topic Re: Inherited china and crystal question in Community Chat

Inherited china and crystal question

jazzed — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 20:58:59 GMT

Does anyone have recent experience to share on how you went about pricing and selling inherited family fine china and crystal? I have complete service in excellent condition, probably 50 years old. Very pretty high quality pieces, but I have no use for them, and it's time to let go.

Replacements, Ltd. and eBay are not options. The research I've done thus far tells me that the market is flooded with vintage, and is not sought after by younger people.

Any input would be helpful. Thanks!

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

NickNack — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:11:26 GMT

@jazzed Sadly, you are correct that it's not sought after by young people. My father moved out of his house, and we had an estate sale. Among the things we sold were my mother's fine china (Lenox) and her crystal. It was beautiful, but my sister and I have our own and didn't want it and neither did anyone else in the family. My sister already had her sterling silver.

We hired someone to do the estate sale. She had a service for 12 and many other pieces. I don't remember what we got for it, but it wasn't that much. We didn't expect much though. I don't know how to advise you.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

PA Mom-mom — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:15:31 GMT

@jazzed I don't understand why ebay isn't an option. If you look up your items on ebay's sold items, you will know what they are selling for. Then you can decide if you want to sell them on ebay or offer them on the facebook yard sale, or sell them at a garage sale. You probably won't ever get a better price than what they are actually selling for (not asking) on ebay.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

CelticCrafter — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:23:13 GMT

JMO, if you have no use for them then sell them at a yard sale for whatever it is you can get for them. There really is no point in holding out to see if you can get a better price.

If they don't sell and no one wants them then a trip to Goodwill would be my next move.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

VaBelle35 — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:25:18 GMT

If you have to ship it, it's not an option, because the shipping will kill you. You have to pack it so well so that it doesn't chip that it is prohibitive.

I donated what I could, but Salvation Army wouldn't take most of it.

I was able to donate some of what I have and then sell some of the silver to Replacements.

I have tea sets, chocolate sets and coffee sets that I am going to display now that I've redone my kitchen.

They're beautiful pieces of art.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

jazzed — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:28:09 GMT

@PA Mom-mom wrote:
@jazzed I don't understand why ebay isn't an option. If you look up your items on ebay's sold items, you will know what they are selling for. Then you can decide if you want to sell them on ebay or offer them on the facebook yard sale, or sell them at a garage sale. You probably won't ever get a better price than what they are actually selling for (not asking) on ebay.

Hi @PA Mom-mom, yes, agree on the realistic sell price. I can see how individual pieces or a 4-piece place setting are priced, but I want to sell 90 pieces as a complete service. I am wondering if there are other methods available as I haven't done this before. Auction house?

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

kaydee50 — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:36:15 GMT

I sold some of my Lenox to Replacements and got a decent price. They are interested in serving pieces, e.g,. large platters, salt & pepper, cream and sugar, etc., not dinner plates. IMO many of us think these items are more valuable than they really are at this time. When I really just wanted to get rid of the stuff, I brough it to Goodwill. Someone will use it.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

sunshine45 — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:38:11 GMT

@jazzed wrote:
@PA Mom-mom wrote:
@jazzed I don't understand why ebay isn't an option. If you look up your items on ebay's sold items, you will know what they are selling for. Then you can decide if you want to sell them on ebay or offer them on the facebook yard sale, or sell them at a garage sale. You probably won't ever get a better price than what they are actually selling for (not asking) on ebay.
Hi @PA Mom-mom, yes, agree on the realistic sell price. I can see how individual pieces or a 4-piece place setting are priced, but I want to sell 90 pieces as a complete service. I am wondering if there are other methods available as I haven't done this before. Auction house?

do you belong to facebook?

there are a lot of local groups for selling.

sell it there, agree on the price, meet in a public area and exchange the money and goods. you can use replacements.com for a pricing guide, but dont expect to get that much for them.

you could also check out local consignment shops where they will take a cut and you will get a cut.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

millieshops — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:38:38 GMT

@PA Mom-momI think you're right on target about finding a price via ebay, but selling may be a different story. Just yesterday I was actually looking - I wasn't all that surprised by the prices because the "song" I've been hearing from my friends is that even their families don't want their silver and china and much of was once expensive furniturte.

The number of sterling items on ebay is overwhelming - in the set category alone, there were over 12,000 listings. I didn't take super careful track of what had sold recently (yes, some had) but not much in the way of full sets in excellent condition that @jazzed mentioned.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

jazzed — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:43:00 GMT

@kaydee50 wrote:
I sold some of my Lenox to Replacements and got a decent price. They are interested in serving pieces, e.g,. large platters, salt & pepper, cream and sugar, etc., not dinner plates. IMO many of us think these items are more valuable than they really are at this time. When I really just wanted to get rid of the stuff, I brough it to Goodwill. Someone will use it.

@kaydee50, yes, we have the memories of these pieces and the loving care they were given back in the day. Dinner parties, family holidays...

I think they would be more valuable as a complete service then to sell pieces to Replacements.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

PA Mom-mom — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:43:32 GMT

@jazzed Some auction houses will take your items, but unless you have put in a minimum bid, you don't know what your items will sell for. And then, the auction house will take a percentage - usually 15 to 25 percent. If you put in a minimum bid and the items don't sell, you will be obligated to cover that amount. For your things, at least check the sold items on ebay to see what they are worth. Right now we have 150 year old ironstone (service for 12) sold during the Buchanan presidency that used to be worth thousands of dollars. Kids don't want it, and it's not selling for nearly as much as it used to sell for. Wish we had moved on it 30 years ago.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

Havarti — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:45:55 GMT

The problem is there just aren't very many people these days that want a 90 piece set of china. That would have been a young bride's choice years ago but the brides today just do not want it. So, the remaining market is people who are looking to fill in missing pieces in the sets they already own. The day when the 90 piece set is more valuable than individual pieces is gone for now. Rethink the current trends and plan to sell accordingly. Treasures from the past are just not treasured by the young buyers these days. To quote Bob Dylan..." The times they are a-change'n."

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

I am still oxox — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:45:51 GMT

There is no market, my parents had a Noritake china for 16 and my brother and I have no idea what we are going to do with it

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

SahmIam — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:47:32 GMT

@jazzed First, do you want to sell it (make money) or just get rid of it? If you want to make some money off of it:

Any silver items? Check to see if they are sterling or plated. Contact a company that will buy silver and gold (as if you were selling jewelry). Silver was going for more than gold recently, so you can make a pretty penny that way.

Crystal: any of it Waterford? There are many collectors out there looking to complete/add to their collection (I'm one of them) and looking for specific items. Check out Waterford groups on Facebook, put info up on Craigslist and/or local paper.

Ebay is great. You LIST it as "BUYER MUST PICK UP ITEMS". Trust me, the number of people who will drive to get something they really want is more than you realize. I've done it, friends have done it.

Last, put an ad in the paper/Craigslist FREE TO GOOD HOME and stating you have china, crystal, etc. SOMEONE will take it for free. Again, trust me.

It may take a bit of time but you can get interest if you think about how YOU would want to find something you really, really want. List the patterns, the number of items,etc. You'll get rid of it in the end,.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

jazzed — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:52:08 GMT

@VaBelle35 that's my thought about the shipping - 90 pieces of fine china! And who knows what could happen in transport or by recipient.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

Havarti — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:59:47 GMT

I don't know what your living sitation is, but PLEASE think twice before you advertise anywhere for strangers to come to your house. The safety of you and your family is far more important and valuable than any amount of money you can get from private individuals coming to your home for your used goods. Be safe...there are other ways.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

AuntG — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:58:02 GMT

There are local buy/sell groups on Facebook. Ours has so much junky looking stuff. I've never seen truly fine pieces out there.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

ScrapHappy — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 21:59:20 GMT

@jazzed wrote:

Does anyone have recent experience to share on how you went about pricing and selling inherited family fine china and crystal? I have complete service in excellent condition, probably 50 years old. Very pretty high quality pieces, but I have no use for them, and it's time to let go.
Replacements, Ltd. and eBay are not options. The research I've done thus far tells me that the market is flooded with vintage, and is not sought after by younger people.
Any input would be helpful. Thanks!

I have my Mother's Lenox china. I'm thinking about selling it. We have a neighborhood garage sale every spring, so garage sales are always a good idea. I remember one year two men came up to me asking very specifically for silverware, china, jewelry, electronics...higher end things. That's the only things they were looking for. My neighborhood also has an app that sales things. Do you have something like that? I don't expect to get much for it. As other posters have said, I don't think there is any demand or need.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

gidgetgh — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 22:03:17 GMT

@jazzed - I have lots of experience with this. It is a big undertaking.

My mom died in 2011. Between then and when my dad passed away in July, 2016, I liquidated a ton of China, crystal and sterling silver.

Crystal- we had a ton of it. I was selling my mom's, mine and my sister had me sell hers. All Waterford, all the same pattern. What I did first was look up the retail price on Macy's for the different pieces. Most of mine and my sister's was brand new. Still had the little Waterford stickers on the pieces. I took the retail price and decided to try to sell them for 50% of the retail price. I sold quite a bit of it on a Facebook yard sale page. Through Facebook, it all sold really really quickly. I'd list them and they would sell within a day or two at most.

On the used pieces, we have a great consignment store in the area, multiple locations. I took the used pieces to them. They did the pricing. Obviously much less than the 50% I sold the new at. But it all sold very quickly. Week or two at most. Of course, the consignment store took their portion.

On the china, I had several sets to sell. Two that my sister and I had inherited from our grandmother and then we had my mom's to sell. I didn't even try Facebook yard sale. I'd seen others try to sell china and people literally wanted to pay next to nothing. I tried the consignment store. They wouldn't take the sets. I tried another consignment store, well known in the area. They said they had an entire room filled with china that people brought in and never came back and got when it didn't sell. They wouldn't even look at what I had. The sets we had were really ornate. My great aunt had bought them in Europe in the 40's or 50's. So.....I contacted Replacements Ltd. and got a price list from them for two of the sets to start with. They're a 6 1/2 hour drive from my house. My husband and I drove the two sets up there. Up and back in one really long day. But it was worth it because they gave us a good price. Not anywhere remotely what it's cost but it was much much better than the $0 I was getting at home.

After my dad died, as we drove up north to bury both of my parents remains, we stopped again at Replacements and sold my mom's set.

We were really fortunate to be able to sell to them. If that had not been possible, I would have donated them to Goodwill and walked away. I'd had enough of them. Selling to Replacements and mailing the things to them is just out of the question. Too expensive.

For the silver plated serving pieces, I sold most of them on Facebook yard sale. The ones that were in rough shape went to Goodwill.

For the sterling flatware, two sets, I took it to my local jeweler and sold it for scrap. The pieces were monogrammed so I didn't see many options for that.

Re: Inherited china and crystal question

ellaphant — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 22:03:12 GMT

@jazzed wrote:

Does anyone have recent experience to share on how you went about pricing and selling inherited family fine china and crystal? I have complete service in excellent condition, probably 50 years old. Very pretty high quality pieces, but I have no use for them, and it's time to let go.
Replacements, Ltd. and eBay are not options. The research I've done thus far tells me that the market is flooded with vintage, and is not sought after by younger people.
Any input would be helpful. Thanks!

I sold many of my late parents furniture, paintings, crystal and fine china through an auction house. I was also told not a high demand for crystal and fine china. They were right, not a lot for the crystal and china, but the paintings sold well.