Has any one noticed?
 

I am getting ready for a major de-stash and was looking on ebay to get prices. Has anyone noticed that fabrics are not selling like they used too ? I used to buy a lot of fabric off of ebay and the bidding competition was fierce . Now I am seeing huge box lots of fabric not even being bid on. Just wondering , I really need to de-stash and it is a lot of work to list everything and not get a bid .I have tubs and tubs of fabric and plan to only keep about 10 projects that I have made into kits for myself . I am tired of no room to work and being so overwhelmed I do nothing so the time has come to simplify :)

No, I didn't notice. Maybe come fall it will pick up. I've not looked lately but I've bought lots of fabric Previously in box lots because you can get a lot, more cheaply than individually. I'll have to go look again. :) I"m always looking....:)

I just looked tonight, as I noticed on Friday I have only one piece of Christmas, and my Sis wants a Chair-tool holder in Santa fabric, not what I have. The prices I found were as much as our highest at LQS, so I don't know were we both were looking. I also looked at Apron Panels for Christmas presents and they were around 10-12$.

I used to buy a lot on eBay, buy not at these prices. I'll support my LQS with tiny purchases, and the occassional Kit, and no more digging through my stash.

YIKES!

Try selling them here.

Sucia

PS Ya got any Santa? I need a yard.;)

I find Ebay is pretty dead lately, from a seller's point of view. The worst it has been in the last 10 years.

Just fabrics? What about machines, as I may try to sell one there.

I've noticed too that nothing is selling on eBay like it used to. I'm not a seller, but when I think about putting something on eBay I always look at the "Completed Listings" section and there is not much that has sold and if it has, it's not for much. Even quilts aren't selling like they used to. I'm sure it's the economy. Have you thought about Craigslist?

I used to sell quilt and cross stitch patterns on ebay, my business slowed down so much, I pulled all my listing for the entire summer, was thinking about relisting around mid September, once school is back in session and people are home from vacations, and are thinking about Christmas. But I also think it is yet another sign of the times, with people just not spending. I know I am not !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have noticed that also. When I was looking for certain fabrics, I was on Ebay quite a bit checking out the bids. Then the price changes hit and I stopped. What I don't like is fabric that I can get in my LQS on sale (ours does monthly sales and a couple big ones each year) is going for the same prices on Ebay, then shipping on top of that. I will continue to spend my money locally where I can feel it, open up the bolt and check out a larger area of the fabric, and then watch it being cut. Not to mention the friendly chatter behind the counter. Worth my gas to travel only 2 miles. My LQS does not carry everything, but will order whatever I need. And DH and I do road trips and hit every quilt shop along the way and I never leave empty handed. My take on Ebay fabric? I can drive to Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics, or JoAnns and get the same thing for much less than some sellers are asking. I know not all sellers fall into what I have said.
I am constantly watching the fabric for sale on here. I sure wish you had time to post it. If I lived closer to you, I would help you de-stash down to your comfort level.

My husband used to sell on ebay all the time. The last few items he listed to sell cost him so much in fees that he has not sold anything else for quite awhile. Now he lists on CL and some other places.

I agree. We used to sell a lot of antiques and that is dead too. I think the shipping costs are keeping many from buying there. The post office prices are insane.

I use to buy on E-Bay all the time. Not so much anymore. I would rather buy from people on this board. Please consider selling here. I'm always looking and buying. I know I would buy from you. Just think of all the money you would save by not paying the fees for E-Bay and Pay Pal. :O)

I haven't looked lately. I buy most things locally on craigslist. Wish there was more fabric available on there.

The "good old days " of ebay were about 10 years ago (I was briefly a power seller)

Sucia, I have a lot of Christmas fabric,don't know about santa but i will look and let you know guarentee it will be a very good deal if I do;)

I hate e-bay.

I have noticed even here that prices have gone up. Used to be fabric was $3-4 a yard, now $5-6 a lot of the time!

What about using some of your stash up toward a charity? Little Dresses for Africa is an organization that collects and delivers dresses to poor and orphaned children. I have a blast digging through my stash to find coordinating fabric. You can find a pattern for pillowcase dress on the website, www.littledressesforafrica.com. You do not need to use a pillowcase. You can just use fabric instead.

Another fun pattern can be found by googling Good Deeds Dress. It is a total blast to make, and it looks better than pillowcase dresses. A lot of fabrics that do not necessarily look good in quilts make cute little dresses, especially once you dress them up with ribbons, bows, etc.

That is just a aimple idea.

If you really want to sell your fabric, maybe you can post it here providing that you qualify, or you can always list your fabric on etsy. Artsy people use that web site often to find and buy materials. Good luck!

Honestly I always look here first, then to Ebay. I did buy some really cute fabric on Ebay a while back. But my first choice is right here on these boards.

August is always a terrible time for sales on eBay ... but a good time for buyers!

My husband does some selling on ebay and has said the same thing about other items. There are sewing forums to sell fabric that might be better to sell fabric. Yahoo groups has one...and you don't have to pay when you sell. I think ebay is taking a bigger percentage now when you sell. Craigslist is another place to sell your fabric and no charge.

try the site SEW IT"S FOR SALE It is all sewing related items.

Ebay went to heck in a handbasket when they started listing everything from every seller. Used to be only current auctions and buy now. My BFF & I got sick of trawling through hundreds of pages. I use to do fairly well out of ebay (as a seller). About $300 every 10 days, went down to one sale, maybe. After a few weeks I took everything off and shut down my store. Fees were wiping out any sales.

I noticed not so much on ebay (don't go there very often anymore) but on Craigslist, OH MY WORD! Used to be soooo simple but guess with the economy, everybody trying to make a few $. I've place things on there but so far no bites.
Even on this site have only seen yds of fabric being sold, no small pieces.
I really refuse to buy new fabric!!! Need to use up my stashes......

I use to buy from Ebay too. But the cost of shippong is crazy.I bought a hand made purse $12.99>Not bad .The shipping was $6.99 crazy. I haven't bought anything in over a year from ebay.

I just bought a 99k from ebay, I needed a small machine to fit in an antique cabinet I have. It should arrive tomorrow, with shipping the total was 100.00. It comes with attachments also. :)

You could sell your fabric here. (?) Maybe too many people were not satisfied with the fabric they purchased.
Instead of 'good' quality fabric they were getting cheap fabric. (?) Too many quilters got burned.

From a buyer's point of view, I personally have slowed down on buying on Ebay. Seems like the prices are lots higher than they were and by the time you add in shipping , it just isn't a good deal too often.

Hey Sandy,

What kind of machine? What model,?? I am a machine addict and one more wouldn't hurt much. Carly

My dd has stopped selling on e-bay for the same reasons......

1) The seller still pays a fee to PayPal for items paid through PayPal. For me, it's $0.30 PLUS 2.9% of the entire transaction. That really hurts on a $3.00 transaction ($0.30 + $0.09 = $0.39)

2) Yes, postage adds up. But so does gas if driving around to the various shops.

3) Packaging materials (tape, envelopes, plastic bags, etc.) are not free. Priority Rate packaging (envelopes and boxes) are 'free' - but, the packaging costs are built in to the cost of using Priority Rate mail.

People are kind of funny at times (including me) - sometimes we think nothing of driving 100 miles round trip for a $2.00 item (at a fuel cost of approximately $15.00 or more) - and fuss and fume at paying $3.00 for shipping for the same item.

4) As far as getting 'a house full of fabric for $5.00' - I consider those deals to be in the same category as getting a big win gambling. It happens, but the majority of the time, it doesn't.

I'm holding all listings until after Labor Day weekend...This isn't a good time to list...people are trying to get the kids outfitted for school and off on late summer vacations.

Why not sell here on the Quilting Board?

75% of my stash comes from this board - I appreciate sellers here knowing that the fabric was once loved and taken care of. I have not been disappointed on any purchase.

I used to buy scrap fabric from ebay. All of the bags purchased were listed as being 100% cotton. It"s quite a dissapoint ment to open the package and find poly /blend mixed in. Many folks are purchasing from who knows where [and that's really o.k] but they don't all know their fabric. I'm a quilter who enjoys sewing with 100% cotton.Used to be , I would give those polys to mom [she used whatever; and loved them all]. Mom passed away last May.I really do miss her.Now I have alot of those same fabrics back that she got from me. That part makes me smile.Mom used what she could. Her scrap bag never did go empty.
Postage also is something I considered when I placed my bids.
I think that the biggest reason for smaller purchases is "people". We are not the same as 10 years ago. We are more into "Decluttering"."Get Rid Of It";"Go to my stash first"; "I'm on a fabric diet".
Also, how much the fabric cost.

I used to sell a lot of my pattern glass on Ebay but when shpg. costs went through the roof, all sales almost stopped. There are very few bids on others as well. I think Ebay has lost out in favor of Craig's List.
You might do better offering it out to QB members.

Why not plan a big yard sale and call it a Quilter's Delight? Put that on direction signs (will get the quilters who did not see ads) and advertise on Craig's List and grocery stores butteton boards, etc. Be sure to have some help as I am sure you would get a lot of quilters looking for fabric. I do not buy on ebay, so do not pay attention to what sells and what doesn't. Good luck, take care.
Linda
P S if you have so much fabric and want to do a 2 day sale, maybe you can use a church social hall and give church a donation or whatever they cost to rent it.

I agree with the person who said that it's postage prices factoring into the low amount of sales on eBay. I've been an eBay seller since 1999 and I've never seen it this slow. And, of course, they just keep jacking up the fees (especially now that eBay and PayPal are in cahoots with each other - now they get to hit us TWICE with fees - it's crazy). Plus I've never gotten over the fact that we, as sellers, are no longer allowed to ding buyers with bad feedback if they are truly nightmares to deal with (and some are). Unfortunately I'm not comfortable with Craigslist so it's eBay, or selling here or on SewItsforSale, for me and that's about it.

contact your local quilt guilds and see if there are any shows they have planned and see what it takes to get a table there.. no shipping and targeting the right audience! good luck

i would love to sell on this board, but i have not hit the correct member status yet. i wish that my ebay numbers (100%) could count toward selling here. i have plenty of really nice collections to sell. i guess i will have to wait or list elsewhere. as far as hitting the correct member status, i have read the rules, and i found that i have to make a true contribution to the group. this means that i should not say something like "good job" or "love your quilt" and leave it at that. there is not much i can do to further my member status, so i comment when i have a true comment to make.

I almost hate to ask this... but... don't you think that Fabric.com has hurt all other sellers, including folks who sell on eBay? I know a lot of you love buying from them because of the free shipping deal. Since they are owned by Amazon, well, they can get prices from UPS that nobody else does. It's not hard to connect the dots, and see what's happening.

Amazon put out of business lots of little local bookstores (I still miss our "Borders" stores). Don't you think that the same thing is going to happen to all the little fabric sellers, too? We might be able to compete on the price-per-yard, but there's no way that we can compete with their %off coupons, and the free shipping on top of that.

The fabric manufacturers are aware of what's going on - it's been a hot topic at Quilt Market (the trade show) - but based on my conversations with several of the manufacturers, it does not seem that they care. Perhaps it is just as good for their bottom line if they sell only to Fabric.com and the chain stores, rather than to numerous small businesses.