SIX TIPS FOR FINDING RAE DUNN POTTERY
Today I am sharing everything I know about Rae Dunn Pottery, including where to find Rae Dunn and how to start your own Rae Dunn collection.
Let’s face it. Have you ever found yourself in the parking lot in front of Homegoods at 9:25 am waiting for them to open? Have you ever followed people into TJMaxx convinced they are heading to the “white dishes aisle” too? Or have you noticed that every recycled bag you own has a TJ Maxx logo on it?
If you can answer “yes” to all three of these questions then you are truly a Rae Dunn addict.
I have no idea how Rae Dunn pottery became so popular but the buying frenzy surrounding these white pottery dishes with handwritten black letters on them reminds me a lot of the Beanie Baby craze in the late 1990’s. In both cases, women all over the country were lining up to buy a very inexpensive item that was high on demand and short in supply.
Trust me, I know all of this because I am right there with you. I love Rae Dunn Pottery. I read all of the “Rae Dunn B/S/T” group posts on Facebook and used to check the Mercari app on my iphone daily to check the prices of the “hard to find” items.
A lot of people don’t even know who Rae Dunn is. Rae Dunn is a California native and resides in the San Francisco, Bay Area. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Industrial Design and worked in graphics and fashion design for several years before discovering clay, which has now been her passion since 1994.
Rae Dunn pottery (with the big letters) is currently sold primarily at HomeGoods, TJMaxx, and Marshalls. There are a few products on the Magenta website but most of them are Rae’s other pottery designs (not the big letter ones). The supply has been way less than the demand and unfortunately, there used to be a lot of “shelf cleaners” who travel from store to store to buy all of the product and then resell. Sadly, a lot of these “resellers” have made arrangements with the stores where they can call and have all of the items held for them. They infiltrated the stores, got to know the employees and basically were able to buy the product before everyone else. Although there is a lot of Rae Dunn pottery available for purchase, there are way more buyers than inventory.
It seems that things are changing. Apparently corporate at TJMaxx is aware of the problem and they have told stores they are no longer allowed to respond to calls about their Rae Dunn inventory and also cannot hold the Rae Dunn items for anyone. It also seems there is a bit more inventory on the shelves.
Where have I found Rae Dunn dishes and Rae Dunn mugs? TJ Maxx has been my best source for my Rae Dunn Collection. I usually shop the aisles quickly at TJ Maxx looking for new Rae Dunn items anytime I am in the store.
I have also found a lot of Rae Dunn clearance items in the stores. Be sure to check the clearance aisle because you just might find Rae Dunn on sale!
I often get asked if I use my Rae Dunn collection. Of course, I do! I love to set tables with my collection and I even wrote a blog post titled How to Set a Table with Rae Dunn.
I used my Rae Dunn for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.
Look at this adorable Christmas table I set with these holiday-themed Rae Dunn dishes!
I also use my canisters every single day.
If you are wondering why I have two coffee canisters, one is for regular and one is for decaf.
So far I have only been able to find one mug with my boy’s names on it. If you see a mug for Andrew and/or Matthew let me know!
Over the years I have been really lucky and have found quite a bit of Rae Dunn dishes on the shelves (hence the photos above). But I think I have been smart about my shopping and I am happy to share my tips with you.
S I X T I P S F O R F I N D I N G R A E D U N N
- Follow the Rae Dunn Facebook groups so you are aware of what products are being released in the stores. That way you will know what to look for! When the flower pots first came out a lot of collectors were only looking in the dishes aisle and they missed them! When the office products were released the same thing happened.
- Talk to the people who work at your local store. They will tell you which days and times they receive shipments. This will help you to determine the best time to shop.
- Check for the pottery in the store aisles but check more than once. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked right past canisters and flower pots!
- Check the merchandise carts. I have found at least half of my collection on the carts in the aisles!
- If you are looking for mugs, be aware most stores stock them in three to four different places. Check everywhere as you just might find them where you least expect it.
- Don’t just shop when the store opens. I have found some of my best items when stopping by a store in the afternoon. One time I happened to glance through the door to the stockroom. Sitting right there in plain view were two teapots on the shelf of an empty cart. I waited patiently and when a stock boy came out I nicely asked him if I could buy them. He happily loaded them into my cart. (In hindsight, I now realize that the two teapots were probably “on hold” for someone since they were sitting there all alone. Oh well, sorry about that!).
Good luck with shopping. I hope you don’t get frustrated if you can’t find what you are looking for. Keep trying and you just might find that RaeDunn unicorn!
I also had a personal conversation with Rae about how to take care and use her pottery. You can find that blog post here.
For more real-time updates, follow me on Instagram @My100YearOldHome
This is YOUR RD?!?? SOOOOOO beautiful!!!!! I wish I had such luck finding items 🙁 being in the desert means very little to no merchandise. Nice Finds!!!! ????
Yes, it’s mine (and it doesn’t include what is in my kitchen!) I try yo drive by Homegoods and TJ Maxx whenever I can. It’s certainly hit and miss but the “hits” are well worth the effort!
Joanna, I completely feel your pain! I don’t live in the desert but I live in the country with the closest town being 11 miles, Vivi, Oklahoma and I love my teeny tiny town, but there’s no shopping stores other than a new Dollar General, 1 grocery store, 2 quick trips, a liquor store, a coop, and 1 feed store for livestock and farm equipment, which are all family owned businesses. Really, even though it’s a tiny town, it has anything you need to buy…other than thrift stores. But on the other hand, I can post a picture in our Facebook town page of what I’m wanting and most of the time someone will have it and either give it to me, or let me clean their house to have the item. Anyhoo, I apologise for my rambling novel. Have a great day and God bless
I am so in love with Rae Dunn and just starting my collection ????????
I agree Kate! I cannot believe how much I love this stuff. Ha!
Thank you for this information. It is getting frustrating since I never can find anything anymore. All I really want is the tea Canister and the resellers are selling them at ridiculous prices that I can’t afford! Your collection is amazing!
Thanks Tracie! There are a lot of canisters in the stores now. I hope you get lucky and find your tea canister!
Did you ever find your tea canister? I found one today at Home Goods.
I love your collection! I have all of the Canisters. and glad my collection is now complete. It’s hard find but like you said don’t just go in the mornings. Last Thursday I found I woke up like this Mug at Tj Maxx after work. Just to think I paid $4.00 for my Mug last instead $15 onMercari . I am Dunn at this point and starting to enjoy my collection. Be patient and keep looking!
So happy for you. Enjoy your collection!
I wished I could have half ur luck! I am at the point I feel defeated ???? I’m learning patience with this collecting which I don’t have. But I love it and trying to understand and hope it will come to me one day ????????
You just need to hang in there. It will happen. I promise. There are plenty of times I go there and there is nothing!!! But then another time I get lucky and it’s worth it.
Thanks for the tips! You are a angel!
Thanks Kathy. My pleasure.
I just came across your IG today and I am so glad I did! Thank you for these tips!! I always go to tjmaxx/HG/Marshalls right when they open and the shelves are empty. Im clearly not giving them a chance to restock. I was laughing at your first paragraph I have totally seen other customers walking into tjmaxx with that “determined look” on their face and i tell myself “they are totally hunting for RD” come to find out they were just doing some normal shopping and I was totally letting the competitiveness in me come out for no reason at all!! Haha. Love these tips and love your collection. Thank you for sharing!
-Brooke
This happened to me yesterday at Hone Goods. There was a guy waiting out front with me and when they opened we both went straight to the white dish aisle. But apparently he didn’t read my tips because he didn’t know to look for planters in the garden aisle (and he missed them)!!!
Can I ask why you have so many cream, sugars, teapots and 2 coffee pots? Are you using your items or are they just for collecting? You have a great collection but it’s sad for those of us that can barely find a mug, let alone 3/4 of 1 of these items.
Hi Kristin! I do use my Rae Dunn daily and I have been super fortunate to find a ton of Rae Dunn (often by traveling to different stores outside of my area and such). This is an older photo and so a lot of it I have given as gifts (my son’s girlfriend is on the Rae Dunn train too) and I have also had a series of giveaways on my Instagram. From hearing so many people’s stories on IG about how they can’t find any RD, I thought it would be fun to host giveaways and try to help others out by giving away a few pieces. That way, if Rae Dunn is just simply not in your area, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get your hands on your potential unicorn. Cream and Sugar were one of the giveaways I did- as well as a teapot. Thanks for reading!
There is enough Rae Dunn out there you just have to go out and go out again and again. I admire the dedication people put into there collection!!! They so deserve to purchase what they want!!!
I have been collecting RD for about 3 months now. My DIL got me hooked, she collects LL and I collect Icon. We have so much fun together. Talk on the phone daily to plan our hunt. I have totally given up on Valentines Day, 21 days til V Day and not a RD in sight. I started collecting Easter about 2 months ago and am I glad I did. Will not be caught empty shelved for Easter.
I know that there are some shady dealings going on at a few stores. How do you explain being first in the store and someone checking out already with a cart full? I am not pleasant when I see an upseller.
Now, I understand the appeal of RD as I have about 85 pieces which are all different. But I place a piece of RD next to a beautiful antique piece and there is no comparison. Different strokes for different folks.
I follow your 6 steps in rain, snow and like today, ice. Anything for The Hunt.
Are you kidding me?? She found them. She bought them. It’s not like she’s reselling them. First come, first serve.
I too just started “trying” to find RD as well, I’ve not had any luck???? it can get frustrating at times and I even call my tjmaxx and with anticipation hoping they come back saying YES, we DO have some available, but it’s always (it has been) a big NO WE’RE SORRY ???? so it’s like a 20 minute drive to my tjmaxx store and bout 30 minutes to our Marshalls..so needless to say it’s hard to be there when I want ???? but I’m so hoping my luck will change… I do have SEVERAL (4) mugs in which I purchased online for WAY to much..but that was my craziness ???? Thank you for all your information…. keep up the good work ????
Ps; I Love your page, I love looking at all your RD collection and Wish….????????????
It’s so tough that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for why certain stores have a ton of it and others do not! Luckily, I hear the stores are cracking down on people buying it in bulk so hopefully that helps. I hope these tips find you well and be sure to check back to my Instagram periodically because I do occasionally do do giveaways! Thanks for reading!
As a manager at one of the Hg locations I can confirm corporate has instructed everyone that we cannot indicate wether or not any has come in anymore. Things got very crazy with the resellers. They were hanging out outside our stockroom for 3 hours waiting for product. They would stare in the stockroom windows at each box being opened. To the point where we had some of our backroom workers threaten to quit because they felt like zoo animals on display. We had to tape up the windows so no one could see inside. Another store in our area had women with camping chairs set up outside their stockroom. Angry women that didn’t get first dibs or felt that it had been to long since the last shipment of Rae Dunn would call corporate accusing all of our employees and management staff of hoarding it and selling it online. These women are actually referred to as the “Rae Dunn mafia” from El Paso all the way to Georgia by the employees. The collection is very cute, but it has brought out the worst in a lot of shoppers. There are no full proof tricks or secrets. Each store runs their product a little different based on when their trucks are or when their kitchen coordinator is in, or what product/ dept needs to take priority. It is a complete crap shoot. Best of luck to everyone. And please, for the sake of the associates that are working hard to get the product out, and get you checked out at the register in a timely manner. Don’t call. We will not check the back, we are not allowed to say wether we have any. Even if we were. We cannot hold it. And by the time u make it in, it may very well already be gone. At our store RD has the shelf life of about 30 minutes max. It really is all about luck. Whoever happens to be there when we put it out.
You’ve brought up so many great points, so thank you for commenting with this insight! I tried to emphasize in the post that the best way that I’ve found my RD is definitely luck but also persistence. You have to be committed to going to the stores often and just keeping your eyes peeled. It does make me so sad that it has brought out the worst in people… it is just clay after all!!! Even in the FB groups I keep hearing worse and worse resell stories and it makes me so mad. Thanks again for commenting!
We are no longer allowed to stock any breakables within three hours of opening because the Rae Dunn people were breaking other merchandise rooting through for what they wanted.
Freight is worked as normal. No one times the Rae Dunn stuff.
I work at TJ Maxx and it’s gotten totally ridiculous. We also have customers lined up at the door before we open AND peering into the backroom. We follow corporate instructions to not hold items and not respond to phone calls about whether we’ve gotten any in or not…. THEN we have customers calling complaining we are being accommodating associates!! Whatever! Jeez. I’ll be glad when this trend goes the way of Beanie babies!
Hi I too am a newbie to the RD craze… I was gifted my first mug and love it beyond words. I have been searching Marshalls and TJ Maxx daily … And in my best behavior lol but have yet to find anything but small pet dishes ( in the pet aisle I might add). Today in Marshalls I was told that they were most likely discontinuing carrying the line….TJ Maxx & Homegoods included… Do you or any of your readers/followers know anything about this? I’m praying it can’t be true!!????
Not true for sure. Confirmed by Rae Dunn herself.
I too, am a Rae Dunn addict! ???? Part of the fun is having to search for it (in my opinion). Just yesterday, my husband and I walked into TJ Maxx and they had an entire display of RD in the front of the store! And this was at 7pm! ???? I literally found 5 of my different hard-to-find favorites! But the last 6 or 7 times I went in there before yesterday, I hadn’t seen one single piece besides cat bowls! Definitely ask associates when the truck usually comes in, and also ask when they usually try to get stuff on the shelf! The Marshalls I go to gets there truck at 4 and puts stuff out right away, but the TJ Maxx I like gets there truck in between 1 and 3 but they don’t put stuff out until the next morning! Happing Dunning, fellow addicts! ????
Thanks for sharing so many great tips. It seems like there might be a corporate push to put the Rae Dunn out at different times of the day so the shelf clearers can’t get it all in the morning. I am so happy you found so many great pieces!
I had no idea this was a thing nor had any idea I owned anything Rae Dunn. But 4th of July weekend I went out of town with my family and found a box of cute mugs, hubby/wifey. They are adorable, even my husband loved them. Now I guess I own a hot item. Lol.
That’s hilarious, Tami! One of my best girlfriends has a similar story where she got this Rae Dunn rock that’s been in her house for years and she had no idea it’s Rae Dunn! It’s a crazy world once you know about it.
I’m am JUST NOW hearing about the RD craze and now I want in on it!!! I adore all the collections I see on Instagram!!! So pretty and versatile! Thanks for the hunting tips!!
RD is nearly impossible to find where I live. Not to mention the workers hold it back for their favorite dunnies. But, my friend has found some awesome dunnies who have helped her find some for us
Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks! I’ve just started my collection and it has been a very slow process of actually finding them in store. It’s ridiculous the prices they are charging for them on like ebay, etc
I know! FB groups can also charge an outrageous price… I find it so much more satisfying to hunt and find some on my own anyways. Good luck on your collection… who knows! Maybe I’ll be able to add to it!
Such an AMAZING collection ????
Thanks, Sara!
How to tell if a piece is an Original? I have several pieces ( maybe 100 ), I have been told a few ways to tell. I am hoping you’re able to clarify for me the difference. Obviously the M Stamp pieces have a giant M on the bottom.
When you say original, do you mean the first Rae Dunn’s sold? They have a giant M stamped on the bottom of them. If you go on the shopping site Mecari, you will find some pieces. They usually do not cost any more money, unless they are the birdhouses, then the M stamped birdhouses are usually sold for over $1,000. Since collectors of Rae Dunn tend to horde and then grow tired of the pottery , people have been finding the M stamp at yard sales and thrift stores. Also many people sell off their collections on Facebook Local RD groups… they call it purging. Have fun hunting !
Thank you so much for the great tips! I’m a new collector! I set a couple of rules for myself so my collecting doesn’t get out of hand! It’s hard because I love it all!!
So many wonderful tips for finding RD!! I just recently started collecting…I mean like this week! I walked into Homegoods this past Sunday right before closing time and asked a very nice employee if she’d happen to see any Rae Dunn and she went to the back and brought out a cookies canister and sugar canister!!! I almost fainted! I’m obviously a little late in the Rae Dunn department but I’m excited to see what treasures I find!! Thanks 🙂
WHAT A STORY! WOW! That’s incredible! There seems to be more of it rolling out and the “hunt” has lessened compared to a few months ago, so now’s a good time to start collecting!
Hey I’m new to RD. I was curious how much canisters usually run at these places. I only see the coat flippers charge so I have no idea a good deal from a bad.
The new canisters in the stores cost about $14.00 each