Petite point Kigu compact

This Kigu compact was the second I ever risked bidding on via eBay. With it's petite point half stitched flowered top detailing upon a cream background, encased in plastic - as a sewer at heart I was instantly won over. The gold casing finishes the top and inside opens to reveal the infamous Kigu logo upon the powder well flap. With a latch that slides down to open the flap it hinges open to reveal a just as golden powder well. It has seen some wear both the marking upon the bottom of the compact and the clasp closure not fitting perfectly as it once was, the colours and detailing within the flowers alone certainly make it worth keeping. While I can't recall how much I spent on it, it certainly wouldn't have been a lot - I was never one for spending a lot on buying compacts.

Green and loud Rex compact

This is one loud and proud vintage compact. While we possibly over paid for this Rex Fifth Avenue delight - it was $60 at an antiques fair were they tend to over charge, I love not only the colouring, the shape, the compartments inside but that the design is double sided. The green covering with single flowered detailing top with green metal edging is repeated on the bottom.Opening the compact reveals three compartments - the two smaller compartments perhaps being for rogue, finished off with a larger powder well secured down with a hinged closing flap. All these compartments would originally have had puffs and with powder well perhaps a stiff too. "Rex Fifth Avenue" is engraved upon the powder well flap. The understated insides only come to make the top and the bottom scream out more glamour.

Tips for buying vintage powder compacts on eBay

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Like many things, eBay can be a god send for buying unwanted compacts requiring a new home. While compacts being sold via eBay can still go for hundreds of dollars and there are many, many compact collectors utilising the auction website there are always great deals to be had.

Choose your wording // While you might want to type in vintage to your search box don't. You'll find a lot more without it. For example, vintage powder compacts brought up 1077, with 978 subdivided into collectables, in comparison to 4958, with 1617 under collectables using just powder compacts. Sometimes you can skip the powder compact line altogether and opt for vintage beauty and you'll find some hidden away. While you might have to wade your way through some more contemporary compacts and I always find Polly Pockets thrown in, you might just find some goodies hidden away.

Buy it now verses the auction // Me and Joe vary on options regarding the best way to grab a compact. I love the thrill of the auction - of not knowing till the last minute if that compact is yours. Yet you're always running the risk of loosing a compact you really fell for. On the other hand Joe, my partner swears by buy it now deals - while your paying more your guaranteeing that you'll get the item. While I'm still not too convinced either way, make sure you're aware of the pros and cons for both.

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Check and double check // When I'm selling compacts via eBay I upload a lot of different photographs to really capture the condition of the compact and this is what I expect of other buyers. I want to see photographs or have details of the mirrors, the puffs and shifts if they are included and the condition of the compact interior and exterior. If a seller hasn't detailed a compact in enough detail to judge the condition properly then always send an message - a good seller will always make sure you have all the details you want even if they have to go out of their way.

Watching // Watching items on eBay even if your not always going to buy a compact is a great way of figuring out the market and the going rate. When I'm after a certain compact I'll watch a couple of the same [if there is any] just to see what they end up going for. Then you know how much you should accept to be paying. 

Timing // When it comes to finally sticking down that bid, choose your timing correctly and you can find some great deals. Auctions which end during the weekday tend to go for less and are a little less likely to have last second bidders outbidding you. 

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As a place to see what is out there // Finally eBay is amazing for showing you just what compacts are out there and how beautiful they are. While you might get occasionally out bid on gorgeous compacts that sell for incredible amounts never get too disheartened, there are certainly compacts being sold on eBay for all price ranges.

Do you use eBay? Have any buying tips to share - just leave them in the comments box below!

Golden Stratton flower - my first compact

It probably shouldn't be surprising that the first compact I ever called mine was a Stratton. Being the British manufacture of compacts through their popularity Stratton's are the easiest compacts to come across and really do offer a great introduction [especially for their price] to potential collector. While this compact certainly isn't in the best of conditions - the top alone could tell you hundreds of tales of being used and knocked around and the missing pan in the powder well possibly even more. Yet the fact it was the first compact I ever came across allows me to see past it's signs of wear. In fact its the first compact I did some restoring with in finding a replacement powder well. This compact was my grans, I found it in her old make up bag, it grabbed my attention and got me interested in what powder compacts were, their history and their place today. 

Without this compact there would be no powder compact collection. Last Friday marked the third anniversary of my gran's passing. Maybe she led me to finding it. Either way something came out of her passing - a compact collection that I hope she's proud of.

Vogue Vanitie laced square compact

Every collector has favourites, even if they claim they don't. This one is one of mine. This Vogue Vanitie is the one really behind my collection. Sadly this compact was on the way to be thrown out, it was formerly one of my grans, and with clearing out her house certainly family members were on the verge of just chucking it. Luckily I grabbed and rehomed it. What made me fall in love with this compact? The fact that it's just a little bit rare.

Based out of Birmingham in the UK, Vogue Vanitie[s] began manufacturing powder compacts in 1940, continuing until German bombs hit their factories in 1942. It wasn't until a year after the war ended that the company returned and did so until the mid 1950s when it became particularly popular for it's equestrian designs. But what makes my compact a little different occurs with the companies slight name change through their return post war when the addition of an "s" appears on the end of vanities. Any compact without the aforementioned "s" can be dated to 1940 - 1942. It was through the researching this compact alone that got me hooked into finding out more about compacts in general. 

The compact itself is square with a lace topped design and a chevron engraved bottom. Inside a round powder well is found under a circular powder flap, the compact name etched into the top with "made in England" underneath. The once cotton wool like edging to the powder well has warn away and I remember there being remnants of powder remaining in the bottom when I cleaned it up. While it's been used it's certainly in a great condition, it survived a war and being thrown out.