From Marilyn on 7th June 2011. I have been looking at my articles on this subject going back to 2003. This is an edited and updated review for the 2011 site revision:
Presumably like everyone else, I started collecting Hazles because I liked them! I had never collected anything before and knew very little about it. It was only later that I discovered there was a market for discontinued pieces. This can be known as the Secondary Market, which generally refer to "pre-owned" ceramics. Sometimes older pieces have not been pre-owned, or have not been used by a collector.
Retired prices don't always continue in an upward trend. Many well known collectables have gone through periods of rocketing values which then fall back again.
There have been many articles on the group about how the retail market for Gifts & Collectables started to decline in 2001. Within a short time of Foot & Mouth (cattle disease) hitting the UK in May 2001, Hazle stockists especially in tourist areas were reporting a 40% drop in footfall. This was followed by 9/11 at the World Trade Center in New York. The ongoing "War on Terror" and now the global recession continue to affect sales of collectables and other things. Alot of Hazle's former retailers have simply gone out of business.
However retired values in many collectables continued to remain buoyant for two or three years after 2001. At the peak around 2002-3 some retired Hazles were exchanging hands for very high prices. The top dealer price of £1100 was for a painting on the rare London Liberty shape in September 2002. There are signs that prices for some retired Hazles are starting to pick up again, both on eBay and privately.
The market for Hazle Ceramics on eBay really took off in the spring of 2003, around the time we started this Hazle eGroup. Over a year a few hundred current and retired Hazles change hands on eBay, making it the main place to trade. Values on eBay are usually inconsistent even for the same thing. Prices have been generally lower in the past few years, although a few rarer pieces have achieved better results. The quality of eBay pieces can be very good but is sometimes unreliable.
Even before eBay there wasn’t a great deal of private trading between collectors. The former Collectors’ Club would put people in touch but this facility was not used much. It can be hard to know what to offer or to settle on a price both parties consider fair.
Between 2001-2 I sometimes advertised for old Hazles to buy as a collector, usually in Collect it! magazine. A handful of people contacted me usually with a few standard ceramics and were keen to offload them all. Some private sellers expected the higher dealer prices of that era, despite having no overheads or taxes.
John English Gifts and A Piece of Britain offer some retired ceramics. Hazle Ceramics sometimes offers older archive pieces for sale. Prices for all of the above are generally higher than eBay but the condition can be more reliable. There will always be a role for dealers. Some people don’t use the internet, don't wish to buy or sell on eBay or don’t want the work involved - either with eBay or buying and selling privately.
People often ask me for advice on value which I find difficult to give in an uncertain market. An obvious aspect of an eBay auction is that it does remove the element of negotiation - a potential source of angst. The downside is that there is work involved - and fees can be up to 10% of the final value. But it can be a good way to reach a lot of people and "test the market" if you do want to sell. And of course you can always put a reserve to protect the minimum price.
The other question I am asked is which Hazles are the best bet for the future. And for example, will the pre-1993 pieces with the full front signature of Hazle Boyles continue to be popular? My view is that if there are two "identical" ceramics and one is signed Hazle Boyles and the other Hazle, the full HB one is likely to command a higher price. However the modelling and painting of the earlier pieces is generally less refined.
As there were far fewer themes painted in the early days, the HB pieces say for the Florist, Teashop and so were often made in relatively high numbers - as are the same pieces with a front signature of Hazle. But the numbers produced of any Hazle Ceramic are generally vastly less than for any other collectable.
Hazle's highly detailed, short-run Limited Paintings became more available from 2003 and I think some of these could do well in years to come. Eventual publication of the Hazle Guide with approximate numbers of every known ceramic may help prices find their own level.
Last modified on
16 August, 2011
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