I recently realized that not everyone understands all the abbreviations and words I sometimes use to describe my jewelry. Recently I’ve had a few people ask me what NOS means so today I’ll answer “What does NOS mean?”, let you know why it’s important to vintage resellers, and show you some examples of NOS that I’ve used in jewelry design in the past.
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What Does NOS Mean
NOS is an abbreviation for “New Old Stock” which usually describes leftover inventory from an old store. Not reproductions. Sometimes items are bought in their original packaging so we have some information about their origin. Other times they’re found loose so we still have to guess the age and origin.
So these items are “new” (meaning unused) but “old” because of their age. They could have been bought from a store going out of business or have been sitting in a warehouse for years. These have “never been sold at retail”. Even though they’re unused there could still be some wear and age showing on the pieces. NOS does NOT mean mint condition. And that’s fine with me. I don’t mind a little age on my pieces.
Wikipedia has a good, short article explaining NOS if you’d like to read more.
The brass hearts on the necklaces below are NOS. If I have any left they will be available in my Etsy shop and/or in the DT&D online shop.
Why is NOS Important?
I deal with several suppliers who sell NOS. I really like the unique pieces they provide. They usually aren’t things that you can go down to the local craft supply store and buy. So buying NOS makes my jewelry design more unique.
I like mixing them with new charms and shiny beads on my necklaces and bracelets. That’s kind of my creative formula: OLD + NEW + SHINY = DT&D
New Old Stock is also important when you’re dealing with bicycle, motorcycle, and/or automobile parts. Owners and collectors usually want the original parts for their old vehicles. These parts are often very hard to find and if you know what you’re looking at you can often make more money with NOS, even if the parts aren’t very old.
Examples of Jewelry Made with NOS
Please pardon some of the photos in this article. I’m sharing some examples from 10-15 years ago… back when my camera or phone wasn’t nearly as good as the camera on my new iPhone!
The earrings below were made from NOS dollhouse records. And the first time I ever bought the rhinestone ball beads I bought them NOS. Now I have to purchase them in larger quantities and just buy new ones. But I do miss the vintage patina the older ones had.
Aren’t these old brass ballerinas sweet? I bought a batch of NOS brass stampings from a vendor over 10 years ago now. These were in the batch and made cute little earrings.
The earrings below are an example of some I made several years back. I bought the rhinestones as NOS from a fellow vendor. Even though I had to mount them in the brass settings myself, it was worth it. I forgot how much I loved these… Now I need to see if I can find more! 
More About Selling Your Crafts
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like these:
- What Does “Vintage” Mean When You Buy & Sell Online
- 99 Things to Make & Sell
- How to Make Money Off Your Craft Stash
- What Does New Old Stock Mean? (Wikipedia)
- 5 Best Places to Sell Your Crafts Online
Thanks for reading all the way to the end! We appreciate all our followers! Make sure you leave a comment and let me know what you think we should write about next. What would be helpful to you?
‘Til the next project,
Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim
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Originally published on August 21, 2013.
Lisa says
Very informative! I like this article so much and got some great ideas. Thanks and keep sharing.