I have just read in several posts that alot of you purchase material online, at you say about the same price as you could locally.

My question to you is how to do deceide which to purchase? Since you cant get a "visual" of everything you like laying together, how do you pick and choose?

Also, your favorite online shopping sites are???

Thanks gals..you are the best!!

Melinda

I'm curious about this as well. It looks like by the time you pay shipping it would run the cost way up.

there are several threads on this subject on board.
you can hit search and type in online fabric buying ad a list will come up!
lots of good reading.

i just posted this comment under another topic, too, in response to the same question:

i don't consider a price a bargain unless it's $4 or less per yard including shipping. here's where i start when i'm looking for new fabs online. not only are their prices great, the service is faaaaaaabulous, they ship internationally, and they can fit 28 yards of fabric into the $10 flat rate box. (not including flanel or fleece, of course): http://stores.shop.ebay.com/CROWSNES...1QQ_fsubZQ2d33

$5 or $6 per yard including shipping is my new "normal". (took me a looooooong time to get over paying that much.) here is my second stop online. they usually have plenty for $5 or less, but i don't usually have to pay more than $6. they also ship internationally.: http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/index.cfm

i mention the internation shipping because i know our overseas friends pay so much more than we do for fabrics. even after shipping, these two sites are money savers. it depends on whether or not you live in a country that sticks it to you on customs charges.

Thanks, Patrice and Ninnie. I appreciate the links and the note to do the "search" for previous discussions. That's just what I was looking for.

I'm still curious about your selection. As I'm new to quilting and am overwhelmed when in a store WITH material, I dont quite understand how you figure out how well material will flow together when you are online shopping. Does this question make sense??
Thanks!
Melinda

your question makes perfect sense.

the one "iffy" thing about buying fabric online is that you can't put the fabrics together side by side to see for sure whether they'll coordinate or clash. the same fabric can look quite different in pics on different web sites - and different again when you see it in person. i must confess to having a lot of fabric that i discovered didn't really work once i had it in hand. that's ok for me because i'm a fabric junky and don't mind having a "new" place to start for future projects.

when i need to be very very sure fabs will work together, i try to select from within one line/collection of fabrics. i know they'll work because they were designed deliberately to work together.

When I buy fabric in person, the tax is a bit daunting, so I look at it this way.....if the shipping is equal or less than the tax would be, I am making out good, because, in the end, I have not spent anything on gasoline when I buy it in the computer. As to trying to see how they would look together, don't always worry about it because I just buy fabric that I like without thinking how I plan to use it in the future.

So far I have only bought from two places, but they were GREAT! I do not have a credit card and had to send money orders. I got emails from them confirming that the fabric was shipped just two days after I had sent the money. I bought from the Craft Connection and The Quilting Place.

i loooove Nixie Chicks when they have a sale. you can easily stay under $4.00 py.

i recently learned of a sale on board, i can't remember which. i spent $185.93 on spec. they charge #12.95 shipping no matter how much fabric you buy. so the rest of that was fabric.

i know klue spent a lost on that sale also. she may remember that sale site.

also, sometimes if you spend $50 or $100, they drop the shipping. it's not as hard as it sounds.

the sale was on the thousands of bolts website.

some sites do charge an insane amount for shipping but these amounts are typically detailed on the invoice before you check out.

if you have a question write to them. i had a shipping issue at an online store and by the end of the entire situation my entire order charge was reversed. i didn't pay shipping nor for the fabric.

if you have a reasonable LQS then it would always pay for you to shop there. fabric at my LQS starts at $10 a yard and i can buy the same fabric online for $5 a yard. so for me shopping online is the way to go even when i pay for shipping.