Since childhood I've always (and when I say always I mean it) been a collector. My first collection was probably bottle caps, followed by rocks and feathers. My parents tell me that I had specific drawers for each in my dresser. (FYI....this was all before the age of 4)
As a got older I still picked up rocks and feathers, but my taste shifted a little to vintage items just not nature.
Hence my obsession with West German Potter as a teenager which I would refer to as "ugly pottery" that only I would ever find nice. By the time I moved into my first apartment I had an ever growing collection.
As time progressed I thinned out certain collections, built others and this cycled continued for several years.
This brings us up to date..... I made the decision to sell instead of giving to thrift stores. I created a store on Etsy,
LuckyPatina. Very exciting and since the creation on August 16, 2012 I have sold 6 items. This might not seem like a lot to most people but for me, its huge. It feels as a way to tie my passion for collecting with my love of retail and all things vintage.
Here are a few examples of the Vintage Goods I'm selling.
There are certain ways to identify Bakelite, I had tried the hot water and smell test....but that left me more puzzled then before. So I bought tubes of Simichrome Polish off eBay. (with shipping included, it cost me $14 a tube). I was very hesitant about testing, I was worried that everything would test negative. Regardless, I bit the bullet and tested each item. To my delight, 5 out of the 7 items tested positive. The Q-Tip turned yellow (to various degrees) when rubbed on the items. 
