I purchased patterns this way having not read the fine print of them being pages from a magazine. They were not copies. It taught me to read the fine print better.

I've bought patterns this way. The descriptions were very clear and I had no surprises. I think it's great! If I decide to bid on one, I generally look at all the patterns from that seller as the shipping / pattern goes down with additional purchases. Makes me feel like I get more for my money!

I'd rather pay for just the pattern then buy a magazine for $5-$8 and only get one pattern from it.

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.

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what I thought..these people probably have some connection through a store or market where they can pick up the out of date magazines.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 actually purchased a few not realizing they were from magazines i do think that should be clear in the posting and no one bothers. but i feel that its really not false advertizing as long as its all there. so ive never left bad feedback. and in theyre defence it was really reasonable in price as well. mine werent copied, they were originals.
carla

Ditter and Stitchinwitch are spot on. I am a fierce supporter of federal copyright laws as we all should be. So long as they are original copies there is no problem; HOWEVER, any copy is clear copyright violation. How would you feel if you designed or published these patterns? No one in the quilt design or publishing business is making bunches of money and their "products" deserve to be protected so that they can continue to work for all our consumption. If this type of scofflaw behavior continues among us, eventually designing and publishing will diminish. Sure it's great to get a deal but it's not fair to those who have labored for us and our hobby/craft to risk being put out of business this way. REPORT this to ebay!

There's far too much wonderful free stuff out there for us to tolerate copyright infringement.

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.....