You’re scrolling through Waterford’s 20% off sale or eBay for vintage glassware…and it’s there that you see it. Your crystal wine glasses for a crazy good price. You think to yourself, gosh I should stock up. Then, after a few minutes of investigating, you discover the worst reason for the discount: your pattern has been discontinued.
I know this all too well because it happened to us.
Discontinued patterns happen. It’s a real thing. We selected our gold-rimmed wedding crystal because it paired beautifully with our formal dinnerware. I spent so much time on various place settings mixing and matching to find just the right stemware to pair with our set. And, it was discontinued late last year.
The worst of it was that we had no idea it had been discontinued until weeks after when we noticed our pieces were heavily discounted on some sites and unavailable on others.
Thankfully, we’ve been able scoop up various pieces here and there, but it’s something that happens frequently enough that I thought I’d jot down a few tips should it ever happen to you…
Buy extra pieces. The golden number of place setting items is often 12, but registering for and purchasing 14 or even 16 or 18 gives you a little bit of an insurance policy in case this happens – or one breaks. Life happens.
Check Replacements, eBay, and even Poshmark. eBay is the best source for discontinued items. I’ve found so many of our replacement crystal glasses on the site, often for less than retail. I’m a big proponent of the “best offer” feature and will even reach out to sellers with my predicament to see if they’re willing to sell me their stock at a discounted rate. All of the glasses I’ve gotten off of eBay are new with stickers, barcodes, and (more often than not) boxes.
Replacements, Ltd. is also a great source for discontinued china and crystal. While you won’t likely find as steep a discount as you would on eBay, you will find a better, more complete stock of the items you’re looking for.
Finally – and are you ready for this? – Poshmark is a fabulous hidden jewel to find your replacement goods. We’ve actually sourced a few glasses from this resell site.
Do a thorough search online. This is important especially if you’ve just found out your pattern has been discontinued. Chances are good that there are still retailers out there that either, a) still have lots in stock, or b) have just discounted their stock to turn them over. This gives you a huge advantage as you can scoop up as many of your pieces before anyone else finds out.
Pick a versatile pattern from the start. Our gold-rimmed pattern actually comes in a “plain” version, without the gold rim. It’s the perfect alternative for replacing our pieces well into the future. They blend into our existing crystal seamlessly since the pattern is exactly the same, just without the rim.
You can find our guide to selecting your fine china and crystal here.
Search antique shops for coordinating patterns. Don’t limit yourself to only buying what’s new. There are stunning antique patterns out there in all sorts of price ranges. You can also check out estate sales, auctions, and charity thrift shops (like the Op Shop, which now has an e-commerce side).
Happy finding!
This post contains affiliate links, but all are tried and true Magnolia Stripes favorites.
Great post – and excellent advice on buying extras right from the start 🙂 Our fine porcelain china was discontinued less than two years after we chose it – and it’s so hard to find! Thankfully, we were able to purchase all the jewelry store had left in our pattern…but finding replacements today is an uphill climb.
Good luck and hope you find all your pieces!
Thanks! So key. I learned from the best!
Such an important consideration! There are so many good avenues for finding vintage or antique patterns these days, and You named many of them. I would add Chairish and Instagram Sellers!
Yes! Could not agree more. There are so many sources out there and Chairish and Instagram sellers are two of the best for sure!