Inherited china and crystal question

jazzed · ‎04-11-2013

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!

NickNack · ‎03-10-2010

@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.

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PA Mom-mom · ‎05-27-2015

@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.

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

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.

VaBelle35 · ‎03-10-2010

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.

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jazzed · ‎04-11-2013

@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?

kaydee50 · ‎02-07-2011

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.

sunshine45 · ‎03-09-2010

@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.

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millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

@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.

jazzed · ‎04-11-2013

@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.