I have a TON of fabric to get rid of, so I have been watching the fabric listed here on the classifieds....

I see a lot of older fabric from walmart, joanns, hancocks, etc being sold for $4-$8 per yard!
Is this the sort of prices you would pay for fabric of that quality and age? Most is about 5-10 years old!

I have older aunt grace 30's repros, older CW repro's and older thimblerries prints and I thought $3 a yd was a good price! Now I am wondering if I should charge more!

Do you think the cotton prices that are driving up the costs of NEW fabrics will edge the market up on older stashed fabrics as well?

What about panels? I have a huge tote full of vest panels! I think $2 each is a good price, right or wrong?

Interested in what you would be willing to pay for good quality, well stored, smoke free fabric!

$3.75 - $4.50 per yard sounds fair, as you say since cotton prices have
increased.... and some of your prints are probably no longer available.
As for Panels .... not too many people make vests, so $3. per panel ???

Personally, I wouldn't pay that much for fabric from Walmart or JoAnns unless it was a particular print I was looking for. The quality doesn't warrant it. I think $3-$5 per yard as an average sounds good. Good luck!

yeah, vest aren't IN so much, but some of the designs are sought after! They are easily cut up and used to make center medallions on a quilt!
I think $2 a panel is good! I want them gone!
you can see most of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaciqlt...7622910292362/

i agree on the prices i have seen if you add in shipping you could buy new fabric from new lines. i cant imagine charging more than i paid for it. of course it is not a business for me. i would truly just be trying to get rid of what i wont use. No offense to anybody. I guess it could be the rise in cotton prices

i have a friend that uses old panels in very creative ways like that all the time

I have seen great things made with the vest panels, but I don't have time to mess with them. I did keep some Snowmen ones and have a wall hanging planned out though!

some people just have the knack for it

I will not pay over $4 a yard because it is too easy to get it for less with the online sales. Most LQS have a sale room for $5 and under. When I sell my LQS fabric, I do it because I have decided I won't use it so I discount it deeply. It isn't a business with me. And I don't believe in selling something for more that I paid......ever. Most of us trade and buy to switch things around. It is fun and I hope it stays that way.

That said, if someone wants to buy it for that, it is certainly their right.

I had a bunch of vest panels I just sold - South Sea Imports - $5 a panel - they had good beach scense on them. One lady was going to use them for her bow-tuck bags.

I agree, that vests are no longer in style, the uses for the panels are still there - creative people will use them to make one of a kind items.

I sell my fabric anywhere from $3-$8 a yard/panel depending on the quality of the fabric line and where I purchased it from. I plainly list if the fabric is average grade or stiff, so the buyer is aware of that before making the purchase. I definitely don't want a dis-satisfied buyer.

Some of the older (out of print) lines are highly sought after, so putting a $5 price tag on them isn't asking too much at all.

I've sold alot of my grandmother's stash that I inherited. I know where she purchased her fabric, because I was the one who took her fabric shopping. She had alot of the same fabric that I have.

Maybe it's just me and I'm new to quilting but when I see some fabric listed here that someone is selling for $5 or more a yard that has been in their stash for how long I just just look at it and think to myself that I wouldn't pay that much for it. I wouldn't want anyone to give it away but I'm sure that they bought it cheaper and why should I pay the higher price just because cotton is now going up. I can drive to town and pay that much for fabric that I can see and feel and have it today without shipping cost. I would love to buy fabric from others because I would love to give the money to them as to a store in town. But on the other hand if someone is trying to get rid of fabric they no longer want or will never use it makes sense to sell it at a more reasonable price. Since I'm a newbie I'm still having a problem spending all that money on something that may sit on a shelf for who knows how long only to find I don't like the fabric or my taste have changed.

The prices you were thinking sounds fair to me, I can NOT and will NOT give the prices I have seen in some of the ads,but that is just me.And it is important to me for the fabric to come from a smoke free home.

I have never paid more than $4/y on this board (for cotton fabric, I did pay more for minky).

It's a seller's choice. There are books on here for 15.00+ and people buy them. ANd the ones for 5.00+ people buy too. Depends on who wants it. If I see a price I don't like, I usually just go away from it. WOn't post anything negative. I have sold quitls on here for 50.00 that others sell the same size and pattern for double+. I am happy with my prices and tickled when it sells and makes it way to a new home. Others have businesses or depend on money. I agree wtih NP3, I love trading and selling really low so it goes out of my room and into someone else's.

I am not trying to put anyone down for their pricing, as they say, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!
I just want to price mine fairly. I know fabric well as it is my biz and has been for 35 years! I just know that those who are new to quilting might know the fabrics they are buying at $5(which seems like a great price)is really 10+ years old and probably did not sell for $5 yd when it was new!

I store my fabric well, list if it is washed or not, it is from a smoke free home, etc...so I am hoping that when I start to list it this week it will get great responses!

At $3 a yard, you will get a lot of responses. At $6-8, not so much. And I love some of the fabric that is 10 or more years old. I had every Daisy Kingdom line they made.....still have some of them! I've been at this for 48 years!!

:D

Hey NP3, I sell most of mine for 5.00 or less always, and my fabrics are not more than a year old so can't really go by that. Just because it is cheap doesn't mean it is old. I know there's a lot of sales now for 3.00 and 4.00 that is new fabric. I know no one is knocking prices , just saying we all have reasons for selling for less to destash or selling to make a little. I also buy 5.00/yd fabric and sell it on here to share with members. My LQS has 5.00yd fabrics and they are top of the line LQS. So one cannot say for sure they are old fabrics because they are cheap.
I am sure your fabrics will sell on the board, we all like the sales and prices vary for everyone. I would spend 10.00 a yard for Laurel Birch but not for 30's, etc. The price is in the eyes of the beholder.

You're right - you can fetch whatever people are willing to pay! I'm a bargain shopper so the $3 sounds great to me (LOL), but I will pay - and have paid - much more for something I like. (Which seems to happen a lot :shock: ) I don't care how old something is if it is good quality, has been cared for and doesn't look dated. Don't forget that if you'd had it stored well for ten years it IS worth more than what you paid back then - account both for inflation AND for the "rental space" it took up in your home/shop!

I'd say $3-$4 would get the fabric out the door pretty quickly, but if you are more interested in ROI then price it a bit higher and see how it goes.

The value of an item for sale depends on what side of the table you are sitting on. If you are the seller, it's worth more than if you are the buyer.

If I can shop on-line without having to go out of my house, then it's worth it to me...saves on gas, saves on my time (because it is valuable too), and it's at my convenience.

QVC invented the on-line shopping at all hours of the day and night...quilting board members are pretty good at it too! I love being able to sit in my recliner with my jammies on and shop for fabric....it's a convenience for me...and conveniences tend to cost a little more at times; but in the end, it all evens out.

I had every Daisy Kingdom line they made.....still have some of them! I've been at this for 48 years!!

:D[/quote]

I loved DK even though I had boys...and DIana Marcum was great as well! Miss some of those great designs!

those are both great lines...I have very few of them left anymore....all used up.

Thanks for all of your input! I am a bit picky about how fabric is represented and will do my best to make sure everyone knows the quality they are getting!

Generally, I need to know the manufacturer if I'm going to buy yardage, so as long as that's listed people can use their own judgement about pricing.

Definitely - When I started posting, I would list the fabric line, the pattern#, and all that, but I noticed not many people were doing it that way, so I've pretty much gotten away from listing all the details unless someone asks for more info.

Good luck on your selling adventure. I try and list items on the weekends - it's alot of work to keep up, but so far so good. Nothing lost in the mail - everything has arrived at it's destination (mostly in tact..lol)...only one or two postal gorillas manhandling a couple of them, but they still arrived in one piece.

I had a hard time judging the correct postage amount, so I usually ended up having to cover the shortage, but it's become easier each week.

I had a hard time judging the correct postage amount, so I usually ended up having to cover the shortage, but it's become easier each week.[/quote]


I ship for a living it seems, so that should not be an issue....
I have tons and have pix of most already so will be listing soon!

I would be interested in 4 of your vests.
The Halloween with cat-7 adult
The patchwork Star button ADULT
Musical adult 2 if you have them
Winter village adult.
My husband has a paypal acct but he hit the sack early and I don't know how to go nto paypal. Will pm you tomrrow to see if you have these vests or to set-up payment, Pat P

i'm pleased to see that we're discussing this in such a pleasant and purely conversational manner. :-)

my only objection is to the allegation that the original retail source is an irrefutable indication of its relative quality or value. i've been at this for a while, too, and have seen more than sufficient proof otherwise. only the fabric itself is an accurate indicator.

those who sell here, or who are planning to, should keep a few things in mind:

1. our classifieds section was never intended to function as a commercial selling site. it never will be. it's primary purpose is for members to help each other make ends meet by exchanging excess fabric, supplies and tools. that exchange can involve either money or trade for items of similar value, but the principals remain the same in either case.

2. if the intent is to set up a permanent store front, we'd prefer you do so elsewhere so that our classifieds section is not overtaken by professional resellers and thus crowd out those members who use it only occassionally for its intended purpose.

3. for the most part, we don't interfere with pricing choices. there have been a very few extreme cases in which the seller was obviously price-gouging or deliberately misrepresenting the fabrics offered. in such cases, we will step in and do what little we can to protect our members. an example of that would be someone selling fabrics known to be available only at discount prices but referring to them as "LQS fabrics" or mixing them with LQS fabs and pricing all of them at LQS levels.

buyers should also consider a few things when shopping:

1. the fact that somebody is selling a fabric for a price higher than it would cost "in person" does not automatically indicate a lack of ethics on the part of the seller. most fabrics are available to us through a variety of retail sources. the prices for specific fabric vary widely depending upon where we buy them and how much we buy. i can find a fab for $2.99 every day from one source, and see the same fab for $3.99 - $7.99 in other places. for that reason, it's unfair to assume the seller is trying to take advantage just because their price is higher than what we'd pay if we bought it from one of our own typical sources. the seller may, in fact, be honestly pricing it to cover her/his own expenses. and don't forget that those expenses may include the taxes and/or shipping costs the seller paid when buying those fabs.

2. in a lot of cases, the fabrics we sell to each other come with "value added". they might already be prewashed and pressed. they may be measured more generously to ensure that 1-yard sold does in fact provide a minimum of 36 usable inches. they are likely to have already been used in a project, which amounts to "quality testing/verification." for some buyers, those little extras might justify a slight markup in price over the lowest price from a retail source.

the point of this admittedly long essay is that we should not jump to conclusions. rather, we should look at each ad and offering. evaluate each based on its own merits and value to you as the buyer.

if sellers are dishonest, we'll figure it out pretty quickly and they'll find few or no buyers here.

if buyers are thoughtful and educate themselves beforehand, they'll be able to shop with confidence.

:-)

As a seller, I tend to start my sale at $5/yd because I originally paid $10/yd for my fabric. I think a 50% discount is fair to begin. I then lower the prices for the pieces that are slower to move. This helps me to clean off the shelf and the buyer to get quality fabric at a discounted price. Another thing is that a majority of my sales usually end up in a trade. I think that is what makes it fun for me.

As a buyer, I send a pm to ask what the manufacturer of the fabric is if I am unsure. Ultimately, it is the buyer's responsibility to confirm that the fabric is the quality they prefer.

Just my opinion.

very true. no matter what we're shopping for, when we're in "consumer mode" we often forget our own responsibilities within the experience. thanks for the reminder. :-)

please don't think i'm arguing against that truth, though, if i add my note of appreciation to those who tell us upfront which manufacturer made the fabrics and other items being offered.

i admit it. i'm lazy and appreciate anything that saves me time and effort on research. :lol:

PatriceJ - as usual you put it so nicely adn easy to understand . Are you sure you aren't an attorney or litigator in hiding???????? I have had wonderful experiences on the board selling. I love being able to swap and shop. LOL. YOu can't get that locally......LOL. Can't wait to buy from you all who posted, I feel like I won't even ask questions when it is your sales. Now I will put Mfg on my listings again, I got away from it too. My bad. Thanks for everyone's input.

I was cleaning out my sewing room and came across a 2002 connecting thread catalog, it had fabric listed in it for $8.90 yd. It was interesting to look thru, quilting has come a long way in the 9 years.

Patrice makes a good point. I have often seen fabric at WalMart that I have also seen at LQS.

I will start putting the Mfg on mine as well. In fact, I think I'll list some tonight. Going to measure and note the maker as I go.

See you in the classifieds!!

I haven't seen Wal Mart fabric for that price on here but I think a person can ask any price but not necessarily get it. With shipping so high I think $2 to $3 is plenty for fabric that a person wants to get rid of. I know I have some of that and if I ever get around to sorting it out I would be pleased to get $2 to $3 for it. If you do want a lot more you may want to hang onto it until prices go out of sight