I have gone onto ebay a few times looking for fabric, but find it overwhelming to find 80,000 or more sales to sort through. How do you sort to find what you might be looking for or do you just keep scrolling through? I usually do the lowest first or buy it now, but still there seems to be a lot to look through. Any suggestions??

Try and specify quilt fabric, fat quarters, etc. You can also just look at the auctions due within a certain time frame. I agree there are too many posts and many are of bad quality 4 inch squares and those people seem to post 20 posts of the same thing. That and some other issues is why I seldom buy there any more but it can be worth it.

If you can buy an eBay seller you like, it can be easier to just shop that seller's store.

I usually narrow the search to jelly rolls, charms, layer cakes, or fat quarters. I think you can even filter by color. Then I look at those ending soonest to see if there's something I want to bid on right away. If not I sort by lowest price first and scroll through till I reach the maximum price I'm willing to pay.

This is a good suggestion. I usually shop my favorite sellers first.

I don't do much fabric shopping on ebay due to the high shipping prices. I know it costs alot for the sellers to ship but I just think the shipping charges can be crazy :/

I usually do a search under the sewing and fabric section for "lot". That way I get several fabrics when I purchase.

Check out the sellers' for complaints/compliments. That can help you decide about quality of fabric.

(just now paid) won bid from seller: quilting*patch

50 pk 2 1/2" charm $1.99
brown jelly roll 2 1/2" $8.99
ship $5.10

will let you know the quality of this seller's items

:mrgreen:

Once you do your initial search for Fabric, Quilting, 100% cotton, then on the left side there are other ways to narrow it down. You can select size i.e. By the Yard, etc. In the search space at the top you can put in colors, manufacturers' names, etc. There are dozens and dozens of ways to sort the fabrics.

I shop on ebay by designer, fat quarters, yardage, color, etc. I may have to do several in a row but I usually find what I need.

Also in reference to shipping I have been known to email a seller and ask if there is cheaper shipping. Alot of times they put the priority mail rate on their ad and I will tell them I prefer a cheaper rate and they mostly accommodate me.

I also check out the ratings on a seller before I buy from them.

You can narrow your search by manufacturer, name of pattern, color etc. I have had really good luck finding what I need on ebay. I wanted to find pinecone fabric for a woodsy quilt. Just typed in "Pinecone Fabric" and found a bunch.

describe 100 percent cotton...novelty fabric, retro 70's fabric, scenic fabric, vintage feedsack fabric, use key words to narrow your search

I buy fabric on ebay all the time. Usually I'll start by searching for a specific fabric, perhaps "Lilac fabric" or "Lilacs fabric", or by the name of a fabric I've seen on another site, like "Northcott Stonehenge". I may search by color, such as "emerald green fabric". And then I narrow it to "Quilting" fabric. This gets rid of the non-cotton fabric (usually). If you set your search results screen to display 200 results per page, you can quickly scroll through and see at a glance if it's what you want.

Then there are several large fabric sellers and quilt shops that I've used before and bookmark, and occasionally I'll scroll through their stores to see what's new.

Many times the shipping costs are calculated by the ebay software and aren't correct. You can always ask the seller to ship a different method. I prefer Priority Mail, and I know how much fabric will fit in each size envelope/box, and what that price for each size is. The seller will then correct the shipping costs and send you a revised payment request.

If Ebay is too overwhelming, try http://www.etsy.com. There are no auctions, only fixed price, but there are lots of great fabrics and it just seems to be a friendlier place.

Be sure to select "buy" then "supplies" to find fabric. This website is for handmade items and vintage things, but new supplies for making handmade items are also allowed.

subsequent order, 100 pk charm 2 1/2 $3.99, ship $2.50

jelly roll: was 2 strips each of 10 fabrics It was a "brown" The fabrics & colors are charming, and not things I would have purchased, so it widens me out, helps me see new fabric combinations

50 pk, arrived with the jelly roll, so they co-ordinated it. there were only 5 pc that would not coordinate. about 5 pc were the same fabric as in the jelly roll. only a couple of duplicate fabrics

100 pk, second order. easily 80% or more will work with the others. went thru it at lunch, did not notice any duplicates.

50 pk & 100 pack were accurate counts.

the cuts are beautifully accurate, only a few pc a few threads je-whoggered. Some fabrics just do that.

PS, I am not the vendor!!!

Some have commented how this ups the price per yard. I agree with that. the 1st order arrived Sat. Later in the day, I cut about 30 2 1/2" strips, it took me 2 hours. That includes some tinkering bits, trying to use certain scrap fabrics.

So, it is a toss-up. If you work full time, it might be worth it to you, considering what an hour of your time is worth.