Professional De-Stasher
 

I wonder if there are any of these around?

It seems like it could be another occupation in the same category as professional organizers or declutterers.

If/When I get to the point where I am not able to work/play/mess with my fabrics, machines, and tools - and am finally ready to let it all go -

that it would be nice to recover a little of what I had invested.

Have it managed like an estate sale, but run by someone knowledgeable about the items being sold.

So often I see that people should "donate, donate, donate". That's fine, but people don't tell stamp collectors or model train enthusiasts to "donate, donate, donate". Why should fabric collectors?

Bear, we are hiring one. They come to the house and you just point to the things you want to get rid of and they haul it all away on a truck. My sister just did this and she was thrilled to get rid of stuff. It's called 1-800- Got Junk. I think it's a national company but I'm not sure of this. I don't remember the cost but it was well worth it.
My husband has a lot of things from his business that are heavy like drums of ingredients etc, but also we have a lot of stuff we just don't want or need.

My daughter called 1-800-JUNK when she was helping us clean out our basement. It was $500. But they took everything, including old chemicals and moldy stuff and old furniture. We had a huge truckload they hauled away. I didn’t pay for it so the cost wasn’t an issue for me.

There’s a professional organizer that did a presentation at our guild. The idea of going through my stuff and figuring out how to get rid of it seems very overwhelming. I think it will be someone else’s problem after I’m gone. If we decide to move, I’ll be forced to deal with it.

bearisgray, a lot of people use Ebay, Etsy and Facebook to sell items they are ready to part with. I'm sure when you are ready to pare down or completely destash, possibly have a pre-estate sale or auction. I don't think you'll ever get close to what you paid. but, you could try. Even a "garage" sale specifically for the sewing enthusiast would do the job.

You don't have to donate or give away your stuff. It is possible to sell anything you want to.

I am talking about when people just are not physically able to do this - - - -

There are people doing things like this, the problem is often finding one near you. You might talk to local auction houses and see if they have anyone or can refer anyone.

I recently found an auction site called Max Sold, it is set up for people to handle estate type sales or they have people who can help. I can tell you, they got me interested by an ad on Craig's List for fabric and I see a lot of machines, linens, etc.

I hear you Bear! De-stashing is totally different than 1-800-got junk! In our case, cleaning out my brothers house, everything was treated as trash, tossed into a dumpster. A fabric de-stasher would be someone who knew fabric, and could separate, understand the different types, the notions, the machines, and aid in the facilitating of a specific sale targeting quilters. Possibly advertising it as a "quilting room de-stashing sale" targeting guilds and quilters in your area.I think the downside would be that the cost to hire might exceed what the sale would bring. A fabric de-stasher would be pretty uncommon, so could cost a lot, but I think you're on to something!

I am thinking it could be run something like an estate sale - but limited to sewing/quilting/crafting items.

I don't know how estate sale people charge for their services - if it's by commission, so much per hour, flat rate -

I would guess that they would look around and see what "merchandise" would be for sale, what condition it is in, etc.

On the one hand, you'd get a better price by reaching a bigger audience if you could offer your fabrics online (Ebay, Easy, etc.) but it's a lot of work to photograph, measure, and advertise each piece, not to mention the actual selling and shipping. You can have a sale right from your home, but you are limited to people who live nearby and generally those people want a screaming deal.

I suspect that since you often don't get all that much money for the effort, many people just come to the conclusion that it's easier to donate.

I have had some success selling fabric, but not enough to get excited about. Hope that helps!

Hmmm...a de-stasher of fabric. Isn't that called a quilter? LOL

We used 1-800-Got-Junk to clean out my Mom's New Jersey condo, after we removed items that we were keeping. Expensive (I think it was around $800_, but they took everything including the trash. We filled up one huge truckload. (My Mom never met a plastic container that she didn't like!) If you are talking about "selling" items, check for auctioneers and antique dealers in your area. Some auctioneers will take just about anything (for a commission fee - sometimes up to 25% of what they sold for at auction. Some charge flat fee if item doesn't sell at auction), others only deal with specifics (farm equipment, antiques, coins, etc.). eBay and Etsy are other alternatives. If you want to just get rid of stuff, donate to local thrift shops. If you have a quilt guild in your area, find out if they are interested in donations (I know my guild welcomes them).

Hope these suggestions help.