Selling your Porcelain
I am always buying Figurines,
Christmas and Collector plates, Dinnerware and Artware
(vases, etc.) by Royal Copenhagen, Bing & Grondahl,
and Dahl-Jensen. I also buy items by many of the other manufacturers you
see for sale on my website, including Wedgwood, Royal Doulton,
Edna Hibel, Hummel, and others. I buy single
items, complete collections, close-outs and dealer stocks.
HOW TO START: Please email me a list of the
items that you wish to sell. Most Danish figurines have a figurine number
on the bottom; that, plus a brief description (to avoid errors and
misunderstandings) is usually sufficient (RC #905 Boy). Most Royal
Copenhagen dinnerware made before 1990 has a fractional mark on the bottom
(1/1084); that, plus a brief description (dinner plate) is usually sufficient.
Please include information about any damage, defects, or repairs; see
below for more information on this subject. Please also include any other
information that you think would be useful, such as age or how much you want
for the item. A photo might help; a photo of a group or collection is
probably sufficient.
HOW MUCH DO I PAY: For most items, I pay about 40%
of the price that I sell the item for on my webpage. In some cases, I
will pay 50% or more, especially for rare and valuable items, or ones that I
have pre-sold. In other cases, I pay less than 40%, especially for items
priced under $25; items where I am already overstocked; or items where the
price listed on my webpage is what I charge to special order an item new from
the manufacturer. Prices of most collectibles have seen steep declines in
the last few years, and my website is not always up to date, so there may need
to be some adjustments to reflect current market conditions.
FACTORY
SECONDS: All items made by Royal Copenhagen,
B&G and Dahl-Jensen are inspected before leaving the factory. Items with minor defects are marked as
FACTORY SECONDS (also known as Second Quality, Second Sort, or II Sort) by
putting a scratch through the trademark on the bottom of the item. For Royal Copenhagen, it is usually a
vertical scratch across the three wavy lines. For B&G, it is usually a horizontal
scratch through the three towers, or through the letters “B&G”
if there is no three tower trademark.
For Dahl-Jensen, it is usually a horizontal scratch through the letters “DJ”. For second quality items valued over
$100, I usually pay half of what I would pay for a first quality item. For
more common items, I prefer not to purchase factory seconds.
DAMAGE, DEFECTS AND
REPAIRS: I
usually try NOT to buy anything with damage or repairs unless it is very rare
or valuable. Even then, I will pay substantially less than I would
if the piece was perfect. Some items have manufacturing defects even though
they are not marked as seconds; this is especially true of the very early Christmas
plates (B&G before 1905, Royal Copenhagen before 1920) or very large
pieces. In such cases, I may have to see the item before I can quote you
a price. All items are subject to my inspection and approval, but most
misunderstandings can be avoided if YOU carefully inspect each item
first, using a bright light. Just because an item belonged to your
grandmother does NOT mean that it hasn't been broken or repaired.
COMPLETE SETS: I buy complete sets of
Christmas plates, dinnerware, and other items. In most cases, these items
are NOT worth more because they are a complete set. When I sell
items in sets, I usually discount them rather than charging a premium. I
will price your set by adding up what I would pay for each individual item in
the set.
INSURANCE QUOTES: If you are just interested in
what your items are worth, you can find most of that information on my website.
If you want more information about figurines, I sell books on figurines
made by Royal Copenhagen, Bing & Grondahl, and
Dahl-Jensen. These books are priced and described at the top of each of
my figurine webpages. In you want something in writing to substantiate
the retail price for an insurance valuation or claim, I usually charge a modest
amount to prepare such a statement, or you can buy the figurine books, or you
can just print out the appropriate webpages with my retail prices. If you
are not offering something for sale, please do not ask what I would pay for it.
SHIPPING: When I make an offer, I usually
quote a price including shipping. In most cases, you have more control
over the shipping costs than I do. And most items are NOT worth more to
me just because they were shipped across country as opposed to across town.
If you have questions about shipping, I'm happy to help.
PAYMENT: If we have agreed on a price
for the items that you wish to sell, please ship them to me at the address
included with my offer. I will inspect them upon arrival, and I can
usually get a check in the mail within 48 hours. If there is any problem
(including damage in transit), I will contact you as soon as possible. If there
is something that I misunderstood or that you overlooked (an old repair, or a
factory second mark), I will return the item(s) to you, or perhaps make a new
offer to reflect the new information.
PLEASE PACK CAREFULLY! All too often, I receive items
broken in transit, invariably because they were not properly packed.
Writing FRAGILE on the outside is no substitute for adequate
packing. Please CLICK HERE for information and
recommendations for packing.
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