Pardon my ignorance, but...
 

I mostly shop online or at Hancock's for my fabrics, and only once have even purchased a jelly roll. The other day I saw some very reasonably-priced 5" charm packs online, but could not tell how many "charms" were in a pack. Is there some easy way to tell and I just missed it?

Here is a site you maybe interested in. I am not sure the other fabric compaines do the same. They would be close to these amounts as Moda set the standered on precuts.
http://www.modabakeshop.com/p/bakery.html
Luann in CT

I have seen charms with 40-42 pcs and some with half that. Just take a look at this page and you will see some with 21, 30, 40 and 42 pieces http://www.fatquartershop.com/store/...=&Search_Text= I would definitely want to know the number of charm pieces too so I would call or email them to get the info. When I went to Hancock's, it looks like they put the number of charm pieces at the end of the title.http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Item...packs--srcin-1

Yes, I see a great variation, but at least those tell you how many! I was on Amazon with third-party sellers, and they just didn't say. The prices were about $8.67 per pack, tho, and that was tempting (but not if there are only 10 squares!).

I am glad you posted this. I really didn't know much about the differences either.

LATER: Oops! I just re-looked at one on Amazon and in the fine print at the bottom it explained how many charms there were and how many different prints...maybe all of them are like that and I just was too impatient.

I just bought my first Jelly Rolls today on Ebay..They were 14.99 for 50 strips. For that price I figured I can't go wrong, and it will give me the opportunity to work with them before I spend more money on something I might now like.

I only buy Charm Packs from Missouri Quilt Co., their Deal of the Day is pretty good, and depends on the makers, some have as little as 22, others have as many as 42. I've got a BIG stack of them, perfect for making almost anything. I signed up with them, last week I ordered one for 99 cents, shipping was as always, $5.00 A nice one. Also ordered a "Twice the Charm"pack with dainty pastel fabrics by Robyn Pandolph with 27.. 5-1/2 by 22 inch" strips, that I can cut into 2-1/2 strips, make 5x5" squares. A great deal there! Its different with different manufacturers.

I have seen different companies put different amounts. you might look at JoAnn's or Tuesday Mornings for some that are very reasonable in price

I've noticed that the jelly rolls do not always contain 40 strips and the charm packs do not always contain 42 charms but, usually, they are marked on the label.