Selling fragile items inc Pottery, Vases,Glass ornaments etc

noclaf

Hi All,
My mother accumulated a lot of items over the years that are filling up boxes in our garage, ballpark figure about 40 ish vases and various glass ornaments. Some of it is cheap tat others a bit nicer such as Poole Pottery, Svaja glass and Nao figurines.
I'm just not sure how best to go about selling the larger items? 
I typically use Schpock but bit concerned about the fragility of sending these items though I could sell them as 'collection only'. Car boot sales is difficult too from a time perspective and setting up plus doubt it can be done anyway with current restrictions.
I am thinking to give the cheaper items to charity and sell the more nicer items.
How would anyone else approach it?
Thanks

forgotmyname

Advertise them on Shpock as collection only, the items you think are worthless list them in bulk 10/20 items

for collection etc.

If your struggling to sell with local buyers, then add postage but check the items are actually insured

when posted.  Glass and pottery maybe excluded.

soolin

Breakables are covered with RM if packed adequately , couriers rarely cover anything but I do still often send at my own risk .

large bits of crystal and glass are poor sellers now mainly due to the postage costs outweighing the value of the item, I get a lot of large crystal vases in mixed boxes at auction and quite often vases and bowls will go over the 2 KG weight when packed and so become uneconomical to post. I tend to offer them for a few pounds on Facebook marketplace and they nearly always sell . If they don’t sell, and I have a few bowls and vases knocking around still , I offer them for free (or when the charity shops are open I donate them).

Nao sells, it doesn’t make a lot anymore , it’s worth looking at eBay collected items (not listed but completed) as you will get a good idea of which are worth selling individually and which in small lots. I tend to ship Nao and Lladro as a standard 2nd class parcel double boxed with lots of padding. Poole is the same, it varies between being of no value up to rarer pieces that can be sought after - again check eBay solds for an indication of price. 

martindow

soolin said:

Breakables are covered with RM if packed adequately , couriers rarely cover anything but I do still often send at my own risk .

In practice though, if an item breaks I would imagine that RM would be unlikely to pay out as the breakage would demonstrate that the packaging was not adequate.  Possibly they would accept a claim if the outer box were severely damaged.  If the OP has items worth selling they should think of them as being uninsured and pack them incredibly well.

soolin

martindow said:

soolin said:

Breakables are covered with RM if packed adequately , couriers rarely cover anything but I do still often send at my own risk .

In practice though, if an item breaks I would imagine that RM would be unlikely to pay out as the breakage would demonstrate that the packaging was not adequate.  Possibly they would accept a claim if the outer box were severely damaged.  If the OP has items worth selling they should think of them as being uninsured and pack them incredibly well.

I get very few breakages (but have shipped hundreds if not thousands of items of glass and China over the years) so my statistical data is low, but I have been paid out for any damage to glass or China sent with RM over the years. having said that though for very cheap items I have not bothered to claim as the time spent in retrieving photos of the packaging, submitting claims etc outweighs the refund. That’s another reason I often use Myhermes as well and self Insure, I can then  afford to pack without the small parcel size constraints . My last few big items went via MyHermes using 6 bottle size wine boxes with the item in a smaller box inside and I have something going out like that on Monday as well. For smaller items like ornaments and figurines it is rare that anything breaks if it is well packed and small parcel RM is sufficient and still allows enough scope for double boxing. 

I do still try and sell face to face though and have had China and glass collected this week from my drive already. I’m currently clearing some storage areas where I had stashed a lot of bulky glass and China hoping for car boots to start, but have given up hope now and decided to sell or give away as much as I can just to free up room. 

noclaf

Thanks all for your input.
I found a Poole Pottery page on FB,will gauge interest on there for the some of the vases.
I fully accept that a lot of these items will either not sell for much or not at all so even if we get something back for a few of them that's a positive..the main benefit is the space it will free up in the garage rather than any neglible financial gain.
I don't currently have an eBay account but probably worth opening one.

soolin

noclaf said:

Thanks all for your input.
I found a Poole Pottery page on FB,will gauge interest on there for the some of the vases.
I fully accept that a lot of these items will either not sell for much or not at all so even if we get something back for a few of them that's a positive..the main benefit is the space it will free up in the garage rather than any neglible financial gain.
I don't currently have an eBay account but probably worth opening one.

Current achievable prices are best checked on ebay- you don't need an account to search. The problem with specialist groups is that they may want to over value items sometimes as it is 'worth' more to them than the market value- yet are reluctant to buy as they are all on ebay buying. They may also base their estimates on what they paid for their own items, and with markets generally poor for 'clutter' may well have bought too high.

I have some Whitefriars glass that the specialist forums tell me is worth between £40-£70 an item, current selling on ebay shows these same items go around half to two thirds of that maximum  , and even then I have had some of the things listed for months without a taker and without even an offer. 

What specialist groups are very good at is identifying rarer items, perhaps giving an actual makers name (some old Poole was designed and made by specific artists) .It is the rarer stuff that has retained value , not the standard naive flowers and jugs that everyone bought, look at the prices for Delphis pattern for instance and this rare piece
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POOLE-POTTERY-DISH-25cm-034-SUN-AND-MOON-034-COLLECTION-BY-ALAN-CLARKE-SIGNED-/274586271088?hash=item3fee9dfd70:g:elsAAOSwGJxfucn9&nma=true&si=87DTk2O3TE157jXRFxwZY50TeTI%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

noclaf

soolin said:

noclaf said:

Thanks all for your input.
I found a Poole Pottery page on FB,will gauge interest on there for the some of the vases.
I fully accept that a lot of these items will either not sell for much or not at all so even if we get something back for a few of them that's a positive..the main benefit is the space it will free up in the garage rather than any neglible financial gain.
I don't currently have an eBay account but probably worth opening one.

Current achievable prices are best checked on ebay- you don't need an account to search. The problem with specialist groups is that they may want to over value items sometimes as it is 'worth' more to them than the market value- yet are reluctant to buy as they are all on ebay buying. They may also base their estimates on what they paid for their own items, and with markets generally poor for 'clutter' may well have bought too high.

I have some Whitefriars glass that the specialist forums tell me is worth between £40-£70 an item, current selling on ebay shows these same items go around half to two thirds of that maximum  , and even then I have had some of the things listed for months without a taker and without even an offer. 

What specialist groups are very good at is identifying rarer items, perhaps giving an actual makers name (some old Poole was designed and made by specific artists) .It is the rarer stuff that has retained value , not the standard naive flowers and jugs that everyone bought, look at the prices for Delphis pattern for instance and this rare piece
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POOLE-POTTERY-DISH-25cm-034-SUN-AND-MOON-034-COLLECTION-BY-ALAN-CLARKE-SIGNED-/274586271088?hash=item3fee9dfd70:g:elsAAOSwGJxfucn9&nma=true&si=87DTk2O3TE157jXRFxwZY50TeTI%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I don't think my Poole Pottery items are rare (bud vases) but am hopefull that someone might take them especially as they are relatively small so easier to send etc

MovingForwards

I've had a few old 1930s glass lampshades sent to me. All were bubble wrapped, stuffed with bubble wrap and had polystyrene in the boxes to support them, plus newspaper. 

All made it hundreds of miles from the sellers home and arrived safely. 

I often order glass items listed on eBay, but do check the sellers are a business or have previously sent several fragile items without issue.

MrsStepford

Alternatively, when they are open, try Cash Converters. They are selling online, so at some point they will need more stock. Charity shops, when they open, may not want ornaments. Last time charity shops were open here, they didn't want ornaments, just clothes.