Dinnerware

Porcelain is thin, stoneware is heavy:

the two are fired differently and you feel it in the hand. Porcelain is fired hottest and comes out thin, white and almost glassy, and it shrugs off the dishwasher. Stoneware is thicker and heavier, often in matte or speckled glazes, but those matte surfaces pick up grey lines from cutlery. Plain earthenware, the material of most budget sets, is fired lower and stays slightly porous under the glaze, so a chip exposes a pale or reddish body that soaks up water and stains. Bone china sits at the top: lighter than it looks, strong for its thinness and often finished with a gold or platinum rim. That rim is the catch, because metal trim cannot go in the microwave and dulls in the dishwasher.

Corelle glass and melamine plates:

both exist for kitchens where things get dropped. Corelle is laminated glass, thin and very light, so a stack takes far less cupboard space than ceramic and survives falls that would finish a stoneware plate. When it does break, it can burst into many small, sharp pieces, which is why the maker tells owners to stop using any piece that is chipped or deeply scratched. Melamine is plastic: right for children or the pool, but it stays out of the microwave and a serrated knife scores it. Platters for the middle of the table are under serveware, and mugs and glasses under drinkware and bar. With stoneware, placemats from kitchen and table linens earn their keep, since the unglazed foot is often rough enough to scratch a wooden table.

A boxed set against one short of its bowls:

a basic ceramic set for four, each place setting a dinner plate, side plate, bowl and mug, starts around ₡20,000 new, and Corona sets run closer to ₡45,000. With entry sets that cheap, an ordinary used ceramic set has to be complete and unchipped to interest anyone. What keeps its value is porcelain, bone china or Corelle in good order, because those cost far more to replace. A set missing two bowls is priced as a smaller set, not as the full one with a little off.

Tapping a plate for the crack you cannot see:

hold each plate loosely by the rim and flick it with a fingernail. Sound porcelain and stoneware ring; a hairline crack gives a dull click, and that plate tends to give way in the microwave or the sink. Then run a thumb round every rim and foot, where chips start. On Corelle, do not mistake grey cutlery marks for damage: they wash off with a non-abrasive cleanser. On gold-rimmed china, check whether the rim has worn thin or patchy in the dishwasher, because that cannot be put back. Turn one piece over. The stamp underneath names the maker and pattern, and a set with mixed stamps has been topped up from somewhere else. Melamine that is deeply scored, cloudy or stained has had its life.

Listing a dinner set one place setting at a time:

count by piece type rather than giving a total: dinner plates, side plates, bowls, cups and saucers, so a buyer can see at once whether it lays the table for their household. Name the material and the maker from the stamp, and say whether it has been through the microwave and dishwasher. Photograph one complete place setting on a plain table and a close-up of every chip. A wedding set that was never unboxed is worth saying so plainly, with the box in the photo. When someone comes from Grecia or Pérez Zeledón to collect, lay one setting out and leave the rest stacked, so they can run a fingernail along each plate before it goes into newspaper for the drive home.