Sell to Us · Military & Wartime
Sell military memorabilia to buyers who understand what it meant.
Free visit · cash offers · no obligation
California Vintage Buyers buys military memorabilia in Orange County: uniforms, flight jackets, patches, photographs, footlockers and souvenirs from every era, the World Wars especially. Free house call, cash on the spot, and the history handled with respect. Medals are a legal question we explain honestly rather than a purchase. Call (949) 449-1255.
A veteran’s footlocker is not clutter. The uniforms, medals, patches, photographs, and souvenirs a service member kept are the record of a chapter most families only partly know. When the time comes to part with these things, they deserve buyers who know what they are looking at and treat the history with respect.
We buy military items from every era, the World Wars especially, across Orange County and Southern California. We will sit with you, go through the footlocker properly, explain what things are, and pay fairly for what we can give a second life with collectors who preserve this history.
Wartime items we buy
Uniforms & flight jackets
WWII A-2 and G-1 leather jackets, dress uniforms, HBT fatigues, and boots.
Insignia & medals
Patches, wings, sweetheart jewelry, decorations, and named groupings.
Field gear
Helmets, web gear, footlockers, trench art, and personal kit.
Paper & photos
Photo albums, letters, documents, maps, and unit histories.
Bring-backs
Souvenirs brought home from both theaters, evaluated knowledgeably and legally.
A county full of service stories
Orange County’s generation of veterans, many who served out of El Toro and Tustin’s air stations or settled here after the war, left footlockers, garages, and dens full of carefully kept history. We have handled groupings from pilots, sailors, Marines, and the families of those who never spoke much about it. Whether it is one flight jacket or an entire den, call us before anything is donated or separated; groupings are worth more, and mean more, kept together.
Why It Matters
The difference between ordinary and valuable is in the details: a stitch, a hallmark, a date code. Knowing them is our entire job.
How it works
Call or text photos.
A real conversation about what you have, no pressure to sell.
We come to you.
We look at everything, at your pace. We know what we're seeing.
Cash offer, same visit.
A fair price on the spot, or a full estate sale run for you.
Common questions
Should I split the medals from the rest?
Please don’t. A named grouping, medals, photos, papers, and uniform together, is worth more historically and financially than the pieces sold separately. Bring us the whole footlocker as it is.
Do you buy weapons?
We do not buy firearms. Edged weapons, deactivated items, and militaria are evaluated case by case, lawfully. We are glad to point you to licensed specialists for anything outside what we handle.
What is my relative’s WWII jacket worth?
Painted A-2 flight jackets, named examples, and rare units can reach into the thousands; honest wear rarely hurts and often helps. Condition questions are exactly why we look in person before any number is discussed.
Is it legal to sell military items?
For uniforms, patches, insignia, and field gear, yes, and the belief otherwise costs families money. Medals are the exception: federal law at 18 U.S.C. 704 restricts trading in United States decorations, and the Medal of Honor can never be bought or sold. We explain that line plainly and we do not offer to buy US decorations.
Should I keep the grouping together?
Yes, and it is one of the few places where doing nothing adds real money. Uniform, insignia, photographs, logbooks, discharge papers, and letters from the same man are worth meaningfully more as a documented group than the same objects sold apart. Attribution to a named serviceman is the strongest multiplier in militaria.
Do you buy foreign and reproduction militaria?
Foreign yes, and it is often undervalued by generalist buyers. Reproductions we will identify honestly and tell you so, because a great deal of what circulates as wartime material was made for reenactors or the film trade. Knowing which is which before you sell protects you either way.
Who buys military medals near me?
Be careful with that search. Federal law at 18 U.S.C. 704 restricts trading in United States military decorations, and the Medal of Honor can never be bought or sold, so treat any buyer quoting freely on US medals with caution. We do not offer to buy US decorations; we explain what the law allows, at no charge, and the rest of the grouping, uniform, patches, photographs, and papers, has an entirely lawful market. Many families conclude the medals belong with the family or a museum.
Know what it’s worth before you sell.
Our field guides explain how the market actually prices these things. No fishing, no hype: real ranges and the details that move them.
One call. We’ll take it
from there.
(949) 449-12555.0 on Google · Free visit, no obligation · Cash the same visit
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.
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