My MIL passed away and left a garage full of greenware, molds, and even a small kiln. How do I find out what any of it is worth? I did look up the kiln and it sells on eBay for $1500.00.
By Von
Condolences on the loss of your mother-in-law.
It sounds as though she had everything a ceramics hobbyist dreams of-I know this because I love doing ceramics and there is no public studio (aka ceramics shop or hobby centre) where I live now. When I lived in the States I used to scour the local classifieds for something like what you have. Here in Scotland it's even harder to find a public studio!
The price of used molds can be surprisingly high, so not only do you have a top-end kiln (the really good 'home' kilns bought new cost around $1000-2000, so you do have a good one there) but you have molds too!
The best way to sell what you have is as a lot. It's quicker than trying to piece it out. There are two ways you can determine how to price the lot, you can pay someone from a local studio to come out, give you a ballpark figure based on seeing what you have, and may even be able to suggest a reliable auction house to get it moved on quickly.
Or you can do the research yourself, save your self some money and then list it on local classifieds boards (be sure to follow safety rules for using online classifieds which are usually posted on the home page of the classified site-if they don't have rules posted that's your first and biggest clue you may not want to use that site!)
If you do the research yourself, you'll find the overall condition and number of firing hours on the kiln will lower or raise the resale value, as will what glazes were used in firing-the glazes are important because the settings on the kiln depend on the type of glaze and using the wrong setting for the glaze can be a kiln killer; the mold pricing is going to depend on what is trending with hobbyists in your area.
Greenware is harder to price sight unseen because so much depends on the quality and quantity of slip used-poor quality and/or incorrect pouring can result in unsatisfactory greenware that has minute (or large) cracks and other faults that can cause real problems when firing. Most public studios will not be interested in it because of the variables-you'll find they don't want to talk about buying it because it could blow up in their kiln; they frequently will not fire anything they didn't pour because 'stranger greenware' can be a kiln killer.
Greenware is extremely fragile and hard to ship, too, so that one bit of your inheritance may prove the hardest to move on.
Any books or hobby magazines, the owner manual, etc, will bump up the price of the lot too, as will any notes she made regarding kiln and firing processes, glazes, and pouring sessions. Serious ceramics hobbyists usually make up notebooks or binders and keep meticulous notes. If she did this those notes will have high value to a hobbyist interested in buying.
You can use simple search terms like 'ceramics hobbyist equipment supplies' to get started, and you can also search the brand names from her paints, molds (should be on the bottom 'lip'), and the name of the kiln with the word 'resale' or 'used'.
If you're willing to put a little work into it you'll save money and I think you'll be surprised at the value of what you have there. There is interest out there for something like what you have. If you lived in Scotland I would be highly tempted!
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I do not know where to go to get rid of ceramics molds that my mother owned. She was a certified ceramic teacher in the 1990s. Now I have so many I would like to get rid of them, but I do not want to throw them in the dumpster. The molds are in good condition. Please give me information on where to go and get rid of them.
You don't mention how many you have. There are still some that are quite valuable and worth selling on eBay (very well packaged when shipping so they don't break).
Because of the fragile nature, you are best to first see if a local shop will buy them from you.
If not, you can always list them for sale in a local venue like NextDoor, Facebook local Sale Want Trade groups, and the like.
Another option is to have a yard sale advertised solely. to see these.
Unless you sell as a lot or in lots (meaning grouping together 2 or more), it may take ages to sell these so setting up lots or bundles will be your best bet for moving them quickly.
To value them you will need to check eBay SOLD prices to see what people pay and price accordingly. I can guarantee you as a long term reseller if you do the in person sales you will NOT get eBay prices, but it will give you a guide for how to start, and wiggle room when people want to offer much less.
Best wishes in your sale! Post back how it goes!
There are still some community colleges that teach ceramics. You can try to donate them there. I also know that they have senior classes that do ceramics. They will love the molds and you can donate them there too.
Any place that does ceramic parties would be happy to have them. You can also post on Freecycle
This is not a very popular venue anymore but some areas still have areas (sheds/barns mostly) where people can do work on projects and use their kiln.
You might try Google with ceramic classes and your zip code to see what pops up. (You will have -pottery on Google as that is what is popular right now and will have many sites.)
Here is a group that post listings for sale and also where people go when looking for a certain mold.
You might want to check out this site:
These still sell but they are a lot of trouble to sell and very fragile to ship.
You also have to store them until sold and sellers keep items like this listed for months/years and some never sell.
You can check molds listed for sale on eBay (the largest site) but asking prices are not value prices as these are just a figure a seller would like for their items.
In vintage molds alone that are over 1,700 listed for sale.
www.ebay.com/
If you want to look for some of your molds to find a value you can check eBay's sold listings:
www.ebay.com/
I believe you should check out a forum and so like several others have done; post a couple of pictures of where the molds are stored (and city) and see if someone is interested in the lot. Although most sell their molds for $1-$20 each in a case like this so be prepared to have to sell cheap.
This might work well if there are any shops/classes in your area.
Hi Im just wondering if you got rid of your MILs molds. Im looking to purchase some. MiMi Gibson
In response to the I'm person inquiring about molds . I have enough molds to fill a two car garage from floor to ceiling I want to sell. They are like new and some of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen. if you are interested I can send you pictures.
We have around 800 and a kiln.cheap
Hi I'm interested in purchasing your kiln. How much are you asking. My mother was looking for a kiln.
My MIL passed away and left hundreds of pieces of greenware and molds. I don't know what they are worth or how to sell them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
By Yvonne
I inherited a ceramic shop in minnesota, over 200 molds and want to donate them, any one interested can contact me at thomazin_m@yahoo.com
I inherited a ceramic room from my mother in Reno Nevada. Anyone interested? Free for the taking. It is a huge amount, both molds and greenware.
I am not quite ready to start my ceramic business but I am very interested in doing so. Too bad I'm not closer to being started but you should be able to find someone if not my number is 334-400-6263 Elizabeth
I have approximately thirty ceramic, medium size, molds for various items. Can you give me any idea of what I should ask for them when I list them in the paper?
By CCG from KY
I have some ceramic molds and wanted to know theire\ value: TM-31 clown, TM-37 caterpillar, TM-16 snail, TM-23A Rocky raccoon, and TM-3 ladybug. They are from Duncan Enterprises.
$10-$20 each asking price on eBay. www.ebay.com/
The small molds are not constantly selling for very much but maybe if you combine 3 or more in a group you may be able to sell them for $20-$30 plus shipping but this type of merchandise is slow selling and it is not a popular craft anymore.
The finished pieces are very difficult to sell and generally only people who already have their kiln and equipment are still buying molds.
Occasionally there will be classes and workshops in some cities but not widespread.
You can do your research for each item on eBay and if you find one you can place a 'watch' on the listing to see if it sells.Asking prices do not represent current value but only show what a seller would like to receive for their items.
Only sold items will give you the value as it shows someone actually paid that amount.
www.ebay.com/
Here is a sold listing on eBay that shows someone paid $11 for 3 of the small molds - clown, worm, unicorn.
www.ebay.com/
You ca also check eBay sold listings for your items to find current value. The list changes daily.
www.ebay.com/
There are very few of these molds listed on any other sites but you can Google occasionally to see what the market is doing.
A long time ago these items were very popular for crafters and they used them a lot. Now they are not so popular and not used as often by people who make crafts. I would suggest that you try to sell all the itmes together and you should make around $20 to $30 for them. If you post them online make sure to ask for the shipping cost when they are sold.
My MIL and I bought a ceramic shop in January and we were overwhelmed with all the molds we got (over 17k!). One of the very large molds we found is a large blue collar pig. With some research I found out that this large mold is a vintage piggy bank. I think the name of the mold is "Mr. Harley Boy Forever Pig". The mold company is Tesoro, and I have the mold number, #200. It's a giant pain to pour and apparently a pain to find the cost of the mold as well.
I found one website that has the mold and sells painted pieces of this mold for $799.99! We have a lady who is very interested in buying the mold itself. I don't want this lady to over pay, but if the mold is worth something I don't want to under charge either. I guess my question here is, is there any way to find a price of a mold that is rare and hard to even find on the internet? I have tried everything to find a price and keep getting nowhere.Kudos to you for entering this venture! The art of ceramics is being lost in today's society. Therefore it will be hard to find a value for this mold because it has no value except to the one who values it. (I hope this makes sense!) Anyway.. You may just need to place a price on the mold. If the interested party is agreeable than you have made an acceptable valuation.
On myfirstpiggybank.com, a finished piece is going for $899. I assume this mold is valuable too. I think you would have to find a dealer who specializes in these things to give you an estimate.
I have some ceramic bisque I want to sell. I researched and found a formula for pricing them which is start with the price of the mold x 10% for green ware, add 5% if you clean it and another 5% if you fire it. So green ware would be 10% of the mold price and bisque would be 20% of the mold price.
However, I have several pieces that I don't know how much the mold cost and I can't find them on the internet. Does anyone know how to price a mold? Or is there another formula to use?
