Future Yard Sale
 

I just did a yard sale with a friend today. I put in about 10 pieces of fabric that had anywhere between 1 yard to as much as 5 yards. I did not cut anything into smaller pieces except for a few bad spots. I really don't want to have to cut the pieces according the customers wishes at the time of the sale unless I have to. None of the fabric was sold.

Question #1 What is the best way to sell fabric at a yard sale? Should I cut the fabric up into smaller pieces?
Question #2 Should I cut the fabric up into smaller pieces and, if so, what is the smallest amount I should cut?


Thanks

Part of it might be that you need to advertise to get the message to quilters. Many are fabriholics and will go out of their way if they know fabric is involved.

Yes, if you let people know that you have fabric, the fabriholics will come out of the woodwork! haha I usually buy boxes with fabric in them at yard sales for one price. I have a great time going through the box and looking at my treasures!

It also depends on what price you put on it...I often see fabric for $1 yard and sometimes a whole box for $20...sometimes it is about .50 yard...try advertizing on Craigslist if you have a lot to sell. Or for your sale.

to find the rules for selling on the QB, go to the Members Only Thrift Shop and Yard Sale forum.

I went to a yard sale recently that was an estate sale of a quilter. Her daughter had her mother's quilting friends price the fabric. They priced it at LQS prices per yard and it was VERY expensive. The sale started on Friday and when I went on Saturday, there was still a lot of fabric left. I came away with some great rulers, templates and magazines, but no fabric. It was too rich for my blood, especially for a yard sale.

When my mom, who was a quilter passed, we sold some of hers and I marked it reasonablly. It was all gone within an hour. I did the same thing when my "sister of my heart" passed with her quilting fabric and again, it sold quickly. Of course I picked out what I wanted, but there was SO much, I didn't have room to store it all and I knew it would find good homes.

I paid $2.00 a yard for fabric at a yard sale last Thursday.

The lengths varied from a nine yard piece to 1/8 yard pieces.

Her sale was advertised on craisgslist and the listing included "quilting fsbric"

She had a price list taped ro the garage door. I do not know if she was willing to cut pieces ornot.

I considered sll of the fabrics "respectable enough to be usable". I think many of them had been purchased at Walmart, but there were some with lqs brands on the selvages, also.

I bought $38 worth.

She was going to "sniff off" the yardage, but I told her I was more comfortable with her using a yardstick. (In this case, i she did have "long enough arms")

She had a helper that marked down the lengths and I refolded the nine yard piec

You did not mention how much you were asking for your fbrics.

I did make an effort to get to this one because of the ad.

I have seen very little fabric of any kind ( that is not made up into something :)) at garage/yard sales.

Fabric sells best when sold per pound. Doesn't matter what we paid for it, what it's worth in the stash is next to nothing.

Its a yard sale -take it or leave it. There is way to much work involved in one to start cutting fabric for customers.

Fabric is the only reason I go to garage sales. If the person advertises that they have fabric that is the first place I visit. $2. is about my upper limit for yardage, most of what I get is less than a $1 a yard. If the price is under $2 I will usually take the whole piece.

It is hard to sell fabric unless you get a sewer...Not a lot of people sew these days..

Most things don't sell at yard sales unless you're just about giving them away.

Thank you for all your advises. I tried to be reasonable with the pricing: $7.50 per yard for double sided quilted fabric and $5.00 per yard on cotton fabric. I am going to wait a little longer until I can get the fabric more organized according to color and them and then try it again.

Craigslist!

To sell quilting fabric in a yard sale, consider:

1. style of fabric (all cottons?, manufactured in last 10 years?, panels or prints?, theme)
2. price of fabric (It's a yard sale, for Pete's sake!)
3. condition of fabric (smell, damage, cut into odd shapes, faded, animal dander)

That was my experience with the only yard sale I ever participated in. I swore I'd never do it again and I haven't. If I don't want it, I donate it. I have better things to do with my time and energy.

I usually like to pay $1 to $2 a yard at garage sales.

My sister has had a lot of yard sales and she has a couple friends who are seamstresses/crafters not quilters. When they get together they sell the fabric by the pound. They put it into bags (stuffed and they help stuff) and move those bags like no body's business. If they want to get things moving on the last day, they drop everything 50% and up. They also do $1.00 bags. If you can get everything into a bag and still close the bag, it's a dollar.

***
*** Prices should be no more than $1.00 (preferably 50 cents) a yard.
*** Make each piece with yardage and price (DO NOT CUT).
*** I buy fabric when I can find it.
***

Why else would one have a garage sale???????

If you want to get "decent/better" prices for your fabric, e-bay or etsy or sewitsforsale might be better ways to go than a garage sale.

For " regular" quilting cotton fabric, 42-45 inches wide, figure 3.5 to 4.5 yards of fabic per pound.

I would buy fabrics where is the Members only thrift shop forum?

Cricket: If you go the Resources section at the top of the page and scan down until you find the trade or sell section and click on it. You should be right there.

I went to an estate sale the other day and they were selling fabric for $3 a lb. It was high end fabric. I got lots of beautiful batik. My bill was $89.