Have you ever mailed...

[Luv2Roam]

collector's plates?
We have a ton of plates (and figureines) that we use to collect in the 80's - 90's.
To get rid of the clutter, and hopefully to get enough $ to build a new deck I would like to start selling them. (After all, they have been just stored away in boxes for years.)
Nope -- none are DIsney. The hundreds of plates and figurines, and not a Disney among them. (Rockwell, Lowell Davis, Zolan, Fred Stone, Jerner, China, Russia, wildlife, Christmas, etc.)
When I am at the post office store today I think I will grab a Priority box and see if a plate box fits in that. That may be the best way, if they fit.
But if anyone here has mailed collector's plates, I would be appreciative of any pointers!

 

[wdw4us2]

In my experience, it's best to wrap the plate in mulitple layers of bubble wrap AND styrofoam peanuts in the box.

Make sure the box is at least twice the size of the plate, so that there's approx. 2-3 inches of peanuts surrounding the plate on all sides. After the box is packed, shake it to make sure there's no movement inside.

P.S. I was a USPS letter carrier for 14 years, so I speak from experience!

 

[Luv2Roam]

The collector's plates come in pretty hefty cardboard boxes of their own. (For the most part. Not all do.)
They are very stable boxes. Other than driving over them, I can't see them being damaged in shipping.
But thanks for the consideration -- Good point!

 

[~Kathie]

I have shipped a lot of plates and I use priority box #7 from the PO. The local PO's don't carry them but you can order them from the 800 # or online. I wrap the plate box in bubble wrap, and even though they are heavy duty, I put that box in the #7 box with peanuts. And I make sure the plate isn't able to move around in it's original box. Some of those original boxes have styrofoam but many don't. For the ones that don't I wrap them in tissue so they don't move. I have also found that any type of glass becomes more fragile in this cold weather or in extremely hot weather. The plates need to be insulated from the cold or heat.

My sister retired, sold her house and moved and I sold hundreds of her plates for her. Every one arrived intact. In my experience the priority shirt boxes they carry at the PO aren't big enough or offer enough protection.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mickey527]

A question for those who collect Plates.
Do they re-sell for what Bradford Exchange states on their mailings?
I have quite a few collector plates (all Disney) and even though I won't sell them it will be nice to know that my children or maybe grandchildren will profit from my overspending now.
I would like to think of them keeping them because they meant so much to me, but I know my kids too well.
NOt that I am planning on anything happening soon, but when I go watch for the huge tag sale. I bet you can pick up some snowglobes, plates and pins really cheap. Peggie

 

[~Kathie]

From my experience selling them, most of them sell for less than their retail price.

Of course it depends on the subject matter and what kind of plate. The 3-D plates went for more than retail. The BRADEX some of them I was lucky they sold at all.