Bone China

Rocketdogroya

I have just moved into a property in a rural area (so most people wont collect so gumtree is out). The property came with a huge amount or bone china vases, ornaments and tea sets. They are all good quality things. Royal Doulton, Wedgwood Royal Worcester etc however they are not my taste at all so i want to get rid.

I do not want to send it via the post as it as it seems so delicate and Ive shipped by courier before using a fragile service but it didnt make the journey intact.

I tried a carboot but people where not interested at all and I made a loss after paying the gate fee!

I have listed it all on ebay as collection only but due to my location no one is really biting.

can anyone offer a course of action for me? is there a reliable way of shipping delicate items?

Thank you.

soolin

I sell glass and China and just pack very well. I tend to double box it, so a box packed well then inside another box. I've even got tea sets to Australia that way.

However, do check completed prices on ebay first, the China and glass market is nearly dead now and frankly I wouldn't. bother with the hassle for a sub £5 item.

Wedgwood China is near worthless in the UK , even jasper ware has to be sold in large lots to make any Money, Aynsley China is not worth bothering with except for one or two very rare patterns. .

soolin

The only stuff worth really looking I to is Royal Worcester, it is very pattern dependent but some of it still sells well. I sent some to the U.S. just recently.

Ting-Tang

Maybe just take it all to the nearest auction house....you might not get an awful lot for it and it'll probably take them a while to pay up, but at least you'll be rid of it.....

Rocketdogroya

Thank you for you input, i have a uk only policy but are people more likely to buy from abroad do you think making it more worth my while if im packing things well anyway?

mrcol1000

I think what you have to rememeber is that all couriers have large amount of parcels passing through them. They get thrown from person to person. Into cages. They also travel along conveyor belts and drop. You'd need to pack them so they could drop a long way and have things dropped on them.

As others have said they are not going to be worth much. If you can't sell them in bulk for collection or to an auction house then maybe it is better to give them to a charity shop. As otherwise the chance of breakages is going to outweigh what you can get them. You have to work out how much you are going to charge for postage and the amount of packaging you need. Plus how much you might have to refund (remembering you will not get your postage and packaging costs) if anything gets broken.

I have sent china through My Hermes before successfully (and My Hermes seem to be able to break even solid things if they aren't wrapped to withstand a nuclear blast) but the item sold for £20 and the buyer was willing to pay the cost of packaging it so it arrived unbroken.

soolin

Rocketdogroya wrote: »

Thank you for you input, i have a uk only policy but are people more likely to buy from abroad do you think making it more worth my while if im packing things well anyway?

Mrcol1000 has given some good advice which I would echo. The real market for glass and china tend to be Australia and the U.S. but it is really only worth sending if it is worth money otherwise if anything does get broken your are losing a lot of postage money when you refund.

However it might be worth looking into the global shipping programme on eBay, if you opt into that (and i would recommend checking out some of the negative points) then you would only need to ship to the UK hub.

I would spend time though checking completed listings on eBay, and perhaps consider the earlier suggestion of using a bricks and mortar auction.

pinkshoes

We also inherited a load of china and tea sets when we bought a house, and just listed them on a local Facebook group for £5 or £10, then the ones that didnt sell went to the charity shop.

Decided that it wasn't worth the hassle using ebay.

RFW

Rocketdogroya wrote: »

can anyone offer a course of action for me? is there a reliable way of shipping delicate items?

Thank you.

Find a small local (or as near as possible) auction house. You don't want a fancy one. You'll probably not get a great amount for it but there may be one or two pieces that the auctioneer might find to sell separately. If they're reputable they'll do the job for you.
Call them and ask when/if they accept entries, what their charges are for selling, if they have any charges if you don't sell and how long it takes for you to get paid.
You'll want them to be charging under 20% with no extra lotting or other charges and to pay out within 14 days. Some do it differently and there are some you can end up with nothing, so just be wary.
It's a good idea to present them well and itemise what you have rather than just give a jumbled up box to them. The more of the auctioneer's job you do for them, the better chance you have of getting a good price.