My MIL is filing for bankruptcy, her brother and his wife live in the same town and are doing what they can. She is a bit of a hoarder and has tons of fabric. They have 700 yards so far and more to go. From what I understand, they posted an ad on Craigslist selling it by the tote (about 100yds/tote). I saw an ad locally (for me) with an arts & crafts fair where you can rent a table and sell your own stuff- I thought we could help them by doing this- Does anyone have any great ideas? Thank you in advance.

Sorry, I don't know.

contact local quilt guilds and tell them you are having a big big sale, you also might try to sell on ebay

Have a fabric yard sale....I'm sure they will come by car loads....Really sorry about your MIL...Hope she can recover and find her way again....Good Luck...

San
FL

sell here!... sales seem to do really well.

Yard sale as above. Post signs everywhere and in the paper, quilters in big letters. People will arrive!

Can you give us the link to craigslist?

What about on here?

I think you should sell it here. Most stuff for sale on the board doesn't even last for a day before it's gone.

I agree with the yard sale. Also my quilter guild allows you to bring unwanted quilting/sewing goods in to sell, (rulers, books, fabrics, UFO's) its really fun, we all know the fair value, so their is no haggling, you may get a better price than haggling at a yard sale, this way you could find a new home for other things she has excess of books/rulers etc, no postage problems to deal with. Good luck with it all and all the best to your MIL.

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I wouldn't have thought of guilds so I'll make some inquiries to some local guilds and see if they are willing to let an outsider sell for great prices :) I can't sell in the huge amounts that we have to deal with right now but if we can get the bulk down, I'll see if they're ok with that. And thank you for the well wishes, it's hard to see people unable to care for themselves and not willing to accept help until it's too late!

Sell some on here please.

I agree, sell it here. Here is where the quilters are

I agree to contact local quilt guilds. Also you might contact your local Project Linus coordinator. Our local leader would probably be willing to buy up a lot of fabric particularly with fabric prices. She really did well when our local WM had their sales prior to closing the fabric department.

If your local PL contact is not interested, then contact several others in your local areas. I'm sure that there would be one or more interested. They may not take all of it. I would also suggest to keep contacting the PL leaders expanding out from your location.

Good luck with everything.

Pam M

Does your MIL have any tools for quilting, I wish I lived close I would come and buy some, so would my friends. Do you have and address for the craiglist, I would like to look at it ..Thanks :thumbup:

We're in Oregon- so trying to sell locally due to the volume of stuff. She's not really on speaking terms with my husband (her son) right now (complicated!) I'm just trying to help her brother who is doing the hard work bailing her out without stepping on toes and getting noses out of joint (he got power of attorney to deal with the finances). I'll provide a link to the ad when I have it (still waiting for them to send a link). I'm just giving suggestions and offering what I can right now. I need to see what they're comfortable with. I think this could take a while!!

Hey, I'm within driving distance of Junction City! Let me know if you have a sale open to the public!
The only problem with selling on this board, is you are limited to 15 items per week....all that fabric would take you years! :lol:

Here's the link: http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/art/2279973250.html
I was wrong about the cost, it's actually $125.00-

My heart goes out to anyone facing bankruptcy - so sorry for them & for your stress too.

Few ideas:
1) Be careful about yard sales - many people do not want to pay the value of quality quilt fabric at yard sales. Don't we each want a bargain?
2) If you decide on a yard sale, advertise, advertise, advertise!!
3) I'd measure the pieces, roll each one separately (rubber band or tie??), identify the yardage on each piece, & clearly mark price per yard so you don't get someone saying, "I'll take it all for $25.00", or whatever. I know that's a lot of work.
4) If its all priced the same per yard, there's less haggling with prices - "You want xxx yards, at xxx per yard, that totals xxx." Have calculator handy!
5) If there is some quality quilt fabric & some not quite as nice, I'd split the difference & charge the same per yard for each yard of fabric - easier. Put up a big sign that says, "Quilt fabric, xxx per yard."

6) If you have the time & energy, you might try ebay selling per piece, or group like fabrics together (eg, "lot of 5 purple & violets" by color, or "lot of 8 coordinating FQ's", or "6 yds various reproduction prints", or "3 Hoffman prints"), etc.
7)Check out ebay prices first to get ideas of prices per yard fabric is selling.
8) "Buy It Now" is easier than having people bid. Ebay can walk you through how to list items for sale if you've never sold on the ebay site.
9) And if you do list on ebay, join PayPal - best way to assure you get paid on ebay, since some folks try to scam the seller, & PayPal is guaranteed & helps with disputes.
10) You can stuff a lot in flat rate box - the only way to ship, I'd say!

11) You could try selling on this site - there is a limit per week, but check to see if group of similar fabrics as 1 listing can count as '1' item - it could then be a large group of fabrics per listing.

*** I also agree with others that local guilds may be interested - we, for example, sew charity quilts for abused/neglected kids removed from their unsafe homes, & are always looking for more fabric. I'm sure there are groups in your area who do the same - ask about guilds at LQS. ***

Good luck with whatever you decide. You're an angel to help them out.

Since you have a lot of fabric, I think you would do better if you had a fabric sale separate from a garage sale. With a fabric sale, most peole expect to pay a fair price below retail. At a yard sale, they expect to pay pennies on the dollar.

A couple of times my guild has carried an "advertisement" if you can call it that for a member who has to downsize or other reasons. The seller sort of turns her house into a one day "shop". This might work better than a yard sale when there is such a large amount to be sold. The expectations at yard sales is to pick up stuff for pennies or less.

I agree - a fabric sale will bring in folks who appreciate fabric & will pay more than garage sale buyers.

A friend of mine who buys in quantity for her guild sells lots of extra. She orders oodles to get a good price, then sells what they don't need by renting an inexpensive room somewhere - grange hall, church basement, etc. She charges $4.00/yd plus adds .25 cents/yd to help cover room rental space. All the fabric is same price for simplicity's sake.
I wish you well - let us know how it works for you.
Jan