How to Find Antique Dinnerware

Recently I had been dabbling with the idea of redoing my place setting at was intrigued by something Paula Dean said in a recent article about mixing styles of dinnerware. Apparently as long as the basic colors, or materials, match then mixing patters is now acceptable. Good news for me!

I had a few pieces of antique dinnerware that I loved but there were far from enough pieces to set the whole table. I managed to fill my table for the holidays with wonderful looking antique dinnerware for very little money. Need to do the same thing? Here are the best places to look:

Friends and Family

The first people I told of my need for antique dinnerware pieces were my friends and family. They eagerly donated several interesting pieces of antique dinnerware that were in the same color family as what I already had. A few people even gave me extra pieces that did not match in the hopes that I could trade them for acceptable pieces, or sell them for cash to buy what I wanted. Both were good options!

Garage & Estate Sales

Another place to look for antique dinnerware is in the classified section of my newspaper. During my searches I saw several promising garage sales listed antique dinnerware so I got up early to seek them out. I netted a rather large collection of mismatched pieces during my travels. Some fit in nicely, the rest went into the sell/trade box. Some people had large sets and knew what they had so they were asking quite a bit for their pieces. Luckily there were other people who had mismatched items that they were willing to let go for a song. Those were my favorite finds!

Flea Market

The next weekend after I went to garage sales was the third Saturday of the month - that meant the flea market was setting up that week! Flea markets are great places to find antique dinnerware. The week that I went the selection of antique dinnerware was varied. There were people asking way too much for their dinnerware which they thought were antique, yet were really just collectable at best. There ware a few vendors who had a few mismatched pieces of antique dinnerware that they had carried around for too long and wanted to get rid of. I made a few smart purchases with those people!

I found a lady who had a rather large collection of antique dinnerware in the exact color I needed. The best thing about the antique dinnerware set was that it contained "completer pieces." There was a gravy boat, sugar & creamer bowl, soup bowls, and salt and pepper shakers as well as a large serving platter. She was asking a rather steep price for her antique dinnerware but I managed to make a deal that made sense for both of us. After I ran back to my car and pulled out the box full of odd antique dinnerware pieces I had been given I offered to trade them to her for the set I wanted if she would give me the price I wanted. She happily accepted the offer. Those extra pieces had come in handy after all!

eBay

I don't recommend looking on eBay for antique dinnerware unless you have a lot of money to spend. I find almost everything that would match my color theme way overpriced. Anything that was a reasonable price had a huge shipping cost to offset the lower selling price. Because of the way eBay has decided to gouge its sellers with ridiculously high fees they have unfortunately resorted to using that tactic almost exclusively. I did bookmark a few interesting auctions but they ended without a bid from me which was fine as they ended at a price I would never have paid anyway. But, if money is no object, then eBay may be an option for you.

Antique Store

When you have exhausted all other avenues then you can start hitting the antique stores. When I was down to only needing a few coffee cups to complete my set I found some while browsing through a local antique store. I don't make a habit of going into this type of store often, especially when looking for antique dinnerware, because they are the highest priced option around. Dealers are well educated in the value of the antique dinnerware items they are selling. They have to be as the rent for spaces in those places in usually very high. I did locate a set of five antique dinnerware coffee cups that would fit in well with what I had already collected. I only needed three but having a few extra never hurt! I haggled a bit and was able to get the seller to come down a bit on the price. I was willing to pay a bit more to finally have a complete set of antique dinnerware!

When you are looking for antique dinnerware, especially if you have the luxury of matching a color only and not a specific pattern, the options for finding matching antique dinnerware are many. For me the fun has been in the hunt for my antique dinnerware pieces as much as in the excitement I had when I was finally able to set a table with them! Keep your wits about you and don't jump at the first option presented to you. Your set of antique dinnerware will complete itself in no time once you know where to look and keep both eyes open for any possibility!