Shopping online for vintage tees is an entirely different beast from hitting the flea markets and resale shops. Whether you’re a beginner or a vintage veteran, here is our best guide to ensure smooth sailing while you navigate a sea of online marketplaces and sellers (with the occasional pirate and crook among them).

Knowing is half the battle.

Don’t worry. If you start off right, you’ll have a closet full of authentic vintage tees in no time!

Before You Start

Here are some things to remember before making a purchase on the marketplace platforms covered in our guide:

Know Your Measurements

Regardless of the size listed on the tag, T-Shirt sizing can vary across decades and even across brands. Knowing your measurements is the best way to ensure that the vintage tee shirt you are buying is going to fit. For more on this, you can check our Size Guide or if you need help getting your T-Shirt measurements we have just the article for you! 

Check the Seller’s Time on The Platform and Their Feedback/Reviews

• Do they have a long history of selling on the platform?
• What is their feedback/review rating?
• Do they typically receive positive reviews from their buyers?
• What do the negative reviews have to say?
• How does the seller handle buyer issues or complaints?

Try Sending the Seller a Message

The speed and content of the reply can be a good indication of the service you’ll get when you buy from them.

What Does the Seller Typically Sell?

• Do they mainly carry vintage tees and vintage clothing?
• Is the selection organized or is it more random and unfocused (along with their product photos and descriptions)?
• Do they regularly use terms like “rare” and “hard to find” in item descriptions – even for items they carry more than one of?

Read a Few of the Seller’s Item Descriptions

• Is there enough detail provided so that you can make an informed buying decision?
• Does the seller include measurements along with sizing information?

Look at The Pictures

• Are they clear and well-lit?
• Are there enough to make a good determination of quality, condition, and age?

Don’t Go Off-Platform

• Many marketplaces offer some form of buyer protection for sales completed on their platform. This usually means you can get your money back if something goes wrong.
• Transacting off-platform comes without these protections, along with the real risk of never receiving your item and ultimately losing your money.
• There are exceptions to every rule – while some sellers have established independent sites and may prefer to transact there, it is generally against marketplace rules to lead buyers off-platform to do so. Such behavior is typically grounds for account suspension or termination – so this isn’t something that reputable sellers will ask for.

Where to Shop – Online Marketplaces

Now to The Good Stuff – Where Can You Shop for Vintage T-Shirts Online?

eBay and Etsy have been around the longest and remain among the largest online marketplaces to shop for vintage. They have also set the standard for much of the online shopping experience – including many of the policies and procedures we take for granted today. For this reason, they usually get mentioned first and are “top of mind” for many people.

However, it is safe to say that we have moved beyond them as the best and only online marketplaces for vintage tees. Don’t write off some of the smaller/newer marketplaces and apps out there. Do a little investigation and keep in mind the things we mentioned in the “Before You Start” section while exploring any marketplace or app.

There are lots of great finds to be had on the various modern selling platforms these days.

📱 Format

• Smartphone App
• Desktop site

👍 The Good

• Wide selection – there is tons of product on eBay.
• Great search experience with filtering options to narrow down what you are looking for, especially if it is something specific.
• Older platform with many reputable, longtime sellers (including
  Thriftstore Cowboy Vintage 🤠).

👎 The Not So Good

• With a wide selection, the market has also become oversaturated – since the mid-2000s, many big brands have come to maintain a massive presence on eBay.
• Sellers can use “vintage” to refer to “vintage style”, “retro” and “reprints” that are inspired by, but NOT true vintage.
• Becoming super mainstream has attracted both uneducated/inexperienced vintage sellers as well as those looking to make a quick buck on the popularity of vintage – often at the buyer’s expense. 🏴‍☠️
• The mobile experience and the app are both dated when compared to some of the other smaller and more progressive marketplaces out there.

💵 Payments

• Credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal are all accepted via eBay’s proprietary payments system – so no need to sign up for a third-party payment service if you don’t want to.
• Check out eBay payments for more details.

↩️ Returns Process

• To its credit, eBay has really refined its returns process over the years. As a buyer, it is usually quick and easy to resolve most issues.
• Check out eBay returns for more details.

📱 Format

• Smartphone App
• Desktop site

👍 The Good

• Items must be at least 20 years old to be sold as “vintage”.
• Etsy sellers tend to be more interested in and knowledgeable about what they sell. Other online marketplace platforms have trouble competing with this level of passion and expertise.
• Great mobile site and app experience.
• You can now reach Etsy customer service via chat! This is a HUGE improvement over the email-based support system that was your only option for many years. Using chat, we have had a couple of issues resolved within a day, whereas similar issues could often take up to 2 weeks via the email system.
• Etsy is also an older platform with many reputable, longtime sellers (including Thriftstore Cowboy Vintage 🤠).

👎 The Not So Good

• In recent years, Etsy has become somewhat lax in enforcing some of the rules related to what is handmade or vintage. This has allowed for a rise in products that do not meet the standards or requirements set initially for these categories.

💵 Payments

• Credit cards, Debit/bank cards, Etsy Gift Cards and Etsy Credits, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal are all accepted – as well as some additional payment financing and international options.
• Check out Etsy payments for more details.

↩️ Returns Process

• There is not an overall “Etsy Return Policy” – so be sure to read a seller’s individual item return policies.
• Etsy calls itself a venue made up of independent sellers who run their own shops. This means that each seller is responsible for their own policies regarding refunds, exchanges, and returns. Individual policies will vary from shop to shop. And sometimes from listing to listing.
• Check out Etsy returns for more details.

Depop

Depop was founded in 2011 and currently has about 30 million users.

While eBay and Etsy were forged in the era of desktop sites, the Depop experience is offered primarily as a mobile app. The platform has an Instagram-style format where images are the main focus and sales descriptions appear as captions. A desktop site is available but with limited capabilities.

Though Etsy acquired Depop in 2021, no major changes have been made – but this could certainly change in the future.

📱 Format

• Smartphone App (full functionality)
• Desktop site (limited functionality)

👍 The Good

• Depop is more fashion and clothing-oriented – so you’re not digging through loads of unrelated search results.
• The Instagram-style format offers a refreshing take on the eCommerce shopping experience.
• Modern app with regular updates and improvements.
• Wide usage of hashtags to aid in your search.
• Many sellers offer bundle deals – so if you’re buying a few things you can save a few bucks. We offer free US shipping on bundles of 2 or more items.
• Not flooded by the presence of large brands – still a good place for small and medium sellers.
• Great marketplace culture – Depop has improved the offer system so that the “Make Offer” button is more prominent on the listing page. It is much easier to get a deal on a great vintage tee.

👎 The Not So Good

• Depop hosts a younger demographic which can come with a lack of professionalism in terms of the buying experience.
• Inexperienced/uneducated vintage sellers are more common – “retro” and “reprint” pieces can be labeled or described as “vintage”.

💵 Payments

• Credit or debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay via Depop Payments are all accepted – so no need to sign up for a third-party payment service if you don’t want to. PayPal Checkout is being phased out.

↩️ Returns Process

• Return policies vary by seller – so be sure to read the individual policies before you buy.
• Payments made via Depop Payments are covered by Buyer Protection.
• Disputes involving Payments made via PayPal Checkout are handled by the PayPal Dispute process.

Mercari

Mercari is an online marketplace originally founded in Japan in 2013. It quickly gained popularity and later expanded into the US and the UK.

Though mainly marketed as a smartphone app, the desktop site offers most of the same functionality.

📱 Format

• Smartphone App
• Desktop/mobile site

👍 The Good

• I personally view Mercari as a more streamlined version of eBay. In many ways, it reminds me of how eBay had a more second-hand and collectible market focus in the late 90s – early 2000s (before the gates were opened to all the big box stores in a bid to compete with Amazon).
• Buyers and sellers can make offers.
• Offers are binding – if a seller accepts your offer, you have made a purchase.
• Buyers have three days to accept or return items before Mercari releases funds to sellers:
  Mercari does not release payment until the item is delivered and the buyer confirms it is as specified. If an item received is not as described in the listing, the buyer may request a full refund within 3 days of receipt of the item.

👎 The Not So Good

• Suffers from some of the same issues with modern reprints being labeled and sold as “vintage”.
• Support is handled via email, which is frustrating and can come with a significant delay.
• Some of the platform’s processes are not well documented and getting help from support can be a long process.

💵 Payments

• Credit or debit, Apple Pay, or PayPal via Mercari’s checkout system – so no need to sign up for a third-party payment service if you don’t want to.

↩️ Returns Process

• Upon delivery, buyers have three days to accept an item.
• A return can be initiated if the item is not as described, as well as several other conditions.

Grailed

Grailed is marketed as a place to buy high-end second-hand fashion and hype pieces.

But don’t be fooled. It remains a great place to score plenty of vintage.

📱 Format

• Smartphone App
• Desktop/mobile site

👍 The Good

• Grailed is fashion-centered so your search results are going to contain all clothing.
• Buyer offers are a big part of the marketplace culture.
• Offers are binding – if a seller accepts your offer, you have bought the item.
• Sellers must ship items (with tracking) within 7 days or the transaction is automatically refunded.

👎 The Not So Good

• The app can be a bit clunky and buggy – development could definitely be taken up a notch.
• The “hype and high-end fashion” aesthetic can attract sellers that put the profit motive above item quality, vintage authenticity, and customer service.

💵 Payments

• PayPal or Grailed Payments.

↩️ Returns Process

• Returns may be granted for a number of situations and are processed through the PayPal dispute system as well as Grailed itself. You can get details here.

Poshmark

Poshmark is a wonderful marketplace – just not for vintage.

It bears mentioning here because the platform does feature vintage items – but the category isn’t as visible as it is on the other marketplace platforms mentioned in this article.

📱 Format

• Smartphone App
• Desktop/mobile site

👍 The Good

• Poshmark is also primarily fashion-centered so your search results are going to contain mostly clothing.
• The platform manages the shipping process – all items are shipped via Priority Mail using labels provided to sellers by Poshmark itself.
• Buyer offers are a big part of the marketplace culture.
• Offers are binding – if a seller accepts your offer, you have bought the item.
• Sellers must ship orders within 7 days or risk cancellation.
• Buyers have three days to accept or return items before Poshmark releases funds to sellers.

👎 The Not So Good

• While vintage can be found on the platform, it isn’t curated very well. The term is often used interchangeably with “old” or “second-hand” and serves as more of a search term buzzword than a clothing distinction.
• Poshmark recently announced that it will allow big brands to sell on its platform. Time will certainly tell, but I remember what this decision did to the eBay marketplace – and it wasn’t anything to celebrate.

💵 Payments

• Credit or Debit Cards, Affirm, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo.

↩️ Returns Process

• Returns may be granted if an item is never received or if it is received “not as described.”  You can get details here.

Bidstitch

Launched in 2021, Bidstitch (@bidstitch) offers a marketplace platform for vintage sellers to sell authentic pieces to casual buyers and collectors alike. The venture is helmed in part by longtime vintage seller and “old head” – Drew Heifetz (@drewheifetz).

The Bidstitch blog is also a great source of vintage news.

📱 Format

• Desktop/mobile site
• App coming soon

👍 The Good

• Marketplace founded and operated by vintage clothing sellers.
• Better curated vintage T-Shirt selection than most platforms offer.
• Sellers on Bidstitch are often more experienced and knowledgeable.
• Easy to contact support.

👎 The Not So Good

• Individual seller policies are not really clear and aren’t always posted in the listings.
• Payments are handled via PayPal which subjects transaction disputes to their rules and dispute process.

💵 Payments

• Credit or debit via PayPal checkout.

↩️ Returns Process

• Returns may be granted for a number of situations and are processed through the PayPal dispute system.

Instagram Shopping vs Shopping on Instagram

Instagram Shopping

In 2020, Instagram added the “Shop” tab to the home row of its mobile app, which signaled the company’s interest and initial investment in an “in-app” shopping experience. While this seemed promising, we never saw the shopping experience rise to the level of a serious marketplace – along with all the features and complexities that come with that.

The “Shop” tab was ultimately removed from the home row in February of 2023 to make space for a Reels tab. The shopping experience remains in the form of posts that can be tagged with products. Tags send visitors to Instagram’s version of a product page (and in some cases, the visitor has the ability to check out in the app). But the core shopping feed is gone.

Shopping on Instagram

During the pandemic shutdown of 2020, shopping via Instagram Lives became hugely popular across the vintage T-Shirt community. This was due in part to a large audience suddenly facing large amounts of available time to both watch and participate in lives.

A solid amount of credit is due to 1980 Something Co’s Chris Fernandez (@1980somethingco) and his creation and operation of the Virtual Flea. His Instagram Live sales and auctions really set the standard and tone for live sales that would become the model for live selling apps.

Live Shopping Via Whatnot, Popshop Live, and Poshmark (etc.)

In the last couple of years, several apps have capitalized on the rise of live shopping that arguably peaked in popularity during the pandemic. They also managed to fix some of the shortcomings of buying and selling on Instagram Lives (like easily collecting buyer payment and shipping information and keeping orders organized).

While this new and different way of shopping is novel and exciting, the time investment can be a bit much, especially when you have to wait half an hour for the item you are interested in to come up for sale.

You also risk losing it to another buyer.

Independent Websites

Many quality sellers can be found on the internet via Instagram and other search methods including Pinterest and the usual search engines.

Along with our own website, a couple of our favs are Reware Vintage and 5 Star Vintage.

What to Look Out For (Some Things to Consider When Shopping for Vintage Online)

Just because it says it’s vintage, doesn’t mean it’s vintage.

As vintage T-Shirts have become more popular so have legit reprints, not-so-legit modern bootlegs, and totally bogus fakes. Sometimes this can be obvious and sometimes less so.

Below are some tips and tricks to help you out:

What is Vintage?

⏰ Age

The most common standard is that vintage refers to items that are 20 years old or more. But 20 years is typically the minimum. This means that currently anything from 2003 or older.

Sure, to some of us, this doesn’t feel right at all – but the math checks out.

🏷️ Tags

An entire article could be written on vintage T-Shirt tags – and they have been. Getting familiar with some of the brand names and styles of each era can take some time – but it is one of the best things you can do to level up your vintage buying game.

• You will see lots of generic (unbranded or plain) 70s tags, though certainly, some familiar brand names come from that era as well.
• Screen Stars and Hanes were among 80s staples.
• The 90s saw Fruit of the Loom, Tennessee River, Anvil, and Delta.
• 90s band tees were typically on tags like Giant, Tultex, Winterland, Liquid Blue, and Brockum Worldwide.
• This isn’t an extensive list, but the tag archive on Defunkd.com absolutely is.

🪡 Single Stitch & 🪡🪡 Double Stitch

Stitching style should always be taken in combination with other factors (like the tag and the graphic).

Double stitch existed before 1994 and some companies still use single stitch on modern and throwback tees.

So, considering stitching alone is not a reliable dating method.

© Copyright Dates

Dates typically refer to the year of copyright for the graphic or artwork printed on a tee, and not necessarily WHEN the design was actually applied – though these two factors can certainly overlap. If a design received copyright in the same year it was printed then this is certainly the case.

📏 Sizing

Sizing can vary across the decades and even across brands. Modern sizing is very different from the standards of the past. Older T-Shirts are especially notorious for being smaller in size so it is always good to go by measurements. You can find yours here.

What is NOT Vintage?

Equally important is to be clear about what is not vintage.

Many newbie sellers are prone to mistakes due to ignorance, and not necessarily malice or bad intent.

 🚫 “Retro”

Retro (also called “New Age” vintage, “Reprints” or “Distressed Prints”) came onto the scene in the mid-2000s when big brands realized the rising popularity of vintage and decided to cash in on the trend. This brought a wave of designs from companies like Junk Food, featuring reprints of classic vintage tee designs as well as “vintage-inspired” designs with distressed graphics bearing artificially aged prints intended to appear aged or old.

🚫 Printed Tags are NOT Vintage

Even if the copyright seems to be. Printed (or screen-printed) tags appeared well into the 2000s and do not currently fit the definition of vintage by any stretch. Brands like Liquid Blue have also reissued some of their older designs with the original copyright date on graphics printed on modern tees with printed tags.

Some inexperienced sellers will mistakenly call these reissue tees “vintage” (and price them accordingly).

Some shady sellers will even sell reissues as vintage for a quick buck, so watch out.

This Liquid Blue tie dye T-Shirt (pictured above) is a modern reprint of a classic design from 1992. The printed “Liquid Blue” tag is a giveaway since the company didn’t start printing tags until the mid-2000s.

The graphic is dated 1992 because the image copyright is from that year. This date has no correlation with the year the T-Shirt was manufactured or printed.

Solid Resources

These are just a few things to consider. If you really want to read up on vintage T-Shirt authentication (and associated methods) our friends at Defunkd have a pretty extensive article on the subject.

Defunkd.com

Defunkd has been, by far, our absolute favorite resource for news, entertainment, and all things vintage within the vintage community, for many, many years.

Defunkd.com was launched in March of 2004 as a simple support site for what was began as a series of vintage clothing auctions on eBay. The eBay account quickly evolved into an online store and became one of the first curated vintage t-shirt boutiques specializing in vintage rock, rap, and pop culture tees. In 2007 we were recognized by eBay and given an award for our entrepreneurial efforts.

FROM DEFUNKD.COM

Legiteem8: The World’s First Vintage T-Shirt Authentication and Appraisal App

If you’re looking to authenticate or even appraise a vintage tee, Legiteem8 is your destination. This fantastic app hosts a menu of services from free, crowdsourced authentication all the way to affordable Expert Certified options. There honestly is nothing like it.

You can get the FREE app here: Legiteem8

Josh at Lootfam – Awesome Videos

If you learn better visually, then Josh’s videos are for you! These are some great in-depth, informative videos on some of the topics discussed above. Grab a pen and paper and get ready to learn.

📼 What Makes Clothing Vintage?

📼 How to Identify a Vintage T-Shirt

📼 10 Vintage “Rules” That Are More Like Guidelines

📼 How To Identify Vintage Delta T-Shirts

 📼 How To Identify Vintage Giant T-Shirts

📼 How To Date Vintage Hanes T-Shirt Tags

📼 How to Identify Vintage Harley Davidson T-Shirts

 📼 How To Identify Vintage JerZees T-shirt Tags

📼 How To Identify Vintage Liquid Blue T-Shirts

📼 How To Identify Vintage Screen Stars T-Shirt Tags

That’s All, Folks!

Have some questions for us or know of something that should be included? Drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.

And if you’re in the market for vintage tees you can check out our current selection right here.

🤠