Perhaps setting a reserve price on it, as well.
I did 1) antiques dealer 2)high end consignment store (50% to me) and 3) charity thrift store
Capodimonte can be quite valuable. Some auction houses, for example: Skinners, Sothebyâs, offer online valuation services at no charge. You might consider submitting photographs of several of the âbetterâ pieces and getting an âexpertâ opinion.
ETA: Also, TheRealReal may take some of it on consignment as might 1stDibs
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Thatâs good to know, @thumper1. Iâd thought about replacing a couple pieces of my china, but am realizing that neither of my sons are likely to ever care about nice dishes, chipped or not!
One thing that I have wondered about: Does anyone have experience with regard to whether our children will want these items when they get old enough to have a settled household? This might apply more to things passed down from direct ancestors rather than from aunts and uncles, although of course some items from aunts might have come from grandparents.
We have some very nice old English tea items (mostly tea cups with matching saucers, plus a tea pot and a sugar bowl / cream matching set) that I got from my mother. Our children are not yet old enough to have an established home that they own with space to store these items. I am wondering whether they are likely to want them as they get more settled. We also have some rather small crystal wine glasses that did come from an aunt, but which were originally wedding presents given to my grandparents when they were married (slightly more than 100 years ago).
One question is whether to hold on to these items on the basis that children may eventually want them, or to sell them to âdeclutterâ as we get ready to move to a smaller home.
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It is hard to know what kids will and wonât want. But it seems like many of them prefer not to be burdened by things like old china theyâll rarely use. Of course there are still some engaged couples registering for new chinaâŚthat surprises me because of the hardly-used sets I see in thrift shops.
For folks just setting starting to deal with an inherited household of stuff, I have heard good reports about people hiring dealer who handle auction (sometimes online) and deal with all the unsold items too. Not sure how to find them, probably local word of mouth.
Now is a good time to ask them.
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You could find out if there is a good consignment shop near you. We often shop at a lovely consignment shop in the New Orleans area called Renaissance. It has beautiful items along with some âjunkâ. We have bought a couple of pieces of furniture along with a couple of paintings. After 1 month, the price goes down 10% and continues until it is 50% off the marked price. We always go whenever we go to New Orleans.
Weâre keeping a few old family items from the 1800s. Iâve labeled them with all the information I know. The kids can decide what to do with them eventually.
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My FIL is a retired member of the clergy and has received countless ânice thingsâ from parishioners as well as being the keeper of all family china/tea cups/silver. Their house is bursting at the seams, so much so that he has passed on at least 2 complete sets for D. She says she might be interested in pieces from relatives (that she knows) that are tied to memories and experiences but has absolutely no interest in a complete strangerâs old junk, even if it has some value. Her words: If their own relations arenât interested in it, why should I be? I think itâs a fair point. I can see keeping something that reminds you of someone or something that you genuinely like. Otherwise, nope.
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I think 20/30-somethings are not in a position toknow whether or not they want something of sentimental value. So we store things for later, because their grandparents will be gone soon and then perhaps that dumb china that we ate Thanksgiving on will seem important. We also have some âcaretakerâ items â small family items that get passed down with the idea that we are just the current custodian, and so jettisoning it is not part of the deal. You take it, you take care of it, as it were.
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There are tons of YouTube videos (and they are very funny) about all the things you have that your kids wonât want. And in my experience with my family and friendsâŚthe list is true. Fancy gold rim China, brown furniture, decorative glass of any kind, tiny wine glasses (the old ones from when I got married are very smallâŚnow wine glasses are large), anything silverplate, collectors plates of any kind, anything that came from the Franklin Mint or the like, milk glass, punch bowls, fake crystal bowls of any kind, crocheted linens of any kind, pianos unless they are Steinway.
We sat down with both of our kids and asked them what they wanted. DS wanted nothing. DD wants our Lenox plates and holiday serving and dessert pieces, and the Sterling silver flatware. And eventually she would like my oak pedestal table. And a Larkin Desk, dresser and night stand.
No one wants the rest of the dishes, glassware (and we have nice larger wine glasses), serving pieces, the rest of the furniture, our oriental rugs, the artwork on our walls, my collection of piggy banks, even DHâs tools (he has a lotâŚ).
OhâŚand no one wants any of our lamps either. I think DD might take the duck decoy ones for an office spaceâŚbut thatâs a maybe.
SoâŚ@dadTwoGirls sit down with your girls and ask. If they say no, believe them.
We had friends who did thisâŚbut they still saved some things from grandparents. Well when they sold their house and moved, their kids still didnât want the stuff. They opined that they should have gotten rid of it when the kids said no the first time.
We have one large Rubbermaid bin in our attic for each of our kids. It contains things we think are specialâŚbut we also know that after we are gone, they will likely toss it all. But thenâŚwe wonât know.
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I never wanted any of my parents stuffâŚuntil after they were both gone. My brother was the same way. When we went to clean out the condo though, we found it hard to put stuff in the donate pile. We both took much more than we expected. Weâve now done a detailed inventory of whatâs in our house so if something happens to H and I, D will know what the important and valuable pieces are and where they came from. She may still ditch everything but at least sheâll know the family history behind everything.
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I am sentimental. And the child of an immigrant. So I love old stuff. Parent came to the US with two suitcases⌠I canât leave the house without a ginormous tote bag filled with stupid things âJust in caseâ. So I definitely see both sides of this.
To the OP- call back the estate sale people, see if they will take a few boxes of the nice stuff that didnât sell and add it to the âstashâ of their next sale. Or see if someone is having a garage sale in a fancy neighborhood near yours and will let you add your stuff to theirs. I got rid of a crystal chandelier that way- the folks who shop tag sales in my neighborhood are looking for Little Tikes play stuff and cheap end tables, not expensive things (but it sold).
Agree about Facebook marketplace- people there expect to come and pick things up at the end of your driveway so you donât have to pack and ship. They will Venmo you the money once they inspect whatâs in the box⌠very easy.
If the Limoges is truly valuable, it might be worth getting UPS to pack it for you if you can take the time to put it up on ebay. My local UPS store does a fantastic job packing⌠when I was executor of an estate, I used them to ship all sorts of awkward and fragile items⌠and since youâre using them to ship, the packing costs seemed quite reasonable.
re: the kids-- nobody under the age of 40 wants cut crystal, anything with a gold border (i.e. canât be put in the dishwasher) or anything that needs polishing. So I figure my hoarding tendencies (I love china, crystal, serving pieces, a nice pastry tong perhaps?) will die out with meâŚ
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My kids have already taken a few things but doubt theyâll want the bigger stuff, like the âbrown furniture.â They have some smaller brown furniture thatâs been in the family but the bigger pieces will probably end up being sold or donated.
Older son and his wife did take(and use) 4 Edinburgh crystal liqueur/cordial glasses we brought back from a trip to Scotland as a gift for Hâs late parents. I am happy they wanted them(even though they arenât worth much , they have sentimental value) and hope both kids will want a few more things down the line. But Iâm not counting on it.
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I have gold rimmed Lenox. I use it three maybe four times a year for nicer dinners. It goes in the dishwasher just fine. We have had it for 40 years, and the gold is still there. It would take a LOT of dishwasher washes to wear the gold away.
NowâŚthe microwaveâŚwellâŚthatâs another issue! Canât use this there.
But I have encouraged folks to buy sets of china at my thrift shopâŚand just put it in the dishwasher. I mean reallyâŚ.we are selling service for 12 for less than $100. Sometimes less than $50. You canât buy paper plates and plastic serving pieces for that price!
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After we finished our kitchen remodel this spring, rather than buy new everyday dishes, I pulled my grandmotherâs gold-rimmed Haviland out of the basement and now Iâm using it for everyday. Into the dishwasher it goes. Better than sitting unseen/unused in a box. And itâs beautiful! No microwave, though!
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Are there any web auction sites in your region? We have several that specialize in downsizing nicer items. They tend to have a larger audience.
We also have several nice consignment shops whose proceeds go towards cancer or humane society, and other charitable causes. Much nicer merchandise than most Goodwill stores, so items sell at higher prices. We even have a âhigh-endâ Goodwill shop that specializes in better merchandise.
Do you have any local eBay seller shops that take a commission? There used to be one near us. They handle all the postings, communication, shipping and take a %.
Sounds like what you really want is for someone to want these items (as opposed to making some money). Perhaps a local shelter or church or âbuy nothingâ group would want them and find a use for them.
All of you have inspired me to bust out my âgood chinaâ and use. Havenât even handled it in prob 20 years.
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Itâs very easy to find out what replacements will take and for how much. No commitment on your part. I had two sets of china they said they did not need more of. Made that goodwill decision really easy!
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