Keep it or sell it? Deciding what to do with the family silver
Would you rather have the money or the stuff? That's a question I often ask myself and my readers. The answer is a contest between sentimental value and market value — the old heartversus-head dilemma.
If anyone has a reason to be sentimental about family silver, it's Margaret Ingraham, of Syracuse, New York. Her maternal grandfather worked for Oneida, and her mother had a set of sterling from that company. But Ingraham cashed in the family silver a few weeks ago.
“I had great respect for my grandfather, and this silver was special to my mother, but there comes a point where you have to be honest,” she said. “I didn't need it, and the kids didn't want it.” Can't argue with that. I, on the other hand, fall into the sentimental camp. Although the Towle El Grandee (1964) Sterling is not a pattern I would have picked, I'm not ready to give up the silver my mom left me. When I bring out that felt-lined box for a special occasion, I flash back to the beautiful tables Mom used to set for family holidays.
There's no right and wrong here, but if you, too, have inherited the family silver, you should know what you have and what it's worth. Just don't base “worth” on what the silver you own would cost new today — or even used.
“Although new sterling flatware costs around $1,000 a place setting, you can barely give it away used,” said Sandy Bourbonnais, owner of
Silver Superstore, a Seattle-based online and brick-and-mortar store, which she and her husband opened 23 years ago. “Everyone has sterling they want to sell, so unfortunately there's an influx of used pieces, which often sell for next to nothing.”
Ouch. To test her theory, I ran the numbers using mom's silver as a basis. I hope you're sitting down.
A new 46-piece set of Towle El Grandee sterling, which is still available, retails for $13,000, Bourbonnais told me. I mute my phone to cough. I have 52 pieces — 12 four-piece place settings plus four serving pieces — which would bump that bill up to $14,000. Hold that thought.
A visit to Replacements Limited, a company that sells used silverware online, shows that I could buy a used 45-piece set of El Grandee for just under $3,000, about 75% less than new.
But if I wanted to sell my set to a company to resell, Bourbonnais said, “You can expect to get only 15% to 20% of what they will sell it for.” Or, in my case, $500 to $600. That makes sense when you realize resellers have to cover the costs to hold the merchandise in inventory (sometimes for years), maintain, insure, market and package it and still make a profit. You can try also selling it yourself, but good luck.
Thus, many sell their silver for its melt value instead. I took my silver chest to Orlando Estate Buyer in Winter Park, Florida, where owner Daniel Montesi weighed it in troy ounces and, based on that day's silver price, offered to buy it for $1,300 — one-tenth what it would cost new and less than half of what it would cost used.
Ingraham sold her silver, an assortment of
40 or so pieces, for melt value. She got $865 and divided the money among herself and siblings. She used her share to pay a car bill.
“My grandfather grew up in the Depression. He, of all people, would understand,” she said.
Meanwhile, silver preservationists, like Martin Biro, part owner of San Francisco's Biro & Sons Silversmiths, says, “To us, melting sterling silver is like burning books or art.”
In the end, the decision to keep or sell comes back to whether you want the silver or the money.