Every day, dealers listed in Set Your Table are asked to provide value estimates yet the answer is not as simple as it seems. Of the three valuation categories, replacement value is the easiest to determine. Levy suggests visiting the web sites of dealers listed in Set Your Table, searching for a pattern and then averaging the prices. Determining value for resale to dealers or to potential buyers is more complicated. The easiest option is to sell to dealers but don't expect dealers to offer full market value, says Mara Fulghum Sprott, owner of Fulbreit China Locators, Memphis.
Dealers know their price limit.
Remember, we have to pay bills and run a business. Fulghum Sprott, who specializes in Haviland, Homer Laughlin and Metlox, does not have a magic price she will pay for replacement dinnerware. Levy says the most she will pay for a pattern is 50 percent of market price. That's my threshold, depending upon demand and condition. For china, I think one-half of market price is considered the top price paid by experts in the industry.