Author Topic: So much "good" china ...  (Read 5888 times)

NoStacheOhio

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So much "good" china ...
« on: March 14, 2018, 01:51:38 PM »
So as part of the "Read every MMM blog post" challenge, I came across this one: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/08/22/how_to_sell_silver/

... which reminded me that we have between two and four complete sets of china that have been gifted to us by well-meaning friends and family members. Some of it allegedly has value (one is Lenox Presidential series, others unknown). I think we have to wait for people to die before we can get rid of some of it, but there's other stuff that could disappear without any fuss. But who the hell wants it? Has anyone had any luck trying to sell china? We never use it, even on special occasions.

lizzzi

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2018, 02:03:07 PM »
You could try selling it to a company like "Replacements." I checked into selling some of my crystal stemware to them, and they would only give me pennies on the dollar. It wasn't worth the cost and effort of boxing it up and mailing it to them. I sold a bunch of Lenox stemware at auction when I moved out of state. The pattern had cost me around $15 per stem, and it sold for around a dollar a stem. Nobody seems to want this stuff anymore.

I'm a red panda

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2018, 03:01:24 PM »
You can look at ebay and see what completed listings have sold for.  A good amount of risk in shipping it though.

Carrie

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2018, 03:15:21 PM »
I think you'd have better luck at a local consignment shop.  Or you could gift it at Christmas with a dozen home baked cookies on top.

ohsnap

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2018, 04:29:19 PM »
So as part of the "Read every MMM blog post" challenge, I came across this one: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/08/22/how_to_sell_silver/

... which reminded me that we have between two and four complete sets of china that have been gifted to us by well-meaning friends and family members. Some of it allegedly has value (one is Lenox Presidential series, others unknown). I think we have to wait for people to die before we can get rid of some of it, but there's other stuff that could disappear without any fuss. But who the hell wants it? Has anyone had any luck trying to sell china? We never use it, even on special occasions.

I'm in the same boat - I ended up with Gran's china many years ago and have really never used it.  It's currently boxed up in my garage.  This is terrible, but I'm waiting to get rid of it until the older generation in my family is old & infirm enough not to notice or care! Then I'll offer it to the other family members.  If nobody wants it, I'm sure it will go to a thrift store, because as others have mentioned, it doesn't have much value.

It's funny what we, as a society, placed such a high value on for so long, and is now worth nothing.

chouchouu

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2018, 05:20:04 PM »
Why not just use it? Old China is actually very durable and it's nice to eat off something that belonged to granny. I find a lot of new China breaks easily so if you can't get a good price I reckon it would be more mustachian to have a durable set that lasts for a lifetime than stuff that breaks every few years.

MayDay

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2018, 06:08:41 PM »
My mother eats of her grandmother's, but it isn't microwave safe so it is a pain.

We got GMIL's, it sat in a closet, and we gave it back to FIL.

My mother has two sets of real silver silverware. Wtf am I supposed to do with this stuff? I'm not handwashing it. I guess I'll sell it for scrap silver.

M2 pilot

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2018, 07:58:36 PM »
Except for knives, there's no need to handwash sterling.  Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

MayDay

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2018, 08:01:17 PM »
Except for knives, there's no need to handwash sterling.  Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.
I thought it couldn't be in the dishwasher with other metals.  Or maybe just aluminum. 

Whatever it was, we wash it in the dishwasher.

Google says it is regular steel, and they just can't touch.

Maybe we'll use it at some point.  I will never own more than one set of silverware though, so I will probably still just get it melted once my mother dies.

Noodle

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2018, 08:59:10 PM »
Unless it is very rare, you probably aren't going to be able to sell it for much. Tastes in home furnishings have changed so much that there are too many downsizers trying to unload their formal dishes, glassware, silver, etc with no takers.

Honestly, I would just use it. Go ahead and throw it in the dishwasher, if that's what it takes for you to make use of it. If it eventually gets ruined, who cares? You were going to dispose of it anyway--you might as well enjoy it first.

Imma

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2018, 04:28:28 AM »
I'm surprised everyone says it's hard to sell. That's not my experience at all. Classic brands/patterns seem to hold their value pretty well. Especially the patterns that are now discontinued. Just look up Cocks & Hens, Old Country Roses or Provincial Flowers on Ebay. I inherited some pretty damaged Cocks & Hens china, so I decided to just use it instead. It's pretty fragile so I only have a few plates left now.  That's another way to (eventually) get rid of it.

MicroRN

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2018, 04:41:30 AM »
Except for knives, there's no need to handwash sterling.  Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

Agreed, we machine wash ours, we just make sure that we don't wash it mixed in with other metals.  Our knives can be machine washed too.  I think it depends on the style of the handle?  Not sure, but I know these have been machine washed for over 30 years and are still fine.  Maybe we've just been lucky.     

I have a set of good sterling flatware, and a set of Wedgwood dishes and serving dishes (very simple, plain cream color) that my mom gave me.  I happen to like using them, especially when we have people over, but for day to day we use Corelle.  It's microwaveable and more resistant to small children dropping it.  My mom has some ridiculous number of china sets though, and keeps trying to offload them on us.  I just know that we'll never use more than the one huge set we already have, and have no intention of cluttering up the house with more.

Car Jack

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2018, 07:16:16 AM »
Between breakage over the years and our son taking stuff to college (and room mates taking it home at the end of the year), we've gone way down on the everyday dishes and silverware.  I've been going to the china cabinet and taking whatever I need from the collection of stuff we received as wedding presents.  I do feel good that we're actually putting this stuff to good use.  Our plates are dishwasher and microwave safe, so not an issue.  Nothing is actual silver that I am aware of, otherwise it would be covertly put in a box and shipped out for melt value.

nereo

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2018, 07:31:09 AM »
Parents had a similar situation - they had lightly-used china from their wedding 30+ years ago.

It varies from pattern to pattern, but there definitely *IS* a robust market for selling 'vintage' flatware and china. My mom used www.replacements.com - it's hit or miss whether they are accepting your pattern or not.  Not sure what her final profit was but she made enough to buy an entire set of tableware from PB as her everyday stuff, and still came out ahead.

Recently I looked at the flatware were were gifted that we've been using every day for 4 years (it's Lenox)- apparently we could sell each individual heavily-used fork/knife/spoon for about $4 because the pattern is discontinued and people are trying to find replacements.  I'm seriously considering selling it all off and buying a new double-set on mark-down at Target since we always seem to run out of forks before we run the dishwasher.

wenchsenior

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2018, 08:28:14 AM »
We inherited a moderately valuable but only partially complete set...lots and lots of dinner plates, a few other pieces.  There is no one in the family to pass it on to in our branch (no kids, and siblings don't have kids either).  We don't entertain at  home more than once every few years, so we just started using the plates every day because the pattern is nature oriented and fits our personalities. Unfortunately, we don' t have bowls with our set, which annoys me.  To be honest, I feed our cats off the little saucers. 

nereo

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2018, 08:43:04 AM »
We inherited a moderately valuable but only partially complete set...lots and lots of dinner plates, a few other pieces.  There is no one in the family to pass it on to in our branch (no kids, and siblings don't have kids either).  We don't entertain at  home more than once every few years, so we just started using the plates every day because the pattern is nature oriented and fits our personalities. Unfortunately, we don' t have bowls with our set, which annoys me.  To be honest, I feed our cats off the little saucers.

Your cats get bone-china serving bowls?  awesome :-)

wenchsenior

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #16 on: March 15, 2018, 10:16:12 AM »
We inherited a moderately valuable but only partially complete set...lots and lots of dinner plates, a few other pieces.  There is no one in the family to pass it on to in our branch (no kids, and siblings don't have kids either).  We don't entertain at  home more than once every few years, so we just started using the plates every day because the pattern is nature oriented and fits our personalities. Unfortunately, we don' t have bowls with our set, which annoys me.  To be honest, I feed our cats off the little saucers.

Your cats get bone-china serving bowls?  awesome :-)

Only because they are the perfect size and depth and sometimes their regular bowls are dirty.  Although, maybe they are more spoiled than I thought...

nereo

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #17 on: March 15, 2018, 10:22:27 AM »
We inherited a moderately valuable but only partially complete set...lots and lots of dinner plates, a few other pieces.  There is no one in the family to pass it on to in our branch (no kids, and siblings don't have kids either).  We don't entertain at  home more than once every few years, so we just started using the plates every day because the pattern is nature oriented and fits our personalities. Unfortunately, we don' t have bowls with our set, which annoys me.  To be honest, I feed our cats off the little saucers.

Your cats get bone-china serving bowls?  awesome :-)

Only because they are the perfect size and depth and sometimes their regular bowls are dirty.  Although, maybe they are more spoiled than I thought...

We keep pretty close tabs on our cost-per-meal, but feed our cats premium cat food after too many trips to the vet for dealing with UTIs and other maladies that can be 'cured' with better nutrition. There have been nights when I've realized my cats' food cost more than what was on my plate.

wenchsenior

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #18 on: March 15, 2018, 11:51:22 AM »
We inherited a moderately valuable but only partially complete set...lots and lots of dinner plates, a few other pieces.  There is no one in the family to pass it on to in our branch (no kids, and siblings don't have kids either).  We don't entertain at  home more than once every few years, so we just started using the plates every day because the pattern is nature oriented and fits our personalities. Unfortunately, we don' t have bowls with our set, which annoys me.  To be honest, I feed our cats off the little saucers.

Your cats get bone-china serving bowls?  awesome :-)

Only because they are the perfect size and depth and sometimes their regular bowls are dirty.  Although, maybe they are more spoiled than I thought...

We keep pretty close tabs on our cost-per-meal, but feed our cats premium cat food after too many trips to the vet for dealing with UTIs and other maladies that can be 'cured' with better nutrition. There have been nights when I've realized my cats' food cost more than what was on my plate.

Yup.   

TheWifeHalf

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #19 on: March 15, 2018, 12:49:43 PM »
I have seen photos online where the plates were used to edge a bed, sidewalk, garden path?

I have yet to test their durability in freezing temps (Ohio here), but if they pass, I have a perfect place in my yard to do something similar.

I wanted to see the pics again, so:
https://bloominghillva.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-than-just-lavender-you-know.html

I've been wanting to do this, this may be the year:
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/af/fb/43/affb4329432f57ef3f0418467a503753.jpg

http://indulgy.com/post/rk1v13pca3/vintage-glass-yard-art-repurposed-glass-garde

When we bought our house, we bought it with everything in it, and that included 2 incomplete sets. Then TheHusbandHalf's grandmother died 6 months later, no one wanted most of her things, so I got 2 complete sets. Most are from the 1920's - 1940's.  Memories of years of going to farm auctions with my Dad did not allow me to throw them out, but I do think making some of these would be perfect.


Dicey

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #20 on: March 16, 2018, 06:22:48 AM »
Except for knives, there's no need to handwash sterling.  Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

Agreed, we machine wash ours, we just make sure that we don't wash it mixed in with other metals.  Our knives can be machine washed too.  I think it depends on the style of the handle?  Not sure, but I know these have been machine washed for over 30 years and are still fine.  Maybe we've just been lucky.     

I have a set of good sterling flatware, and a set of Wedgwood dishes and serving dishes (very simple, plain cream color) that my mom gave me.  I happen to like using them, especially when we have people over, but for day to day we use Corelle.  It's microwaveable and more resistant to small children dropping it.  My mom has some ridiculous number of china sets though, and keeps trying to offload them on us.  I just know that we'll never use more than the one huge set we already have, and have no intention of cluttering up the house with more.
I dishwash my silverplate. Make sure the blade part of the knife is angled down so the stainless blade doesn't drip onto the silver portion of the knife. Keep the stainless blades and all other non-silver items from touching the silver. A milder DW soap will help them last longer. It isn't as gentle as hand washing, but I'd rather see stuff used for its intended purpose rather than languishing in a box or drawer.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2018, 11:12:51 AM by Dicey »

Sibley

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #21 on: March 16, 2018, 10:58:11 AM »
Ugh. My mom has I believe 4 sets of good dishes. None of which are used. And none of which can go in the microwave. All of course belonged to family.

Realistically, eventually a WHOLE bunch of "fine china" is going to end up in landfills cause not enough people want it.

affordablehousing

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #22 on: March 16, 2018, 11:25:45 AM »
I'd suggest crushing it up for mosaic. I find "fine china" on the street all the time. It's ugly, takes forever to try to sell, and I put it in the category of "life's too short". I think it looks best as "ironicware" for people 20-25 as their first set of plates so you can look for a local hipster to gift it to, or as someone else suggested use it for pet bowls.

Imma

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #23 on: March 16, 2018, 03:47:18 PM »
I love old china. Everyone can donate their unwanted sets to me :D  I'm clumsy, so I go through it more quickly than most people. I like mixing different sets. Maybe I'm the local hipster.

A friend of mine gave me a complete set from the 1930s (a small set, just plates and bowls) and that's probably the best gift I've ever had. I'm trough all of my inherited china already, so now I rely on gifts and the thrift store.

jengod

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #24 on: March 16, 2018, 08:26:41 PM »
USE IT. USE IT. USE IT. Use it until every plate is broken accidentally or on purpose. Give your cheap stuff to Goodwill and eat off fine china every night and put it in the dishwasher and let the pictures and the gilt fade and just ENJOY IT. Life is too short.

chouchouu

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #25 on: March 21, 2018, 03:35:53 AM »
I love old china. Everyone can donate their unwanted sets to me :D  I'm clumsy, so I go through it more quickly than most people. I like mixing different sets. Maybe I'm the local hipster.

A friend of mine gave me a complete set from the 1930s (a small set, just plates and bowls) and that's probably the best gift I've ever had. I'm trough all of my inherited china already, so now I rely on gifts and the thrift store.

Yep. I died a little when Mr Money Moustache melted the old silver. Some things are worth more than money. I love how the older generations built beauty into their everyday lives. Old silver with filigree patterns, the brickwork on victorian houses, we lose a bit of ourselves when everything is valued in monetary terms.

nereo

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #26 on: March 21, 2018, 05:52:51 AM »
I love old china. Everyone can donate their unwanted sets to me :D  I'm clumsy, so I go through it more quickly than most people. I like mixing different sets. Maybe I'm the local hipster.

A friend of mine gave me a complete set from the 1930s (a small set, just plates and bowls) and that's probably the best gift I've ever had. I'm trough all of my inherited china already, so now I rely on gifts and the thrift store.

Yep. I died a little when Mr Money Moustache melted the old silver. Some things are worth more than money. I love how the older generations built beauty into their everyday lives. Old silver with filigree patterns, the brickwork on victorian houses, we lose a bit of ourselves when everything is valued in monetary terms.
I gotta disagree - mostly on the idea that older generations built beauty into their everyday lives [more than current generations], but also philosophically about whether it’s ‘bad’ to not value old items more than their monetary value.

I’ve seen nothing to indicate that older generations valued beauty more.  What we’re seeing is almost certainly survivorship bais - what wasn’t utilitarian junk to begin with tends to survive, and most of it comes from people who were extremely wealthy for their time. The whole idea of gifting china for weddings was to emulate the very rich people, but only for very special meals. That’s why it lived in protected boxes and was used only a few dozen times throughout their lifetime. Overwhelmingly the homes people lived in were as simply as constructed as could be.
People today care a heck of a lot more of how an item looks because we can afford to.  Heck, there are countless reviews online and ‘unboxing videos’ which highlight just how pretty the throw-away box is for the latest trinket.

Should we value some stuff more than the cost?  Meh....  it depends on how you phrase the argument. Certainly scarcity (or percieved scarcity) drives costs up, and marketers have used the concepts of ‘rare’ and ‘limited’ to their success (e.g. ‘limited time offer!’ Or ‘a rare opportunity’). We’ve hunted birds to extinction and destroyed communities because they had something others considered ‘pretty’ - but had little intrinsic cost (examples: the great auk, big game, marble quarries, gems).
OTOH I do subscribe to the view that we ought to treasure what we have, make our homes nice places to live and not buy disposable crap. So in that sense I agree...
Just some early morning ramblings.

ohsnap

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Re: So much "good" china ...
« Reply #27 on: March 21, 2018, 09:56:57 AM »
USE IT. USE IT. USE IT. Use it until every plate is broken accidentally or on purpose. Give your cheap stuff to Goodwill and eat off fine china every night and put it in the dishwasher and let the pictures and the gilt fade and just ENJOY IT. Life is too short.
I agree with this in principle if you LIKE the china.  I have a very old lace tablecloth that came from a great aunt that I kept boxed up for years (for "special occasions"), and finally decided that it looked beautiful on my table every day.  Now it makes me happy as I think of sweet memories of her and my grandmother whenever I see it.  But my grandmother's china is just too twee for me. Her Boonton bowls are another matter...those are used daily for cereal and ice cream. :D  I grew up thinking cheerios and ice cream MUST be eaten from a Boonton bowl. :D