I've met/"met" some lovely people recently.
The first was a lady on Ebay, who was selling some modern china. I was interested in some pasta bowls she was selling, and I also decided to buy a couple of other items as well. I was very careful in my purchase, I only bought what I planned to use. (And I'm selling a set of pasta bowls to make room for the new ones)
She did a special listing for me with the bits I wanted, and I explained that I was trying to only buy items I'd actually use. We ended up chatting about having to dispose of parents belongings, books and china in particular, and she had had a similar experience to me.
In some cases, my experience was "worse" (the volume of stuff) and in others, hers was much worse (the distance involved).
I bought her china even though I realised that the manufacturer was having a sale, and I could have it (and a bit more) for the same price.
It arrived today, and it's lovely. The pasta bowls are perfect. The other pieces I bought are pretty... but they've possibly been superseded by a subsequent purchase.
..............................
The second person was also through me buying china. I was actually searching for a different pattern by the same company.
A couple of weeks ago, I'd arranged to buy a tea set of china I thought I might like. I wanted to make a cake stand, and have a few cups and saucers, and the rest was going to go into my party box. The seller was some distance away, and she agreed to keep the items until I next went to see my Mum. She isn't on the way at all, but we can go via her and only add an hour to our journey in one direction, whereas a specific round trip would take 5 hours.
While waiting, I kept searching for pieces in this pattern. I was particularly looking for salad plates, soo I could make a cake stand. I found my salad plates, they arrived, they were quite lovely.
Anyway. I continued looking for bits for this new set. I was wondering if I could find dinnerware pieces, so I was searching Ebay, Facebook, Gumtree, Vinted. There weren't many bits of interest about, at least not at a price I wanted to pay. I realided that not all sellers list things accurately, so as well as looking for the pattern, I was also looking for the manufacturer.
While going through numerous irrelevant listings, I saw an ad for a dinner service in a different pattern. I'd seen a lot of patterns by this manufacturer, but none (apart from the one I've yet to collect) had tempted me. But this pattern made me look carefully. I'd seen a couple of pieces in passing, but I'd not looked at it. It was a lot of useful pieces, and it wasn't particularly expensive. The seller was also willing to post.
I put it on my watch list, and thought about it for a while.
I kept looking, and I found myself actively searching for that pattern. It really seemed lovely. Sometimes though, they aren't as lovely in the flesh. Or a pattern that seems pleasant on a sandwich plate becomes overpwoering on a whole dinner service.
This set though.... I didn't think it would be.
In the end, I decided to buy it. If it turned out to be overpowering, I'd just sell it on in smaller lots.
It turned out that the seller was new to Ebay, and Ebay isn't very helpful when you're starting out. The seller hadn't realised that Ebay had put a shipping option on, and that the shipping option was a fraction of what it should have been. I had realised that the shipping was incorrect, and I was ready to offer the right amount.
I was a little worried about all that china being posted, so I suggested that I collect and that we met half way. The seller said they couldn't drive that far. They were very polite and offered to cancel the sale. I thought about it, and decided that I'd just travel the whole way and collect it.
And I'm so glad I did.
The seller was a lovely lady called Iris. The china was her wedding present in 1966. She initially thought I was a dealer (I'm not surprised, with the amount of china related listings I have had!) and asked if I was going to sell it on. I explained that I bought it to use, and I had never expected to choose a floral set. She asked why, and I explained about my parents' 5 humungous sets of Colclough. She empathised, as her in-laws had been china collectors (having worked at the potteries in Stoke) so she had had to deal with many sets herself some years ago.
She showed me the china, and it was....stunning! So much better in real life than in the pictures.
We chatted for ages, and I'm so glad I went to see her. I have a lovely set of china, and she knows her china has gone to someone who will love it.
I'm still going to collect the other set. I really like it (I dont think I'll love it like I love Iris' china) and I think the two will complement each other.
Buying it has made me re-think my sandwich plate collection, and the contents of my party box. I'm selling all my sandwich plates. I've given my brother one of my Colclough Wayside cake stands; I'm selling another (proceeds to my Mum), and I'm keeping just one in my party box. I'm keeping just 8 Wayside trios, and they are all in the party box, not on my tea set shelf. I'm keeping one Avon cake stand, and I'm selling the other (proceeds to my Mum). I'm probably not keeping any other Avon pieces.
I'm selling the spares for my current dinner set (I have a load in the loft which will be going). I absolutely love my current china, I've had it for more than 30 years and I keep coming back to it. I've no doubt I'll be coming back to it again when the novelty of the new set has worn off, However, I'll be keeping just a (relatively) small number of pieces, maybe 8 each of plates and bowls, in the loft. Everything else, including all the the ancillary pieces (like the serving platter, gravy boat, serving bowls), can go.
I just need to gird myself for the selling effort.
