jaciqltznok

in today's market you are correct in starting at $4yd. IF you advertise properly and not as a yard sale...
DO not bargain, do not go down....stand firm.
I am seeing fabric LOTS sell well on ebay.
CL is good only if it is GOOD in your area...nobody in my area uses it because it is mainly linked to the city and not to us rural people!
Do not say things like stash reduction..that implies you are sick of it and just want it gone...
just say "quilting/sewing/crafting sale! Quality fabrics at bargain prices. Believe me $4yd is a bargain!

Good luck to you!

Daylesewblessed

Most of my stash comes from garage and estate sales, and I rarely pay more than $1/yard, sometimes $2/yard. That being said, guild members may be willing to pay more if they have the privilege of having first choice and doing their selection indoors without fighting a mob of garage sale customers. I think it is an excellent idea to contact them and see what can be arranged before advertising to the public.

A few months ago someone in our community advertised on Craig's List many yards of fabric for $3/yard. She was taking phone calls and allowed people to come by one by one to shop. She had pictures of fabric fanned out, which helped potential customers see the type of fabric she had. In her ad she said that she had been into quilting a few years ago and was no longer interested in it. She said she wanted to liquidate her fabric. I bought a lot of fabric from her, and it was top quality. All of it was priced the same, and she maybe could have gotten $4/yard in our market, but not any more in my opinion. The disadvantage to her approach is having strangers in your home. Having 3 or 4 guild members at one time or an open house one afternoon would be far safer.

Your idea of lowering your prices from one weekend to another is a good one.

Good luck with this!

Dayle

QuiltE

First of all ... if you have dreams that you are going to make your money back ... you might as well abandon this ship, right now!

I did exactly what you're considering a few years back. With it being fabric, I wanted it to be inside my home, and therefore, did not want "unknowns" around! I created an email telling what I had to offer, in general terms, not specifics. Enough to "lure" them in. I sent it to everyone I could think in my email list, even those who I didn't think had any interest at all. At the end, I included a note to please send it on to any quilters and crafters that may be interested. And some of my best sales were to people who got those forwards!

There was no paid advertising, nor posters. Only the email and word of mouth.

For sale .... fabric, yarn, crochet cotton, pattern books/magazine, etc.

Tables (with heavy white paper covering) were set up in two large rooms that L'd to each other, to keep people out of the rest of my home. Fabric had been labelled with measurements, folded and left on display on the tables. Yarn, etc. were in clear plastic bags to keep them contained, and again labelled re quantities etc.

Fabric was all at the same per yard price ... no dickering and no one tried!!
Likewise pattern books were a set price per size (full book, leaflet, magazine, etc.)
Total prices were rounded off, when paying, especially if there was a larger purchase made.

I was SHOCKED ... people came by the droves and it all sold easily in one day!!!

Good Luck!

Fabriclovr

1st of all, you don't have to pay taxes on the money you make in a yard sale! As being afraid that people will want to pay pennies for your stuff, that's their problem. Its your stuff and if you don't want to sell it for less than you have it marked, DON'T! You will get those that haggle, let 'em, that's half the fun of the yard sale. If they make a reasonable deal, take it, it they don't, then don't. Make sure that you have at least 2 others with you for the extra eyes and I kept my cash box on the dryer INSIDE the house.

2nd I did a massive de-stashing and did this same thing. I had an on line business and decided with the economy to close the store. I had done a lot of 'sales' at the store before closing, so I didn't have that much left, but I did have a lot of stash. It took me over 2 months to get it all together. I sold by the pound the fat quarters and other mis small yardage. I put scraps and others in baggies (the cheapest ones that I could find) and sold them for the same amount that I did for the per pound stuff. I put 'yardage' on pants hangers and put a broom handle between two ladders and hung it there. I put a tag on each hanger with the price, anywhere from $3.50/yd to $5.00 yard. You cant expect to sell LQS fabric for what you paid for it, its a yard sale. I sold plastic drawer sets (they were the 1st to go) for 5 bucks! I collected bags from the grocery store and reused them as my shopping bags. I had notions that I laid out on a sheet on the floor of the garage and tables covered in tubs of fabric, a wagon full of books, stacks of magazines and then all of the other 'yard sale' stuff. NO personal items lime cloths or shoes, that's just nasty IMHO, lots of craft stuff. I held it for 2 weekends, advertised on Craig s list, local community web page and told friends that are in the local quilting guild and they spread the word from there. I then used empty fabric bolts (free from Joann's) as signs to the house complete with florescent arrows. I made enough to pay the mortgage for 2 months and had a lot left over. I did a massive grocery shopping and we went away for a nice weekend.

It was a lot of work, but the pay off was great. Depending on your stash, you expect to make a little or a whole bunch. I sold all but a couple of small boxes and then I donated them to the local church for their quilting group to make quilts for their projects. I took the rest of the notions and did a bulk sale of them on ebay and they went like hot cakes as well. I am now down to 1 room of stash and nothing is in boxes or on the floor anymore.. but occasionally I do wonder where that one piece of fabric I knew I had went and then remember, Oh crap! you sold it in the garage sale! So make sure that what you sell, you really don't want anymore

frugalfabrics

best of luck to you - I've sold on this board, on ebay, and on facebook yardsale pages in my local area. This board was by far the best bang for the buck...it doesn't charge fees, and the people on here are your "target" audience. I was able to charge modest rates and other quilters were able to get great deals.

I don't have as much time to devote to selling like I use to, but if you have the time, people on this board love to buy great bargains.

Best of luck to you.

GrannieAnnie

Have your sale, put your prices on pieces and if you don't sell, you don't sell. That answer is based on assuming you won't have any huge expense.

GrannieAnnie

As some others have said, advertise it as QUILTING FABRIC, the $4 and then lower sounds reasonable. Unless you want a lot of work, I'd add that yardage will not be cut.

gollytwo

I held one in my home 6 or 7 yrs ago. I didn't advertize, just let members of my 2 Guilds know.
Priced all fabric at either $3 or $4, I can't remember - made $270.
Last summer I had another sale at a small quilt retreat - all fabric $3 - made a bit over $225

lfletcher

Our guild met a quilter who was closing her online fabric business. We invited her to our guild to sell her fabric. She priced it at $3.00/yard and would cut whatever amount you wanted. (This was 3 or 4 years ago, so maybe your $4.00/yard would be about right now.) She had bolts and bolts of it. Our guild members bought a lot and she was able to sell a lot, so it was good for everyone. I have been to several yard sales of quilters and their fabric was priced lower at about $1.00/yard. Good luck.

IAmCatOwned

I have attended one fabric yard sale (house of 3 quilters) and had my own when I had to sell my house when I became disabled (I have more fabric now than I did then... strange huh?). There was no Craigslist then (Ebay was still pretty new). The only advertisement I had was my sign down the street and in front of my house. My sign even said QUILT SHOP fabric. You will still get some jerks who are absolutely insulting about how much you are charging because they are too ignorant to have manners or don't understand the quality.

I charged $1/yard less than what I paid for it and had hardly any fabric left over. I think the average price was about between $3-4 a yard, but when I bought it, average yardage was $5-6 a yard. I had some fabric set aside that I really didn't want to sell, so I put a price of $12/yard on them. All of it went (mostly Hoffmann).

Maybe Quilt shop fabric closeout? You bought this fabric. If you are selling it for less than you bought it, I don't see why you would need to pay taxes on it.