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selling cups and saucers - posting?

19 replies

steppemum · 09/02/2021 11:45

Does anyone sell china via ebay?

I have sold a lot in the past, but I have now got a huge box full of cups and saucers and tea plates. They are from a church hall, so not brand name expensive. I have no idea if there is a market for them. woudl like to sell, as the money will go back to refurbishing the hall.
Most are small cup and saucer, veyr old fahsioned looking, gold pattern round top of cup, roudn saucer and roudn the tea plates. There are also some (10?) plain ones. No names on the bottom. there are also a big pile of assorted cake plates - you know the ones that are slightly shaped to be the serving dish for some cake, about the size of a dinner plate.

so

  1. Have you done this? Is there a market for them?
  2. How do you post them? Or do you only do collections?


Thanks
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steppemum · 09/02/2021 11:51

when I say sold a lot, I mean of other stuff, but never china/breakables.

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Snowballs1 · 09/02/2021 12:03

If the cups & saucers are delicate bone china with gilt rims they would sell, not as easily or for as much as ones that are a well known make. I've sold china, I wrap each cup in corrugated cardboard from cut up boxes. I use a layer of polystyrene/cardboard between each saucer & cardboard wrapped tight round all the saucers so they can't move. Plenty of scrunched up paper padding between the items & side of the box. Bundle them so each parcel is less than 2kg as over that postage price goes much higher, you can send 2 parcels of 2kg each if you want to sell a heavier lot. I don't like buying new bubble wrap but it can be useful to keep the weight below 2kg being lighter than paper.

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steppemum · 09/02/2021 12:06

that's really helpful, thank you.

No sure if they are bone china, somehow I don;t think so. Thin, and gilt rimmed, but it is quite heavy gold pattern.

definitley worth a try anyway.

So packed like that and through the Royal Mail, they are fine? Don't break?

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steppemum · 09/02/2021 12:08

I do have loads of these, and looking at ebay listings, I can't decide if I should sell them as individuals, eg one cup, one saucer and one tea plate, or sell them in sets of 4/6.

Any thoughts?

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hesterstanhope · 09/02/2021 12:14

I’ve sold about 10000 things on eBay. I’ve sold a collection of over 2000 teacups too.

Customers on ebay are mainly interested in brand names which are searchable (Shelley, Wileman etc.)

Teacups are tricky to pack and you need a larger box and lots of packaging especially for trios.

There is a revival of interest in tea parties for baby showers and the like where I live so I’d recommend Facebook marketplace. Use terms like vintage, tea party, shabby wedding etc. I’ve also sold generic cups for candlemaking.

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steppemum · 09/02/2021 12:26

Customers on ebay are mainly interested in brand names which are searchable (Shelley, Wileman etc.)

yes I did wonder about that.
In our area the whole vintage thing hasn't caught on yet.
I actually have a dealer coming to collect other stuff (we are clearing out a church hall) this week, and I will offer him the cups and saucers. He is coming over from another town, where there is much more of a vintage vibe.

To be honest, we have thought about just charity shop or tip.
But I really want to

  1. not add to landfill
  2. every penny towards refurbishment is worth having
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Eleoura · 09/02/2021 12:40

I too was going to say that 'crazy tea sets' (all mismatched) can be popular for weddings, parties etc. Obvioulsy not at the moment though, but it might be worth looking at alternative uses for the cups, other than for tea:

  • As small vases/centre pieces/posy for example


  • There was an episode of Escape to the chateau, where the woman had a crazy tea set. She glued the cup at an angle to the saucer and used them in her Victorian bird cage as bird feeders!


  • Turn the cups into candles


  • Put a small succelent plant of a herb plant inside, or sell as a 'kit' with a packet of seeds for them to make it up themselves


  • Market as mothers day gifts, or fill with Easter eggs


I'm sure there are other ideas on pinterest. I know this isnt exactly what you asked, but you'd possibly get more by giving them a different use.
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steppemum · 09/02/2021 12:51

Eleoura - lots of good ideas there.

I'm not sure if I have the time and energy to do all that!
I'll have to see.

If there was the promise of a summer fete somewhere, or a car boot sale, I might get a table and try and do it.

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Snowballs1 · 09/02/2021 16:44

They could get broken with royal mail, the trouble is packaging really well takes lots of time, so if you can sell them locally it would be a lot easier. Yes trios can be a good way to sell but I think they would have to be quite fancy.

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Sleepyquest · 09/02/2021 19:26

I sold 2 teacups recently and one broke in transit so had to refund all the money

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steppemum · 09/02/2021 19:28

Hmm, yes I think I'll try and sell them as larger lots on local selling pages

I am really hoping that the dealer coming to the hall tomorrow will offer me some money for them and then I can let him have them

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Eleoura · 09/02/2021 21:27

Let us know how you get on OP.

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steppemum · 10/02/2021 14:40

well, I've stuck them all as a job lot on Gumtree. There are over 200 items, and I jsut cannot split and sell and pack them all, too much!

But it is sell as a job lot of they will end up at the tip.

So let's see how they go.

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Findahouse21 · 10/02/2021 14:43

Given the rise in DIY wedding craft stuff, ivd try finding some soeicif wedding selling sites on Facebook if you have it?

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steppemum · 10/02/2021 14:52

I know, but I am not on FB, and also we are not really in the right area.
The whole tea cups wedding thing just isn't happening around us.

I am not really trying to make a load of money. I just hate the idea of perfectly good stuff going into landfill, and I feel a responsibility to get some money for it, on behalf of the church I am selling it for.

I'd be very happy for someone to take the lot, use it (or even resell it) and give me a bit of cash to give bakc to the church

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Eleoura · 10/02/2021 21:56

@steppemum- what happened with the dealer than came today?

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steppemum · 11/02/2021 12:19

well, he took loads of other stuff, (100 chairs!) and we are very happy with it. But he wasn't interested in china.

So I've put it on gumtree and ebay as a large job lot, and we'll see (well, almost, I don't have photos yet, so it will go live on ebay tomorrow)

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OneInEight · 11/02/2021 13:25

We were selling china and managed to sell stuff like this by selling mix matched cups and saucers for weddings or tea shops. Didn't get a huge amount of money but at least got rid of it. Takes a lot of space to pack securely e.g. 10 cups and saucers in a 30 cm square box only was about the maximum I could put in. P.S. If Any if Royal Albert Country Roses (or any other Royal Albert to be honest) you will get more for it by taking it to a real life auction house then on ebay at the moment. I never can quite fathom why as it is really common. Other makes very hit and miss.

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steppemum · 11/02/2021 19:38

Thanks, that's helpful.

My Granny used to have a set of that Royal Albert. Funny how things come around again isn't it?

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