calicolover

With my mother now in assisted living...I have a ton of great quilting fabric, magazines and books to find a home for. I would really like to sell them so as to use the money to help with her care. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

sprice

It is hard to turn items like that into cash and get what the stuff is worth. I think I would run a newspaper ad and get people to come out and see what you have. I noticed that fabric sells on this site for $4 a yard.

quilterpurpledog

I know first hand what it costs to have someone in assisted living facilities. The amount you could sell these things she treasured is small compared to one month's billing statement. I would suggest you contact a senior center that has quilters or a quilt guild that does a lot of charity work such as quilts in police and fire vehicles and social services that deal with victimized women and children. They could and would put this stash to good use. In our community we have both and receive fabrics and supplies in this way from time to time.

PaperPrincess

Do you know if your mom belonged to any quilting groups or guilds? Sometimes they will help family members with a sale. even if she didn't belong, try contacting a local guild to see if someone can help you assign a selling price for the collection. Be prepared, however, as you probably won't realize much $$. Around here garage sale fabric goes for $2 a yard.

dunster

I recently went to a great yard sale. A quilter was moving and getting rid of only part of her stash. The fabrics were $4/yard. Word of the sale was spread by another quilter who belonged to the guild, so the people who came were primarily quilters who realized that $4/yard was a great price.

Shoofly1

Can you post the area you are in here? Maybe quilting board members who live nearby would be interested in buying stuff.

feline fanatic

So much great advice already. It really all depends on where you are located as to how much per yard you can get. In my area (upstate NY) $4 per yard would be a fair price for an estate sale and if word got out to many quilters chances are you will be able to sell a lot. If this is good quilt shop quality fabrics that includes newer designs you should have no trouble asking and getting $4 per yard with no cutting down (buyers must take as is), but you always get people who think it should be less. If the fabric is older calicos like JoAnn fabrics "keepsake Calico" lines you won't get more than $2 per yard, same for most walmart fabrics (VIP is the most common manufacturer) and believe me most quilters can spot the difference immediately even without seeing the selvage. Solids sell for less. But if you have a lot of name brand fabrics (check the selvage edge of her fabrics) like Moda, Hoffman of California, Robert Kaufman, Kona Bay, Timeless Treasures (these are just the few name brands I could think of off the top of my head) or Batiks you should have no problems asking $4 per yard and getting it. Garage sale you may be able to sell at $4 per yard, but most people who go to garage sales expect to pay much less (around $2 or $3 per yard for name brand, less for no name brand or older fabrics). If your mom had vintage stuff like feed sack you can command more for it. But it is very hard to tell feedsack unless it is still in feedsack form. Some can tell by the weave. You could try putting an ad on Craigs list for the entire lot. But you will need to have lots of pics and a good idea of how much yardage there is. If she has a room full of stash, you could try asking a set figure for the whole lot and not bother with measuring how much fabric there is. What to ask is hard to say without having any idea at all of what you have.
Magazines you probably won't find anyone willing to pay more than .25 per issue and that is assuming the magazines are complete and no patterns or pages are missing. You might be better off bundling the magazine in bundles of 10 and price it for $2 per bundle or pricing 1 for .25 10 for $2.
Books you may be able to get around $4 or $5 each. Key words quilters look for in ads are "fabric" or "quilting cotton". I am thinking your mom may have also had a lot of tools, like rulers, cutting mats, rotary cutters and blades. If so advertise "quilting supplies including rulers and cutters (if she had them)". If you hold a sale, I would recommend selling yardage as is. It would be a lot of work for you to cut down pieces and you could end up with a lot of small leftover bits that won't sell. You will need to measure all pieces and put tags on them for the amount of yardage.
Bundle up kits, precuts and fat quarters separately. A good rule of thumb is half price what the original item cost. So if kits, patterns, precuts etc still have a price tag on them offer them at half off the tag price.

craftEcowgirl

Sent you PM

ragamuffin

When a member of our guild died, the daughters were allowed to come into our annual quilting supplies sale, they set up their tables and sold the goods like everyone else. Then after the meeting, they announced that everything was half price,
so after the meeting, we could buy again. They got rid of most of the stuff. Just an idea.

paoberle

Your not going to get much for any of it, especially the books and magazines, to make a dent in your mother's care costs. Have a yard sale. Try a used book store for the books. Contact a local guild to see if they have any members who might buy some of it. Why not donate the materials to her assisted living home for the use of your mother and others in the home.