Replacements Ltd. has been around for a long time and I have never heard a negative re them. Suggest more research will help. eBay is a good source often.

Agreed with the other posts. I've used Replacements for years, although they are a bit more $$ than other outlets.

Ebay can save you about 50% over Replacements. It does take time, but it is worth the wait if you are not in a hurry. I have waited as much as a year for the right piece to come up at my price point.

I have bought many things from Replacements and they are all originals. I have not, however, bought any of my sterling from them as I haven't seen any with my initial on them yet (I don't mind if it's used as the prices are much lower). All of the replacement crystal and china I have bought from them has been brand new, though. The thing that I really like about them is that you can request an alert when they get in a piece (or pieces) that you are looking for and can't find anywhere else.

Yep, Replacements is real. Genuine AND expensive. But definitely trustworthy--no risk with them. But I've gotten my spares off eBay satisfactorily.

Same as above. Replacements is a no-worry place, but high.
Lisa

Replacements was the only place that had my discontinued china pattern. Good experience - no problems at all.

I did the same using Replacements to fill out an old silverware set. Be prepared, they re-plate the old pieces. So the ones from Replacements look 'new' compared to my own pieces. From EBay they will show normal wear. I needed the soup spoons to my set and some extra knives and forks. I really don't think the guests notice as they are too busy chatting and eating. :)

Replacements also has vintage glassware, as well as china. It's a great resource. But they do send an awful lot of emails.

As everyone else has said, Replacements is reliable but expensive. What pattern are you replacing? And it is sterling or plate? A $110 spoon (teaspoon??) is fairly expensive, even for a matching service, especially when compared to $27.99. In some antique, high dollar patterns, there are copies being made that sell for substantially less than the older pieces but they won't look quite the same.

Have you even priced out what new sterling is?

The price of silver is still up, though not as high as when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the worldwide silver market a few years back.

It is around $18 an ounce on the spot market.

Sterling flatware is worth at least its metal content.

Average teaspoon only weighs about 1 Troy oz. I forget the conversion rate but I seem to recall that's about 1.25 oz. or less & the silver content would only be 92.5% of the weight; a spoon is the most commonly made & least expensive piece of flatware manufactured. 1.1 oz = $20.

New & antique sterling are two entirely different markets that're like comparing apples to oranges. A major determining factor in the out-of-production stuff is the particular pattern & it's popularity - the intristic value has little to do with it. I'm sure Replacements is mindful of it in their pricing but while the silver market is up, the people replacing/collecting flatware is probably at an all time low. Unless it's a very special pattern & someone needs it tomorrow, $110 is an extraordinary price to pay for a used teaspoon.

Same here. Great experience with Replacements. The big thing with using their listings is to make sure that the piece you're ordering is the same shape as those you're trying to match. Often year to year the same pattern might be made a little differently by the company. Example, my mother's tea cups are simple coupes. Lennox also made them with feet. Replacements has pictures of a lot of things online, which helps. They're also very good at listing condition.

Replacements is on a first come basis. They've told me that if I see a listing it's much better to order by phone than online/e-mail to ensure that you get your order in first.

Re the $110 vs. $27.99, the same company might have made them in both sterling and plate, and one might be plate. Also, some companies did both sterling for fancy and stainless for kitchen so that they could be combined for crowds. Replacements will list what they pieces are made of.

But there are spoon collectors. It may be that there are people who can get $100 for a one off spoon to a collector, whereas a place like Replacements is selling off estate pieces (though since they sell singles, I'd think the collectors would go there too). Or it might just be that Replacements scooped them all up and they're rare for the other vendors.

They do have good service, and I believe they allow returns, so your best bet is to give them a call and find out.

I have bought and sold many times with Replacements. Of course I am in NC and I go there in person to do my business with them. Just last month I bought 36 pieces china off of craigslist for $120 then immediately got an offer to purchase from Replacements for over $200!!! Yes I made out like a bandit. I ending up keeping most of what I bought but sold the eight pieces that I didn't want for about $100.

You asked specifically about silver. I have bought sterling flatware from them. I think I paid around $37 a piece. My advice is to measure carefully. Most companies made dozens of variations of the same piece, sometimes varying by only 1/8 of an inch. You can also photocopy your pieces and mail it to them and they will tell you exactly what you have.

Actually I wasn't aware that they ever sold anything that is new. I know that in a few cases they do sell some patterns that are in current production but the majority of their business is out of production and discontinued patterns.

Wow! I knew that this kitchen forum would be the place to find an answer to my question! Thank you all for the wonderful, detailed, and quick responses. I will certainly check around, but it is really good to know that Replacements, Ltd. is reputable. Their $27.99 price seemed so inexpensive in relation to the $110./piece, but I'm sure that was new. Our set is sterling, so we'll keep that in mind, too. Again, thanks for all of your generous expertise!

Natesnvalsmom,
Inquiring silver minds want to know - what is name of this mystery pattern?

Replacements, Ltd. is in our neighborhood (less than an hour away), so we have visited it to get additional pieces for our every day china, but that was years ago. I am sure that they deal with authentic pieces only. Not a year after we were married, our pattern was discontinued, and we bought a few extra pieces then. After that, for a while they would send us regular inventory lists of whatever we indicated interest in.

Agree with biochem, though... it's more about hospitality than worrying whether the guests notice that some pieces are shinier than others. But it depends on your preference as to whether to get authentic or replica.

ncamy, where in nc are you? We are in Durham. I think they have new d/c pieces, maybe not current pieces though.

antiquesilver - The silver belonged to my mother-in-law, and it is called Royal Danish by International Silver. She probably bought it in the 1950's or 1960's. I have my own silver, so after she passed away almost 2 yrs. ago, I didn't think too much about it. My DH is trying to distribute the estate and was thinking of selling it, but then my daughter said that it might be nice to keep it (she just got engaged on New Year's Eve!), so I guess she's thinking of these things now.

Royal Danish is a very popular pattern from 1939 that was still in production as recent as the mid 1990's, although I don't know about now. If your daughter wants it, it's smart to keep the older set as most silver manufactured within the past 20 years or so is finished in Mexico & the quality leaves something to be desired. Tell her to enjoy it & use it often & she will rarely have to polish it.

It occurs to me that if Replacements
price was 27.99, perhaps the 110 dollar one is WAY off. Replacements actually has a rep for being a bit pricey if anything. Jsweenc, we're in Chapel Hill-hi neighbor!

Royal Danish is my pattern! I've used Replacements Ltd. for a couple of filler pieces. Their service was reliable and the pieces flawless. I agree that they send way too many emails - at least twice a week.

Waving back -- hi pattiem!

jsweenc and pattiem93: I'm in Asheville, but visit your area a couple of times a year.

Re the emails, I think they only send them when there's a change in their inventory. I only get one for one rare dish I want to buy as a gift, and I rarely get an e-mail. It's very convenient getting the alerts when there's not much movement! Much better than randomly checking back. Though when they did get it, I ordered immediately and got beat out. That's when I learned it was better to call...

Hi Amy! I'm dying to get out there to Biltmore, but it's just NOT on my kids' list of places to go LOL

Just wanted to let you know I've had good luck w/ another site - www.sterlingshop.com; I've never bought my sterling pattern there, but I collect a pretty, old silverplate pattern too, and have purchased from them with good results. Good luck!