Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Davis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?
When I first had the idea for the Ultimate NYC Secondhand Shopping Experience, I perceived the idea as an opportunity to have fun and create joy. I honestly did not think too deeply about the execution other than how would I create the best possible experience with the resources I had for my clients. I truly believed that launching a Secondhand Shopping Tour in New York City was just going to be something I did for fun. It was only when I started attracting groups of eight, ten, 12 even up to 15 people that I realized I had created something very special. After a few months, I learned that people really did want to shop secondhand in New York City and they wanted to do it in a social setting and with a trusted guide and stylist.
When I hosted my first client, I remember thinking to myself “ I really hope that she actually buys something on the tour.” My first tour was hosted in April 2018 and my client was from Chile! She was a solo traveler and so it meant the world that she could hang out with someone and have a personal shopper and guide for the day.
By the end of 2018, what was just a casual hang out became an actual business. I decided to create handouts for all of my guests so that they would have information on where else to shop in New York City and a list of the stores that they had visited. I also chose to create social media for the tour so that they could follow along the journey even after they left New York. I also started a newsletter so that I can market it to my guests for their future return visit to New York.
In 2018, I was only promoting the tour on Airbnb. My tours success attracted the attention of Airbnb representatives. I was contacted by one of them and told that my tour was the number 11 most popular tour on Airbnb!! After that day, I literally wrote a script for the tour to ensure that my clients were receiving the most organized, educational and also fun experience secondhand shopping in New York City possible.
When I think about what I had to do to launch from idea to my first tour, I can honestly say that I just went for it! At the time, my only focus was getting the experience on Airbnb because that was the platform where it was most simple to be approved and listed. After approval, I set up a demo tour so that I could take photos of my friends in action secondhand shopping at the thrift stores and use those photos for content on the Airbnb tour page. I also used that demo tour as a way to learn more about how to actually run my tours when I had my first clients.
After the demo tour, creating the landing page on Airbnb and getting approval, and getting my first clients, I learned more and more from each tour how to create an even better experience and to maintain professionalism and leave long lasting memories in the hearts of visitors to New York City.
Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have been a creative entrepreneur in the secondhand shopping and vintage space since 2009. I have done everything from built a website and YouTube channel to launching a resale career and even offering coaching and training sessions to other resellers.
But I can honestly say that my favorite business of all in the secondhand industry was launching the Ultimate NYC Secondhand Shopping Experience in 2018. I think of this business, which I now operate today with a team of three, as a true extension of what I love most about secondhand shopping.
After living in New York City for many years and discovering the secondhand shops and what they had to offer, it was a natural to want to offer my knowledge and know-how to visitors. The platform Airbnb launched tours or what they called “experiences” in 2017. I was able to pitch and gain approval for a Secondhand Shopping Tour in spring of 2018. My first tour was officially offered in April of that year. Since then my tour has helped thousands of visitors to New York City not just booked on Airbnb but also across multiple other platforms. I could honestly say that now I own a tour operations company and also help other local New Yorkers to make extra income by working as guides and personal shoppers to tour groups and private groups who book.
The most important problem that the Ultimate NYC Secondhand Shopping Experience solves is creating time in space to visit some of the best stores for affordable, unique and one-of-a-kind treasures in New York City.
Did you know that there are over 300 secondhand stores in all five boroughs? Isn’t that insane! The sheer amount of options is overwhelming to the average consumer. That is why the tour is so beneficial because it cuts through the shopping noise and takes clients to the best shopping district where they can visit up to six stores and even a historical market on the weekends.
It also gives them access to a trained personal shopper who is authentically concerned about them finding the best pieces for their personal taste. Our shoppers do not work on commission and so it doesn’t matter how little or how much clients buy. What matters is that they go home with stellar secondhand pieces from New York City that they feel 10 out of 10 about!
Times our guests are actually shopping with others who start as strangers but and as thrift family. We like to remind our guests that the best part about shopping with others is that you get to connect with other people visiting New York whom you may not have met otherwise. You also have the chance to be inspired by one another and coincidentally we have had clients who are staying in the same hotel or even know the same people connect on the tour!
The Ultimate NYC Secondhand Shopping Experience is still only based in New York City, but we would love to expand to other cities in the future. There is no doubt that the formula of having guidance to shop the best secondhand stores from a trusted personal shopper and stylist is applicable to other areas of the country and the world. I believe that secondhand shopping as a sustainable tourism activity is going to grow in the years to come. We are so excited to be on the brink of consciousness around shopping and consumerism when traveling.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I’ve always said that I am far too ambitious and work too hard. I don’t know where the inner drive comes from, but I do wake up every day, wanting to leave an impact on the world.
But I would say that the mission driving my creative journey behind the Ultimate NYC Secondhand Shopping Experience is truly because having led the tour myself for a number of years, I understand just how impactful the experience is on visitors to New York.
It may seem extreme to say, but I genuinely do feel like the tour changes lives and makes peoples lives better. And so it really doesn’t matter how much “money” I make, but what matters more is that the clients who choose to invest in our experience go home with happy memories and inspiration to continue their secondhand shopping experience. Because the tour is so impactful on our guests, it’s easy for me to wake up and want to grow this business and reach more clients.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
As a tour operator, it is important that we promote the tour on various platforms for tourists coming to New York City. Some of these platforms require things like liability insurance and also take large commission fees per booking. However, it is worth it for our business to utilize all platforms because when we have a large group, our guides make more money and the groups actually have a better experience because they get to connect with others.
The platforms we focus most of our attention on and get most of our clients from include Airbnb, Viator, GetYourGuide, and also our own website which is nycthrifttour.com. Building our own website was a arduous task, but it has proven to be worthwhile as many people are also searching on Google for where to go thrifting and how to thrift in NYC. In the Google search results they find our website and are led to book with a booking software called Peak. Peak has been an integral in helping us to convert website visitors to clients.
Last, we have a new goal to gain more referrals from previous clients using our newsletter. We call our newsletter our “ambassador program” and help keep in touch with clients who start as strangers on the tour, but end as family!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vintagebossbabes.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vintagebossbabes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamsamanthamariedavis/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vintagebossbabes
Image Credits
None applicable