topic Re: Someone here may be able to answer this question about royal doulton for me? in Coins, Stamps, Collectables & Antiques

Someone here may be able to answer this question about royal doulton for me?

margomeoz — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 22:21:59 GMT

Why is it so hard to sell I have heaps of it all made in England not the stuff they make in China now.

It is the Old Country Rose and I have a full dinner set plus tea pot little shoes and stacks of other stuff.

I thought now that it is made in China the English things would become more valuable but it seems not?

Re: Someone here may be able to answer this question about royal doulton for me?

oldworldlady — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:43:44 GMT

Well, I think the problems are, in no particular order

You can't put it in the diswasher

Fashion is still minimalist

Nobody has any money

Nobody trusts the brand any more

Ebay is not the place it was

and probably a few more. Plus Royal Albert is/was different to Royal Doulton. If Doulton have taken them over, that's another downside.

Re: Someone here may be able to answer this question about royal doulton for me?

siddieswans — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 01:01:41 GMT

Hi Margo

Without actually seeing one of your ended listings, it is a bit hard to comment on why you can't sell your items. However I will try and make make a few general comments which may apply.

Really these are usually just china collectables, and the market for such items has dramatically decreased in the last 20 years. There are very few NEW collectors for what are really mass-produced china items. While no doubt your pieces are finer quality than what is being produced today, for people who are going to USE the pieces, as in eat from them, this is probably not an issue. And there are very few young people today starting out to fill china cabinets with display pieces. So your market for selling is usually people who have been collecting for many years and want to add to their collection. Are your pieces unusual enough to attract them?

At the same time there are many older collectors who have to downsize, and who have items such as yours to sell, so you have a lot of competition. In terms of bricks and mortar auctions, pieces like this usually bring maybe a third or even less of what they made 20 years ago. So you are also trying to sell into a market with reduced value.

As I said initially, I don't know how you word your listings. I assume you mention Made In England in the title. Do you add the word Albert? I gather they are the same pattern, and of course Royal Albert and Royal Doulton are now the same company. If you check Oz listings there are about 50 times as many listings for Royal Albert OCR and so many more sales. I note that some sellers seem to list this way now. Also do you include a picture of the backstamp? There are so many seconds on the market these days that a clear backstamp picture is essential. Price is usually the bottom line (as always). Have there been many similar sales on Oz eBay lately, at around the price you are asking? If so, it may be just a matter of time.

Finally, may be you can use it instead of selling it? I presume you bought it originally because you liked it. I know you can't do much with strictly ornamental pieces, but certainly the dinner set and teapot are useful. I use all my "special" pieces as much as possible, as it gives me more pleasure than I would get monetary value from trying to sell them.

Hopefully someone else will come along who can add something more useful. Good luck!

Re: Someone here may be able to answer this question about royal doulton for me?

bsal6160 — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:33:26 GMT

The collectors amongst us are looking for the unusual, the unique, the one off, the rare. Royal Albert does not fill many of these (if any). Just because something is old does not make it more valuable either. Old Country Rose is not old. As for the claim about being made in england is better than the 'stuff in china'. The porcelain process is identical wherever it was made. Its all about the first four things I mentioned, but sorry the bog standard, mass produced Royal Albert Old Country Rose does not fill them.

Re: Someone here may be able to answer this question about royal doulton for me?

gem-boy-g — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:55:37 GMT

I think also that that there is so much of the Old Country Rose around whoever wants has probably already found it, I went to a small antique fair in Perth recently and there was a lot of it there, it was also there last year on the same stalls.