The Art of Selling Vintage Costume Jewelry: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding the Allure of Vintage Costume Jewelry

Vintage costume jewelry holds a unique charm that captivates collectors and fashion enthusiasts alike. These ornate pieces, often crafted with exquisite attention to detail, offer a glimpse into bygone eras of style and craftsmanship. The market for these baubles continues to thrive, presenting lucrative opportunities for savvy sellers.

Defining Vintage Costume Jewelry

Costume jewelry, also known as fashion jewelry, refers to ornamental items made from non-precious materials. Vintage pieces are typically those created between 20 and 100 years ago. They encompass a wide range of styles, from Art Deco to Mid-Century Modern, each reflecting the aesthetic sensibilities of its time.

Identifying Valuable Vintage Costume Jewelry

Hallmarks of Quality

Quality vintage costume jewelry often bears distinctive characteristics. Look for pieces with intricate designs, superior craftsmanship, and high-quality materials such as rhodium-plated metal or Swarovski crystals. The heft and finish of a piece can provide …

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Social Security Spousal Benefit Rules to Know

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on The Penny Hoarder.

The benefits of marriage don’t stop at love and companionship. In some situations, marriage can result in more Social Security benefits. If you stay married for at least 10 years, those benefits can last even if you get divorced.

But the rules for marriage and Social Security get complicated.

You don’t automatically get more Social Security benefits just because you’re married. Many, if not most, people will get the biggest benefit by claiming on their own work record.

But if your work history is limited and you marry someone who earns significantly more money than you do, you may get more from Social Security by claiming spousal benefits. Here are several things married couples can’t afford not to know.

1. You can get up to 50% of your spouse’s full benefit

The maximum spousal benefit is 50% of your spouse’s …

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26 Work-From-Home Jobs That Can Pay $100,000 or More

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on FlexJobs.com.

It’s a bit of a fallacy that remote jobs don’t pay well. In fact, well-qualified professionals with the right skills and experience can often find great high-paying, work-from-home jobs that offer the same career opportunities as traditional positions.

So, which fields offer high-paying, work-from-home careers? We’ve listed dozens of different jobs from eight career categories that all have the potential to pay $100,000+ per year. We’ve consulted PayScale to find the salary range for each role.

The majority of these work-from-home jobs that pay well are all high-level positions that require an education and multiple years of experience. Click on each job title to find the available open jobs on FlexJobs right now, and be sure to check out the rest of our listings in over 50 different flexible career areas.

Product Manager

PayScale salary range: $54,000-$121,000

Product managers handle the …

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Never Put These 7 Things on Your Resume

Are you preparing a resume? It’s natural to want to tell prospective employers all about yourself — but some things are better left unsaid.

Remember, you have only a limited amount of space to convince someone you would be a good hire. So, avoid including anything that might offend or cause an employer to question your abilities.

Following are some key things to avoid on your resume.

Criticism of past employers

A sure way to put off a potential employer is to waste space on your resume criticizing past employers or supervisors. You may feel perfectly justified in your criticism, but the purpose of a resume is to showcase talents and abilities, not to air grievances.

Don’t give prospective employers the impression that you are disloyal or generally disgruntled. Instead, write about your positive relationships and accomplishments. Tell people about the good things you can bring to their business if …

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The 10 Best Companies for Advancing Your Career

Workers are in high demand these days. U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in November, only a slight drop from October’s number of 284,000. And while unemployment stayed unchanged at 3.7%, wages are 5.1% higher than a year ago, The New York Times reports.

Not every worker can have their choice of prestige companies. But it’s always good to know what’s out there, and which companies have reputations for helping workers move forward. A recent report, the American Opportunity Index, examined salary data and job postings at 250 of the largest U.S. companies. The goal was to determine which offered the greatest job-growth opportunities available to workers both with or without college degrees.

The index utilizes nine metrics in three categories to assess the level of opportunity provided to workers. Researchers examined access to work, upward mobility options and pay.

“We believe that these three dimensions are the key determinants of …

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