What do I do with all this china?

Mumski if you would like me to take some Astley off your hands, depending on what you have and how much you want for it, I would be interested. I have half a set from when my Mother died! Look forward to hearing from you but don't know how you go about exchanging tel nos etc to chat about it on an open forum!

We did quite well at a table top sale and auction but you have to be very realistic about what people will pay.we have realised our children won't want anything they have enough china of their own.

you can send a private message devongranny, see just above the post of the person you want to message

Not really this thread, but I have to say when Streetlife turned into Neighbours and was hopeless, one local person came up with the idea of having own Streetlife on Facebook, he started it last week, and loads of people have signed up, its a great idea, call it your own Town plus Streetlife, say "London Streetlife" on Facebook, it works have a go and see.

Sorry it should have been Nextdoor not neighbours!

Contact a theatre/film company to see if they are interested in taking them or a company that hires that sort of stuff out.

Mumski if you would like me to take some Astley off your hands, depending on what you have and how much you want for it, I would be interested. I have half a set from when my Mother died! Look forward to hearing from you but don't know how you go about exchanging tel nos etc to chat about it on an open forum!

I have been hunting for a three tier High Tea cake stand - my Mum and Gran had several but I don't know what happened to them after they died, they were probably despatched off to the Charity Shops along with other bits of china etc. My little granddaughters want to do an afternoon tea with their friends - I managed to find a lovely lustre coffee service in a local charity shop and a friend has kindly sent me a cake stand (her husband makes them from mismatched china, you just drill a hole in the centre of the plate and you can buy the central stand bit on ebay) so High Tea here we come!

As a matter of interest, I got an email from our local auction house this morning about a forthcoming sale. In the catalogue was a Royal Worcester sixty piece bone china dinner service; estimate £30 to £50. It might not go for anything like that, and there are still fees to pay, but it could go for more. From looking at back sale results, dinner ware is either not making its estimate or it is bottom end. For instance, a Royal Doulton 80 piece dinner and tea service estimated at £40 to £60 made £35. Tea services are selling better. I hope you don't just have to give it away, it would be a shame. I'm in pretty much the same position myself, having a lot of nice china we rarely use any more.

China has depreciated in value heavily over recent years. I have a hornsea collecting stored in the attic! I'm not giving it away! Have you tried a local auction/sale room with a reserve figure.

We were near Hornsea recently and I was very disappointed to find that the pottery had closed down.

jalima We have a large collection of Hornsea Contrast pottery, nearly all of it bought from the 'seconds' shop at the pottery, plus a few items picked up at car boot sales. We use it when we have a large family gathering ie. it's our 'best' china. My niece always refers to it as 'your retro china'. Cheek! I think it looks really modern.

This thread reminds me, yet again, that we really need to get rid of some 'stuff' so our family won't have the heart-breaking task of doing it.

Oh my goodness what an amazing bunch you are! So many good suggestions which I'll definitely pursue. I've also had contact with a couple of Gransnet members interested in buying some pieces.
As many of you have said, it's a good lesson for life - never keep anything for 'best' use it! and get rid of things you don't need/want. Having spent weeks clearing her house for example I will no longer keep all my cards from every event since the year dot. I'll never look at them again and yet another thing for my children to clear at some point.
many thanks to everyone for your help. x

I will no longer keep all my cards from every event since the year dot
I must have a cull

Some things go out of fashion others are just not relevant anymore because life styles have changed. Anyone want any brass candlesticks or a mahogany commode? It is the same with dinner sets; eating and entertaining habits have changed nobody has any need for them.

Yes, now and again someone might want them for a one-off event, but that is all. When I was valuing the contents of my parent's house for probate, I printed the results of someone's attempts to sell a similar dinner set on ebay. After six weeks of weekly auctions it still didn't sell, so I valued my parent's Noritake dinner and tea set at £nil.

It was the same with the expensive reproduction Georgian dining suite; table chairs and sideboard. Even a charity shop wouldn't take it. They said they had had one such suite in their shop for months and had 3 more in their warehouse. In the end someone took the table and chairs, but I had to take the sideboard to the tip.