being 20-odd years younger than the bulk of you, I’m still buying. Vintage has never really been part of my repertoire other than shoes - and that was mostly down to the lack of anything in my size and as mentioned above, the smell. I’m becoming more interested in it again now though and in the last five or six years have bought some quite nice stuff from various vintage shops & online.

i’ve become more aware of how old I am getting recently however, especially with a couple of health scares in the last couple of years and this has (indirectly possibly) led me to a new approach in how I pick and choose clothing - and to be far more considered in what I buy and why. My main mantra is quality - because I want things to last and also because I’ve become interested in seeing how things develop and patinate as they are used (very geeky but I find it interesting) - I also think more and more about my old man and his attitude toward clothing and how I rebelled against it in my youth - now I wish he were around to talk things over with him. Partly why I still come and read you lot witter on I think! I took the mod thing a bit too seriously in my youth too and I regret that in some respects now - where I allowed myself to spend silly on things that gave me instant gratification but had no realistic longevity. Money wasted.

Vintage is interesting to me in this regard though, because it’s already passed the test of time - and that can be a true indication of its quality. Quality and genuine style, not fashion. Two things I’ve truly become a bit of a devotee of lately - and subjects that Ill probably spend the rest of my life learning about.

Southern California vintage shops were, surprisingly enough, pretty good in the recent years if you covered enough ground. One gent would occasionally have deadstock slacks and trousers on offer for $40-50, hopefully purchased by someone to wear rather than a "curator" eager to put them on etsy for $160 to have them sit for years.

Just to return to the original theme...  on the other hand...  I keep seeing prices slashed on Ebay and Best Offers snapped up quite eagerly: 'A Bird In The Hand' and all that, I suppose. 
Who are the Americans selling to nowadays?  Other Americans?  Exclusively?  I noted a cap earlier.  A simple cap.  Some sum in excess of £50 required to ship it (plus this infernal tax levied by Johnson's banditti).

The Americans increased their shipping rates around 2009 and about £300 of orders I'd placed, including some Cole Haan white bucks, failed to show.  Attempting to communicate with Ebay was like talking feminism with the Taliban.  God knows what happened to the stuff. 
Then it settled down for a while.  Then the customs charges kicked in and the odious red cards began dropping through the door.  First it was for a pair of Florsheim Imperials, then it was for a cardigan, then a scarf, would you believe? 
I kicked Ebay into touch in 2012 and only returned last year when it became possible to buy without using Paypal. 
But I'd noticed charges rising on ABE and Amazon and stopped buying books from American dealers.  I bought (rather stupidly) several items from American sellers before calling a halt.  So, whereas I was once constantly trawling on Ebay Com. I now rarely even glance at it. 
Gentlemen, they - the Americans - plus our own politicians and bureaucrats are happily/busily ripping us off.

In fact, just as a matter of interest in a spare moment, I've been looking at Brooks Brothers offerings in the USA.  There are several items I would certainly have considered up until around ten years ago but the bold as brass up front charges continue to deter me.