Buying/Shipping Italian Serving Bowls/Platters
 

I will be in Rome, Florence and Venice.

Which place is the best for buying reasonably priced yet pretty serving bowls/platters?

Are shipping costs reasonable?

Thanks!!

Venezzia,

I bought a beautiful and expensive platter in Ravello and shipped it home. The platter was 230E + about 35E to ship. Then after it arrived at my home, I later got a duty bill of another $35.00. It got pretty expensive!

If you carry it home with you as luggage, you get $800 US duty free (for everything). If you ship it, you only get a $200 allowance. Hard lesson learned. There are some exceptions and some special items are more/less. Read the US gov web page to be sure you understand ahead of time.

PS - you will find the quality varies greatly from shop to shop. If you see something you really love - BUY IT! You won't find it again, or the shop will be closed when you go back.

None of the three cities that you are visiting is really a ceramics center, but my guess is that you would find the largest selection in Florence.

I would love to bring back a nice bowl from florence....I have been on a ceramics kick lately....but I just fear breaking it too much to risk it. And the shipping costs are a bit too steep to me. :(

Thank you all for your comments. I was surprised by the extra "duty" bill that Dayle received! That's something I will have to consider if I decide to ship something. Maybe I will only find ONE item that I really love and then lug it back with me! :D

Thanks also for the Florence comment - I was thinking that city might be my best bet for ceramics.

Hi Venezzia!

I love ceramics, but like Ilovetotravel mentioned, I'm always concerned that it will get broken in shipping. And while I DO love them, I'm not willing to sit with a giant platter on my lap during an international flight!

and, Dayle makes a good point about the fees/charges involved.

Ok, here's my tip -- I was in Tuscany, Chianti, to be exact, in September, and I saw a lovely platter that was about $250 for the platter alone, no shipping costs.

It was sitting in the window, beckoning to me, and so I took a picture of it. Okay...I plan to go to "Color Me Mine" and duplicate it.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking --
"I don't have any artistic talent!" Well, me either. But I can TRACE!

The only reason I thought of this is because a few years ago I went to a kitchen shop that had a big sale - they were featuring those (you've probably seen them) sort of yellow and green placemats of olives/branches. I bought 6 placemats on sale, but the cute little olive oil dishes were $25 each. So, I took the placemats, traced the pattern and then took 1 placemat with me to Color Me Mine, bought some small bowls, drew/traced the pattern on them and painted them.

Honestly, they're ADORABLE! I get compliments on them all the time, and no one (including me) can believe I did them myself!

Regards,

Melodie

I have always wanted to do the Color Me Mine thing...is it a lot of fun?

lovetotravel,

Yes it is fun and kind of mindlessly theraputic. I have a couple of pieces I spent hours on and they did come out rather well if I do say so myself. Certainly not works of art that anyone would pay lots of euros for though - too bad.

Venezzia, look for the Rampini Ceramics gallery in Florence. Outstanding quality, very expensive, but beautiful. They have a "factory" near Castellina in Chianti where prices are somewhat discounted. That's where I learned my "buy it when you see it lesson!"

Buona fortuna!

I bought 3 differnt ceramic dishes in Orvieto. An art teacher friend of mine told me they were the best she had seen in Italy and regretted not getting more there. With that in mind, that was one of my primary reasons to visit Orvieto. One shop said they would not charge shipping and knock off the duty price so I could purchase it at a lower cost. I bought 2 more expensive dishes from them. They encouraged me to take a picture of the items. Shipped to me and I am very glad I have them. Another shop charged less and I bought one bowl and dragged it around Florence, Venice and Rome wrapped in paper and our dirty clothes. Everything made it home fine but it was sure easier to deal with someone who would ship and not pay extra duty.

Would it be possible to post a link to the photos of the platters? I would love to know what they look like. I do not know much about Italian ceramics, cookware, platters, etc.