Thread: Has anyone else noticed lots of quilt patterns on eBay from magazines?

I wouldn't think that legal either. and getting one out of a magazine would irritate me no end!
but if ya'll like them, i have tons to sell. kidding. but i do have lots of them myself. when done with them or don't use them at all i put them in my charity bags.

A couple years ago, I had ordered several patterns from ebay and was surprised that they had been photocopied from magazines. In fact, I contacted ebay and they weren't concerned about it, but I felt that it was unfair to "steal" and make a profit on someone else's work. It seemed like neither the magazine OR ebay cared, but it still bothers me - I just won't order any of the patterns again.

Years ago...(decades, actually!), when I was in college, I worked part time at Woolworths...one of my duties was to take a shopping cart and load it up with all of the magazines that had not sold the previous month. We would tear off the front covers and send them back to the companies...(I think there was a refund or a credit system in place)...but the magazines were up for grabs by any employee that wanted one.
When I saw this on E-Bay..that's what I thought..these people probably have some connection through a store or market where they can pick up the out of date magazines.
I don't see anything wrong with this, as long as they are honest about what you're getting. The price is certainly right, and a pattern is a pattern...after all...people buy used or recycled things on that site every day.

I have purchased many of them too. What a great way to get patterns. I've paid $6 or $7 for a magazine that had only one pattern, so I don't feel bad paying $1 or $2. I also figure it is helping someone make some extra money..what's wrong with that?

Well, many of these posts have made me feel better about the practice. I like that a good pattern can continue to live on. Unfortunately, it makes the temptation to give in to the PAS I suffer from (Pattern Acquisition Syndrome) even stronger!

What bothers me most now about the pattern I wanted to buy, that prompted my original post, is that the selling price was $2.50 with a shipping cost of $2.50. There was no mention of a plastic cover, or not folding to fit into a standard envelope. Seems excessive, and that auction ended without a sale.

I already have hundreds of quilt magazines acquired over the years. Maybe I should cut out the patterns I want to keep and place the remains in the recycling bin. I know I can take old quilt magazines to the library and leave them for people to pick up for free (I called). That seems like the generous thing to do. But, after all, I did pay for the magazines originally. It just feels like I am mutilating them if I cut out a few pages and throw the rest away! And it also doesn't seem right to give away a mutilated magazine.....