A few years ago I went on a mission to find some old Avon perfume. I was able to find what I was looking for on eBay, but I didn't care about the bottles, I just wanted the perfume.

If the bottles still have perfume/cologne then I would say sell them on eBay or something similar. I don't see a market for empty bottles though.

Exactly, chloecat. When the second of my two parents died, a charity that did its own pickup runs picked out the furniture it wanted and a hauling company took everything else to the dump. No family members wanted anything nor wanted to sort through it and so it went. The small value that was there wasn't worth the time or effort to deal with.

Schoolhouse, had you considered asking on the Antiques and Collectibles forum here at GW. There are a couple of people there who seem to give good advice and often know how receptive the current market.

I agree with the suggestion to recycle the glass, but some of those bottles are so beautiful really. You'd have to shut your eyes as you tossed them into the bin and try not to think about it afterwards.

I wonder if some of those would be cute vases? I'd fill with flowers and donate to nursing home residents. Or see if a local school might like some for Mother's Day.

Adellabella makes a great suggestion! Find a preschool or elementary school and donate them. At our school we have a makers space in the library and they always want items that the kids can repurpose with crafts.

schoolhouse, has your friend done any research online? Because there's a boat load of interesting information about Avon cologne bottles, including the fact that many are not without value.

It may take some time, but she should probably get them appraised.

Perhaps an antique store might take them on consignment. If after 6 mos, no sales, to the recycling center!

Maybe a yard sale? There's got to be somebody out there who collects them. Put a sign out at the corner - "Free Avon Bottles". When we moved the last time I had donated and had yard sales and given away and still there were some things to get rid of. We finally put them out on the curb and some were snatched within an hour, all of it disappeared by the next day. There are people out there who love to find freebies at the curb.

Avon has a book that tells what prices are for old bottles. Might want to look at one as some are worth quite a lot of money. The rest I would just give away.

I like Nickels suggestion

nickel, you aren't going to believe this but I was thinking along those very same lines - LOL! I was thinking if she boxed them all up together and put them in a crawlspace somewhere, a 100 years from now someone may consider them a treasure for the very reasons you state. They'll be rushing to look up "Avon" online, or whatever they'll be using in 100 years. Great minds think alike!

Good suggestions from everyone, thank you. I'll pass them along.

I have one empty Avon bottle. An owl made from milkglass with a gem in its eye. It was my Aunts and when she passed I took it (with permission) since I always thought it super cute.

(I'm glad to know I'm not the only crazy one around here!)

"Avon has a book that tells what prices are for old bottles. Might want
to look at one as some are worth quite a lot of money."

That value is set by Avon. Not exactly a reliable source for what someone is willing to pay.

If you don't stash it as suggested, I'd box them all up and take them to Salvation Army or Goodwill.

You don't have to open and show them what's inside the boxes. On the receipt, just put "collectables."

I see a lot of them at my local Goodwill store.

We have several (maybe a dozen) that we’ve acquired over the years, and packed and moved carefully every time we’ve bought a different house. This thread has given me permission to simply throw them away. Which I will do the next time I trip over them.

I would try to sell them on Kijiji (is that in the US?) or Craigslist or eBay. Some of those bottles could be worth quite a bit of money.

Searched Ebay so you can see if they're worth trying to sell: https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=avon+bottles&_sacat=0&_fosrp=1

I like the hiding them idea. Lol! I wish I knew where my great grandmothers old outhouse was. I'd go dig it up. I've found some old bottles on my families old home places.

I can't believe people are suggesting to just throw them away. There are many people that still collect these! Sheesh! We have free facebook pages in our area. I'd ask there or see how valuable they are by searching on ebay to see if they would be worth the time to sell them. I'm sure some are very valuable but others probably aren't. I would rather this sort of thing find a good home then throw them away!

Debby's post reminds again how unique and pretty some of the bottles were. I'd bet that her husband had most of what I see there, he passed over 20yrs. ago. I wonder when Avon stopped creating the bottles or did they ever?

All nice ideas--but the reality is they meant something to your friend and now it is time to LET THEM GO. Chances are any cologne/perfume in them has lost its umph and is mostly alcohol. They need not take up any more time, space in this world--pitch them.

i doubt they would be worth selling on ebay. But, I wouldn't throw them away. You can give them away on FB or freecycle or craigslist. I have a friend who collects the Cape Cod dishes put out by Avon some years ago. Someone just gave me this pitcher and I am going to give it to him. It's pretty. It will make him happy. Makes me happy to give it to him. He probably already has one just like it....but knowing him, he would like another one. ;)

This is a sold listing on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Avon-212-bottles-and-all-the-empty-boxes/222732075070?hash=item33dbddc03e:g:Tf8AAOSwsE1aGMEa

Search Avon bottles, then select sold. This is the highest price sold.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FT-AVON-LEATHER-AFTER-SHAVE-STERLING-SIX-CAR-MIB-FULL/370622911038?hash=item564ad8d23e:m:mMPO92oLI3P4wStZ4Oh6LRA

I have noticed, when in thrift shops, that the cars do seem to sell.

Cars do seem to be the ones that do sell. Without the boxes most of the others will just sit there. If you notice when looking at ebay the ones that actually sell have the boxes.

Edited to add look at how few have any bids.

I love that pitcher Marilyn. I didn't know they had made things like that.

There was a whole grouping of the cape cod line. Including small plates, cups etc. I worked for a while at their KCMO plant before it closed. I think they may have planned on hiring me because each month employees were given a box of overstocks. Temps were not supposed to touch the pile of boxes but my boss insisted I take one. I have "some where" several of the plates. In case no one knowa at that time Avon owned Tiffany so in one of the boxes was a silver picture frame.

About 1/4 listed actually sell on eBay and most don't sell for much. It is a lot of work to research and write the listing and once sold it is a lot of work to pack and ship. Since these are fragile you may have to buy cushioning material even if you can use the free Priority Mail boxes. It looks like on eBay that it is collections that sell for better then $50, single bottles aren't worth much. If the bottles can be boxed without any additional cushioning estimate shipping for a group of them and list. Might be fun to sort out that way. These days you can set a buy it now price and also consider best offers and leave a listing up indefinitely. Much nicer then selling something for $1 because nobody bid!

Love the idea of boxing and leaving in a dry place. Hidden treasure!

Here's a thought, if you donated them to a thrift shop for a charity, even if they only get a dollar each, they will make a thousand dollars if there are a thousand of them! They could take them a box at a time as to not be so overwhelming. I have to say that I've seen and bought a few at the thrift shop and happily paid a dollar for the ones that I bought.

I just wouldn't fill the landfills up with the collection. If it can't by recycled or regifted or sold, donate it to a Salvation Army or Goodwill store. Someone out there will take them. Once in a landfill forever in a landfill.

We have a pet rescue group in our area that has a thrift shop. They are happy to get almost anything.

She says they are all in their original boxes. I was thinking about choosing a day when she and I could sit down and go through all of them, but now maybe that isn't a good idea. I don't want to bring any home with me!

I agree about the Ebay thing. Good idea, but I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for monitoring the auctions and packing and shipping. My friend doesn't own a computer and never will.

If there's apparently no market for the stuff today and thrift stores don't want it, there's an obvious message. Holding it longer won't change anything. Hidden junk, not hidden treasure.

Yes, most thrift stores encourage all donations (within the nature of what they want to sell) and will never discourage any. My wife volunteers for one. What you may not know is that many charity-operated thrift stores discard most of what they get, stuff that they feel isn't easily sell-able. So yes, "feel good about giving us what you want to get rid of and be assured we won't waste any time trying to deal with what's there of no value".

Sell them all together on ebay.

Who said the thrift shop doesn't want them and that there's no market for them?

Probably cannot ship them with liquid, flammable.

Ark girl, read the first post.

I didn't even see that part. I have to disagree though because I see them at our thrift shop all the time!

@socks, you can ship perfume via ground USPS.

You seldom see any here even at Salvation Army/Goodwill because like Elmer Fudd stated they never get to the sales floor. This area has active glass recycling because a local brewery uses the glass in their bottles. I am not current with recycling prices but until the brewery started the project most went directly to the landfill because there was no value to recycled glass. Seeing them at a thrift shop does not mean that the thrift shop sells more than perhaps more than one or two a year. Arkansas girl ask about how many they sell the next time you see some.

Well I know that I buy them...plus they are always gone the next time I go. I also see many MANY venders at the flea market selling Avon bottles. If they didn't sell them, they wouldn't be bothering with them!

Sure they aren't the latest greatest fad, but that doesn't mean that "Aunt Louise" wouldn't love to buy them! Just because Elmer doesn't like to collect Avon Bottles doesn't mean they are just trash.

Where I see them all the time is at our Habitat For Humanity Restore shop and they even put some in the "Antique" section and ask a big old price for the nicer ones.

There is bound to be more than ONE thrift store in the area. Call another one.

There are plenty of hoarders who will buy ANYTHING at a thrift store...

I know people use colored glass for craft projects. I would put on your local Craigslist for a set price or OBO.

In a thousand years, some archeologists are going to be digging up our landfills/

Imagine the explanations they'll come up with when they find all the Avon bottles?

"they made little glass images of their gods and filled them with scented oils & perfumes"

LOL

All in their original boxes?! wow, that might make a significant difference. You really should ask on the "Antiques and Collectibles" forum. If the experts there all say "no value" then you will know for sure.