Does vintage mean that it is in an old style or was made before a certain year?

[groubs_goods]

Does vintage mean that it is in an old style or was made before a certain year?  If it has to be made before a certain year, what year is that?  

Thank you for any answers!

[mandisattictoyz]

Usually 20+ years old is considered vintage

[katzrul15]

@groubs_goods 

Usually consider Vintage to be 25+ years ago.

Will use vintage with a qualifier (year or year range)

Vintage 1980's Gunne Sax Maxi Dress 

I consider antiques to be 75-100+ years ago and have referred to a 50+ year old item as "semi-antique"

[stephenmorgan]

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@groubs_goods wrote:

Does vintage mean that it is in an old style or was made before a certain year?  If it has to be made before a certain year, what year is that?  

Thank you for any answers!

---

I don't know if there is a official answer as for a specific age or time frame.

I think of vintage as when something has changed enough that a significant amount of its current use is drastically reduced in favor of the newest improvement.

Dial up Internet is vintage and still used however DSL and Fiber Optics are rapidly replacing Dial Up.

[inhawaii]

It means different things to different people.

Just like the different answers you will get here.

[fab_finds4u]

Here's my favorite definition of Vintage,  thoughtfully provided by bill.glass

Antique= My grandmother used to have one

Vintage= I haven't seen one in awhile 

Old= Mine is in the attic

Classic= Popular last year 

Limited edition= Limited to the number of suckers we can find

Retro= Covered in plastic and price jacked up

Rare= Listed no oftener than once a week

Unique= only a dozen left

Collectible= I thought it was great, but don't want it anymore

Scarce= I need to get rid of this before I misplace it again

~~~~~~~

This is a description of Vintage  a decade ago:

Vintage clothes- from the 30s to the 80s

Vintage jewelry-before 1980

Vintage watches- before 1960

Vintage pens- before 1965

Vintage cars are from 1919 to 1925. Some say up to 1930.

Vintage instruments are those no longer in production.

Vintage records are over 20 years old. Some say 30.

Then there are vintage wines, a whole different ballgame.

Funny that the word vintage derives from two French words: vin (wine) and age (age).

Vintage derives from two French words: vin (wine) and age (age)

[chapeau-noir]

On eBay 'vintage' is 20 years or older. 

[luckythewinner]

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@groubs_goods wrote:

Does vintage mean that it is in an old style or was made before a certain year?  If it has to be made before a certain year, what year is that?  Thank you for any answers!

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A dress of "1940s vintage" is a dress from the 1940s. 

A gun of "1890s vintage" means a gun from the 1890s. 

A "vintage" doll tells you nothing about the doll.

IMHO "vintage" is a lazy term that is often used by sellers to imply quality or value without giving any meaningful information about why. 🙂

[mybigsale]

@groubs_goods 

I do not believe the definition is absolute in terms of age. On selling sites vintage is normally defined as being between 20 and 100 years old. Anything older than 100 years old would be considered antique. 

Vintage is also used to describe the exact age of something. You may be selling a "Hallmark Christmas Ornament Vintage 2010". The ornament is not "Vintage", but it is "Vintage 2010".

[fuzzface50]

Here all this time I thought vintage meant outdated.   🙂

[1786davycrockett]

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I have learned that "vintage" is in the mind of the seller, particularly at eBay, flea markets and garage sales.

It is used so loosely, that is has become nearly useless as a descriptive term.

[bashort]

Vintage can mean a lot of things, can be just a year. Vintage 2021

[candd205]

As others have said, vintage usually refers to a certain age. However, I have seen it refer to style as well. For instance in sports, if the team undergoes a complete logo change, I have seen people refer to items with the old logo as vintage. I don't know what is right or wrong, just making an observation about what I have seen.

[cambriachick]

I agree with the other responders who said vintage items are 20-25 years old or older. The people who add 'vintage style' to their listings are trying to fool buyers into thinking their made in China items are old.

[chapeau-noir]

This argument gets rehashed at least once a year, with definition of the word 'vintage' being confused with simple listing parameters on this site.  For all intents and purposes of listing an item here as vintage, it's 20 years old or older, same as Etsy.  I tried to find the actual statement but it's buried in eBay's FAQ cave.