Here is an example from Facebook.

Here is an example from Instagram.

Similarly, the work was built with bloggers. Here is a blogger's report on our delicious gift.

Paragraph # 3. Personal gifts

A company that sells sales training invited me to a meeting. Of course, I agreed, took a box of cakes and arrived. The company subsequently placed an order. The result is 2-3 additional orders per month.

Item #4 . Email marketing

C as old as the world, e-mail marketing! Only, unlike the traditional letter with the message “buy from us,” I completely changed both the message and the tone. The letter became ... an offer to taste delicious cakes in the middle labor day in the office.

I'll tell you a little more about how this tool works, since it is a three-stage one.

1. First, the recipient opens the letter. After reading, he is left with one thought - "I want a free box of cakes."
2. I'm calling with a request to clarify the time and place of delivery. During the conversation, I propose to bring in person, at the same time and get to know each other. Failures - 5%.
3. We have a full-fledged business meeting, to which I bring a box of cakes with the client's logo. The client is delighted: he clearly sees how this tool works: just as he is now delighted with these cakes, customers, partners, and employees will be delighted. Further, a story about the capabilities of the product in the form of a friendly conversation, exchange of contacts, possibly signing a cooperation agreement. Or an order.

Results: the open rate of letters is about 50 percent, that is, every second letter is opened. Conversion letter-meeting - 10-12%.

What should not be done using "velvet marketing"?

No need to "push". At least at first. No need to drive the client into a corner: buy, sign now! You need to get used to it, to integrate the product into the world of the client, his company.

From the very beginning, communication should be a pleasure: a person wrote, offered to try pasta cakes, for free. Why not?

Then he called, offered to bring it personally, indicated that it would take no more than 15 minutes. Why not?

A nice person arrived, really brought it, everything looks super, it’s not a shame to show the manager. Why not order some to sample and see what happens?

Who can use "velvet marketing"?

Someone who sells a product or service that has a momentary demand. "Oh cool, I want to." And you won’t be forced to be nice, especially when you sell sweets. Also, the tool is useful for those who are building a business seriously and for a long time, building a brand reputation through the experience of interacting with the product.

The mission of marketing does not change: to make products and brands meet with consumers. Make sure that you are trusted, because trust is valued most of all. But how to do it - today there are a lot of opportunities. Find your key to the hearts of customers, and no one can copy it.

Go ahead, and may the force and reason be with you!

Do you let your customers try your products? After all, the test version can be not only for sweets. How can your clients try your services? Or buy a pig in a poke?