About Us

The two people who will actually be at your door.

California Vintage Buyers is run by the team behind Old 44 Vintage in San Juan Capistrano. Every house call, every video call, and every evaluation is done by one of the two buyers below, never a hired appraiser reading from a chart. This page is who they are.

(949) 449-1255 Or text photos and one of them answers

Sam Wingenbach

Co-founder, Old 44 Vintage. Evaluator, California Vintage Buyers.

Sam Wingenbach is co-founder of Old 44 Vintage, the brick and mortar vintage shop at River Street Marketplace in San Juan Capistrano, and one of the two evaluators who make every California Vintage Buyers house call. He grew up in Alaska and finished high school in Sitka, and he still hunts and fishes every chance he gets.

Sam's deepest knowledge runs through Native American and turquoise jewelry, vintage Levi's and denim, and American workwear. Years before California Vintage Buyers existed, he and Jake were buying pieces sight unseen over video calls, paying sellers before a single box shipped. When Sam looks at a piece in your living room, he tells you what it is and what it is worth, even when the honest answer is that it is not worth selling.

Jake Cover

Co-founder, Old 44 Vintage. Evaluator, California Vintage Buyers.

Jake Cover is co-founder of Old 44 Vintage, the vintage shop at River Street Marketplace in San Juan Capistrano, and the other half of the California Vintage Buyers evaluation team. Jake has spent years in antique malls, estate sales, and private collections, and it shows in the shop: worn denim, American workwear, Western pieces, turquoise jewelry, and concert tees, all chosen because they are the real thing.

Jake's specialties are vintage Levi's and denim, workwear from makers like Carhartt, and Native American and turquoise jewelry. Long before the CVB name existed, he and Sam ran remote buys by video call, agreeing on a price while the seller held the piece and paying before it shipped. On a house call, Jake walks the home at your pace and explains what he sees, piece by piece.

How we work

The same rules on every visit

We come to you

Free house calls across Southern California, and the Laguna Hills warehouse receives sellers by appointment. Everything is evaluated in front of you and explained as we go, and offers are paid in cash the same visit.

Anywhere in the country

Remote sellers get the same process over a video call: we look at the piece together, agree the price on the call, and send payment through PayPal before anything ships, with shipping on us.

The honest answer, always

When something is not worth selling, we say so plainly and you keep it. The free read costs nothing and obligates nothing. That policy loses us the occasional deal and wins us the referrals we live on.

The field guides they write How remote buying works Where we buy

One call. We’ll take it
from there.

(949) 449-1255

Mon-Sat 6 am-8 pm · Sun 8 am-5 pm

A real person answers seven days a week, weekends included. Photos sent today are usually answered the same day.

Prefer photos? Text them straight to the same number · or send them here