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Has anyone attempted to sell unwanted Wedgwood or other china and if so, where/how did you do it?
Unless you have something extremely valuable, you're probably stuck with whatever you can get from a local estate auction. And that might be not much, from what I can tell from looking at past auction results online.
I've got a similar problem. My father collected art and antiques. He died recently and I have to get rid of his stuff, or at least that part of it that I don't want, which is almost all of it. Anyway, before he died an antique dealer was at his place looking around. He estimated there was anywhere between 7,000 and 10,000 items in the house. Totally nuts. China, crystal, artwork, antique furniture, oriental rugs, etc. Unfortunately, when you try to sell items like that, they're only worth whatever anyone will pay for them.
Has anyone attempted to sell unwanted Wedgwood or other china and if so, where/how did you do it?
I'm going to be trying something like that, so I'd be interested in finding out what you do. It partly depends on where you live - if you're in a big cities that has dealers for that kind of thing. I imagine I'll start with some online research. Maybe with the Replacements website:
I'm more optimistic than John. However, if you hope for more money, you have to be willing to put in the time. Most people don't have the initiative and patience to do the work it requires.
Unless you have something extremely valuable, you're probably stuck with whatever you can get from a local estate auction. And that might be not much, from what I can tell from looking at past auction results online.
I've got a similar problem. My father collected art and antiques. He died recently and I have to get rid of his stuff, or at least that part of it that I don't want, which is almost all of it. Anyway, before he died an antique dealer was at his place looking around. He estimated there was anywhere between 7,000 and 10,000 items in the house. Totally nuts. China, crystal, artwork, antique furniture, oriental rugs, etc. Unfortunately, when you try to sell items like that, they're only worth whatever anyone will pay for them.
That pretty much goes for all collectibles except those with material value like gold or silver.
For a lot of collectibles it also depends on the size of the market. I know a few people who collect old movie posters. Values for a lot of old posters are dropping because the people who collected them are dying off and they're not being replaced.
One thing I found is , the second you ask about some specific item ,the first one you find is reasonably priced ,the very next day there is a flood of them under cutting the first one you saw.
I have a similar problem and literally tons of stuff dad collected and I've given away a great deal as well already.
I recommend /Do not query what something is worth on ebay.
List it and list your price and let it go at that .
Because the second you look for others, a flood with make your item one of a hundred or more, rather then one of say 10.
OP posted in July but I'll respond since the thread got revived.
For the most part, unless its something really rare collectibles are not an easy sell and/or you won't get much money for them. I tried to sell some of my mother's Swarovski, Royal Dalton and Llyadros after she passed and found it was slow going.
China is even more difficult. Very few people want "good china" these days. I was willing to let it go at a very reasonable price. Replacements.com didn't want any of the place settings and only was looking for big serving pieces. The china was Limoges and was a very simple off white with a scalloped edge and gold trim. The pattern wasn't at all dated. I ended up keeping it.
Most of the people that collected those things are dead or at an age where they aren't buying anymore.
Antiques go in and out of style, and prices will depend upon what's trendy at the moment. Victorian antiques used to be very popular in the 1970s and 1980s, right now not so much. Some "vintage" items (dating from the 1940s to the 1970s) might actually fetch more money from collectors. You could set up an Etsy account (similar to eBay, just not an "auction") and gradually sell your antique and vintage items there.
You'll be sure to get something though--thousands of items? If you have storage space and time to research the best ways to categorize and sell the stuff, that's be ideal. Otherwise, you're probably looking at an estate sale to unload the bulk of it quickly.
Last edited by Ottawa2011; 09-28-2015 at 03:04 PM..
I'm bumping up this old thread because I'm trying to sell some antiques that belonged to my mom. All different kinds of things.
I was aware that some record stores will buy records from you, so I assumed that that would be the case with antique dealers. I thought I could maybe bring the items in by the box and let the dealer go through them. I contacted an "antique mall" made up of many different dealers and asked if I could bring things in for appraisal (although a lot of it my mom had already gotten appraised) and possible purchase. Someone from their online site got back to me and said that the only dealer that they knew who would buy from people had moved out of state. I haven't contacted any others yet.
I don't feel that it's really worth my time and effort to try to list each separate item online. I'm keeping some of her things, but I don't have room for all of it. I suppose I'll end up donating them and hoping they're found by someone who will appreciate them.
In addition to family heirlooms, there are items my mom had thrifted and tried to sell on eBay. Even years ago, she was complaining about what a lot of you have posted here on CD, that a lot of people today just don't want a lot of things that would have sold in the past, and that's another reason why I don't want to put too much work into it.
I just wanted to confirm that this was basically how people sell their personal items, either listing online or renting a booth of some sort.
Thanks for any help!
Last edited by SeaOfGrass; 04-03-2024 at 04:47 PM..
Reason: Clarification
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