What do I do with all this china?

We've cleared our parents' houses too. Its a sad business. I discovered that there's lots of things I just couldn't bring myself to part with too.
Very sadly we found lots of things still in their packaging at MiLs: they had been 'too good to use' and kept for 'special occasions' that never came.

I understand too I had to break up a big wall unit with light up bar section it was a beauty but no one wanted it I too have got Mum and dads china mums huge elephant collection and lots of my grandads record collection and sheet music that mum had hung on to I can't bring myself to throw them away

I`m another one with tons of china to dispose of - auction houses aren`t interested unless it is something very special. Ebay is a possibility but you have to be careful posting breakables - and you can easily end up out of pocket by the time fees are paid.
People tell me that carboot sales can be good - but I`m not enthusiastic enough to get up at crack of dawn to stand in a muddy field.
I`m afraid your best bet is to consider it a charitable donation and take it to a local charity shop or jumble sale.

(Incidentally I am also burning G-plan wall units as I literally cannot give them away)

I had the same problem with my Mum's china. she had some lovely things including a paper-thin porcelain tea service from China.
I took it all to an auction house and they weren't interested, said it would never sell. So sadly had to scrap it.
Mind, she hadn't used it for years.

I am sorry, but I´ve been in much the same situation recently, after my mother died. People nowadays do not use dinner services, coffee sets, etc. Just a different age. My mother set store by her persian carpets, her china, her crystal. Nobody wants this nowadays. These are just material possessions. Give away to a charity shop and be glad you do not have to pay to get rid of them.

Department not 'depth'!

It's sad to say but that sort of china is just out of fashion. People seem to want plain white plates and just buy them in supermarkets.
I used to work in a large China department and loved our stock. I remember the January sales when a huge wave of ladies would sweep down the depth. Worcester Evesham was a very popular choice.

Try eBay.....you'll probably have better luck breaking up the service as people look for replacements. Pic of some of the EBay prices attached.

An auction house would be my first thought but to be honest, on experience of attending our local, very good, auction house, there is always a lot of china and it doesn't fetch a lot of money and as BBbevan says, there are fees to pay. They'll certainly give you an estimate though so no harm in asking. Chinasearch sounds a good idea, and there is a demand for china to make trios - tea plate, cup and saucer - which are very saleable.

If you or anyone you know uses facebook there are local pages called facebay for sfacebayitems.

Have you tried Gumtree mumski?

Also, if you have tea sets within your collection you may find that local local venues (from specialist cafes, to museums, farm shops, pubs etc.) anyone who offer afternoon teas, might be interested. It's worth asking!
Good luck

If you Google 'vintage teas' in your area you will find crockery hire companies who might be interested in buying them. They hire out mis-matched china for functions, so any quantity would be useful to them.

There is a site called Chinasearch.co.uk where you can list all you have and they will assess and contact you.
If you google "sell china dinnerware" there are other sites too.
other than that I would think it would be auction but then you would have commission to pay.

Take it to an auction house. They will give you an idea of how much you might get for it all. Remember though you will have to pay fees.

We lost our local 'Streetlife' site as we were force fed into a site called 'Nextdoor' I don't know if that was a national decision or whether 'Streetlife' still exists elsewhere?
If you still have a Streetlife site there is a section for sales and all the 'viewers' are local.
Good luck Mumski - we've been there and it's a horrible time as you are so split emotionally - you can't afford to give it away but don't want to appear money orientated.
Good luck - my thoughts are with you