Sell to Us · San Juan Capistrano
Sell vintage in San Juan Capistrano, the town where we got our start.
Free visit · cash offers · no obligation
If you have walked River Street Marketplace, you have probably been inside Old 44 Vintage, the neon horse, the racks of denim, the walls of Americana. California Vintage Buyers is the buying side of that same team. The pieces we purchase from local families are exactly what fills a shop like that.
Selling to us is simple in San Juan: we make house calls anywhere in town and the surrounding canyon and coast, usually within a day or two, and for smaller lots our Laguna Hills warehouse sees sellers by appointment. Either way, you are dealing with the owners, not a call center.
What we buy from San Juan families
Western & equestrian
Rodeo wear, boots, buckles, tack-room finds, and ranch wear, fitting for this town.
Vintage denim & workwear
The heart of our shop: Levi’s, Lee, Wrangler, and honest work clothes.
Mission-era & Californiana
Early California art, mission-related pieces, citrus-era and rancho items.
Americana
Signs, advertising, license plates, pennants, and the contents of long-kept garages.
Estates
Full household contents, from the historic district to the newer hills.
Local buyers, not a P.O. box
Most buyers in this trade are a phone number and a P.O. box. We are local, in the middle of the town we buy in. From the Los Rios district to San Juan Hills, Capistrano Beach, and out toward Ortega, we come to you, and the visit costs nothing. The relationship does not end at the sale, either; our sellers become our customers, and the things they sell us stay part of the town’s story.
Our Word
One phone call is the whole process. A real person answers, we come to you, and you decide with a cash offer in hand.
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
Can I bring items to you instead of a house call?
For a box or a few pieces, yes, our Laguna Hills warehouse on Moulton Parkway sees sellers by appointment, a short drive up the 5. For larger lots and estates, a house call is easier on everyone, and we will come to you.
Are you the same people as the shop?
Yes. California Vintage Buyers was founded by the team behind Old 44 Vintage, Sam and Jake. The shop is the proof of how we value what we buy.
Do you buy equestrian and ranch items?
Enthusiastically, this is one of the few towns where the tack room is as interesting as the closet. Saddles, show clothing, bits and spurs, and ranch signage are all welcome.
Do the things you buy from us end up on the racks at Old 44?
Some of it does. We are the buying side of the same team, so denim, Americana, western pieces, and shop-ready furniture often land on the floor in San Juan, and sellers wander in months later and recognize something from their own house. Other categories go to the specialist markets that pay best for them. If a particular piece matters to you, say so and we will tell you honestly where it is likely headed.
We found a bundle of old orange crate labels from a citrus packing house. How do we tell originals from reproductions?
Original lithographed labels were printed in stacks and mostly never used, so they turn up in bundles with clean uncut edges and a soft matte surface where the ink sat down into the paper. Reproductions are printed on brighter, whiter modern stock and show a fine dot pattern under a loupe instead of solid fields of flat color. Do not flatten them under weight, trim a torn edge, or mount anything to board, because collectors want the paper exactly as it left the packing house. Bring the whole bundle including duplicates, since the rarer brands are usually hiding in the middle of the stack.
My father rode rodeo and left a drawer of trophy buckles. How can I tell an awarded buckle from a store-bought one?
An awarded buckle almost always names something specific on its face: the event, the year, and often the rider or the class, with a maker’s mark on the back from one of the houses that made trophies for the circuit. Store-bought buckles are decorative, repeat common motifs, and name nothing in particular. Do not polish them, because the darkened recesses are what make the lettering readable and a buffing wheel softens engraving permanently. If a buckle turns out to be sterling or gold filled we will tell you exactly what it is at no charge.
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.
Prefer photos? Text them straight to the same number · or send them here
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