How Much for These Plates?

I’ve recently discovered a new addiction.

I assume that every married couple gets a bevy of wedding gifts that they have no idea what to do with. To say the least these are not things you registered for, and what is more, they are often confusing. Most of these came in the form of strange dishes. After we got back from our honeymoon, Lindsay and I did our best to track down the store of origin and return these gems, but there were a few that came from nowhere. Apparently some of our guests were very crafty, so much so that they had their own kilns and glazing operations. But before I go further, let me be quick to say that it wasn’t any of your gifts that we returned or were confused by – just other peoples’ presents. Those other people are always pulling stuff like this.

Since these items that have no home, what do you do with them? There is always the regifting, but these aren’t exactly the kinds of things you want your friends to connect with you. “Why did Kyle and Lindsay give us plates with clowns on them? Weird!” One of these gifts still rides around in the trunk of the Jetta in a gift bag, just waiting to find its home. This actually worked for us one day when we were carting around this platter. We were shopping at HEB of all places and I saw the box. Viola! we had $8 to spend on groceries. But the granddaddy of them all spent about six months on the floor beside this computer desk I’m at right now, and has spent the other nine in a closet.

It is a soup tureen. Not just any tureen, but an Arthur Court Tureen with Ladle. Let me give you the Dillards description:

Arthur Court “Grape” Tureen with Ladle

// This stunning 3-piece tureen boasts a scrolling vine design. Includes lid and ladle. Rendered in sand-cast aluminum that’s been hand-finished and buffed to a luminous shine that never needs polishing.
15” long x 5” wide x 10” high.

This thing is a chunk. I’m not sure how much it weighs, but I can tell you that when I sell it on ebay, I’m charging $20 for postage. And that brings me back to my first line. I’ve been meaning to list this thing ebay for a while, ever since I first took the time to research what it was online. To my surprise, this less-than-aesthetically-pleasing item is somehow a collectible, and it retails for $200. That’s right, $200 for this:

After all, it does hold 3 1/2 quarts of whatever you got. So finally, after months of procrastination, I posted it on ebay a couple of nights ago. And let me tell you, it has taken off like wildfire. Within eight hours I had a lady from California who wanted to buy it outright. Sensing her desperation I quoted her a price that was pretty close to retail and her excitement waned. But within 36 hours, the bidding has gotten up to over $50, with over 4 days left in the auction.

And now I’m an e-bay maniac. I want to sell everything I can think of: old computers, dishes, furniture. It is just so much fun to watch the amount rise and dream of a bidding war break out between grandma #1 and grandma #2. There is someone out there for whom this grape soup tureen will finish off their collection of cast-aluminum grape-patterned knickknacks, and I want to be the one who helps them do that. To this point, I have restrained myself to listing a rarely used iPod and a once-nice film camera that has been in a drawer for 16 months. But I have to stop myself from opening the cabinet where we keep the china and dreaming about what price it would fetch in its original packaging.

But aside from that, if you find yourself in need of a nice aluminum bowl (with lid and ladle!), a third generation 20 GB iPod, or a Nikon N75 35mm film camera with 20-80mm Nikkor lens, please join in the fray.