bearisgray

I am not offering anything for sale on this forum - but I am asking for opinions about some things.

I have some pieces of fabric that are uneven on the ends.

Do you prefer a nice straight cut - like one gets from the store - or would you prefer to get the "extra" - with an uneven edge - assuming you would get charged the same either way?

Fabrics do fold and stack more neatly with even edges.

I would indicate whether or not a piece of fabric has been washed. I think many people (of those what wash before cutting) would wash whatever again when they get it home, (I probably would, because I know what I do when I soak/wash - not so sure about other people's methods.)

Would you be willing to buy scraps? Maybe priced by the pound?

Would you consider picking out of bins/totes and putting it in plastic bags and weighed?

Or would you prefer to have it "prepackaged" and sold by the pound?

I was at a show where scraps were sold in brown paper bags by color. I passedl.

Would you buy charm squares that had straight edges instead of pinked edges?

I cut consistently - but my 5 inch squares would be a couple of threads bigger than an "exact" 5 inch square because of how I cut.

Do you prefer to buy by the yard or by the piece? I have a lot of pieces more than three yards in length. If you got a discount for buying the whole piece, would that make it more attractive to you/

If I had a fabric sale, I think I would like to make appointments - I have a lot of stuff - not so much space, Would you consider "shopping" that way?

I have - very reluctantly - come to the conclusion that I will probably not get around to doing anything with all the fabrics and tools I have accumulated.

And a couple of my kids have made it quite clear that they would prefer to not have to deal with all that "stuff"!

I would like to recover some of what I have spent over the years!

tallchick

One of my favorite quilt shops had totes where customers could pick fabrics from and were sold by the pound. Since current events they now sell them online as pound packages and each package includes is assorted by color or theme blues, yellows etc. . Another shop used to sell just by the box, and you never knew what you’d get, sometimes it might have 2 yards of a fabric down to a fat eighth, I was always happy with what I got.
I think it all depends on how much time and effort you want to put into the project and how you plan to sell everything. If you are doing it via garage sale? I would sell it by the pound for anything less than 1/2 yard and perhaps sort everything by color and/or theme and let people pick and choose. If your setting up on eBay or Etsy then you might want to spend more time sorting and categorizing as people tend to want to see what they are getting, online selling is tedious. You might want to take a look on both sites and see what others are doing. I would not spend the time to cleanup edges way too much effort IMHO.
Now, if you want to really get into everything and spend the time you can cut and make your own precuts and bundle accordingly from Mini Charms up to FQ Bundles and see how they sell.
Good luck, its no easy task, perhaps you can enlist the help of family and friends to help?

Macybaby

For me, if the price is right, the rest does not matter. I'm going to wash everything when I get home so knowing it's prewashed is not an issue, however it might be for someone that normally does not prewash.

What I've seen at private party sales - only one did they cut yardage, but they had a lot of large yardage. Most of the time it's priced per piece and noted - Unless you've got a lot of large yardage (over 5yard chunks) it may be better for your sanity to sell by the piece.

I've bought scraps by the bag - what ever I fit into the bag was $. Well, I was going to but then just offered for the whole scrap box instead (was accepted - box about the size a dryer would fit into). I would not buy scraps in a paper bag, but I have bought them in a clear plastic bag. I think they where like 50 cents a bag - and it was a decent amount of scraps. Again - price has a lot to do with it.

When I was just starting, I went to an estate sale and spent about $500. Filled up the pickup truck bed (have a topper).

I also bought out my Sis's stash at $3 a yard. She only had about 300 yards so it wasn't too hard on the bank. She'd has the fabric in boxes for years and years and we were both very happy with the exchange.

osewme

Here's what I like:

1. I prefer a nice straight cut.
2. I've never bought scraps by the pound.
3. I like the idea of picking my own scraps & putting them in a plastic bag to purchase. Our local quilt shop (which has now gone out of business) would sell their scraps like that. I like to see what I'm getting & like to select the sizes I want.
4. I prefer straight cuts on pre-cuts to those that are pinked. I really don't like sewing on pinked edges.
5. When I have the money, I would rather buy fabric by the yard. I never did buy yardage when I was in the work force & now wish I had. I generally just bought as I needed for the quilt I was making at the time.
6. I think I would really enjoy buying by appointment. That would give me time to really consider what I was buying & not feel like I had to buy something just because another quilter was eyeing the same fabric.

I don't have near as much fabric as I would like. Since my retirement 5 years ago, I've used up most of my stash & now like to make charity blocks for a dear, kind nurse near Tyler, Texas who finishes quilts for dying patients in the hospital in which she works. I'm also still trying to make face masks for the children with Congenital Heart Defects that I started 6 years ago. So, I really wish I would have purchased more fabric when I was able to afford it.
If I had a really big stash & was wanting to part with a lot of it & didn't want to go through the process of selling it, I would find charities that would like to have it or would start making as many quilts, etc. that I could to use it up & stop making quilts for family & friends. All my family & friends have what they want in the way of quilts now.
As for my sewing machine & quilting tools & supplies, I would probably find a good quilt guild that could pass them on to other quilters (especially new quilters who don't have much in the way of beginning supplies).

SusieQOH

All your ideas sound good, with the exception of having people go to your house right now (Covid).

juliasb

Years ago I went to a garage sale and purchased fabrics for $10 for a garbage bag full. These were all LQS fabrics and some were still in the bag from the LQS. I purchased 20 bag and they could hardly be lifted. The biggest stash builder I ever had. Now that was then and I know I got the steal of the century. But it is another ways to sell fabrics by the bag.

Gemm

My short answer is yes, I would buy any of the above. :-) I just bought two bags of someone's scrappy stash from a thrift store. It was like Christmas - every new piece that I looked at was interesting and exciting (even the few 2-1/2" squares and strange, crumby offcuts). I got a couple of larger pieces (1 yard or more) but honestly, it was the smaller pieces that were the most fun for me!

Don't forget to think about what would be best for you, as well. If it would be easier for you to just pop scraps in a tote and let people search through them, then do that. If it makes you happy to handle the scraps and sort them by colour or theme, then do that. Downsizing can be challenging so make sure you are catering to your needs while you are doing it. Good luck!

Nerys

People who are into making junk journals like to buy small pieces fabrics for covers and even smaller for embellishments. You could sell these via mail in an envelope. Things like buttons, bits of ribbon and laces, rickrack are also used. Sell by color or theme like Easter, Christmas, baby colors, florals, birds etc.

toverly

My Guild has a person to person sale every year. What I prefer to purchase is yardage with the amount and price on each piece. I have only purchased handmade precuts once, it was a jelly roll of bright batiks. If you make your own precuts, I would keep them in themes. Batiks, 30's ect. I would prefer uneven ends. Just because, I never know when that little bit of extra will come in handy. As for scraps, I don't purchase them. I have too many of my own. Though I have seen new quilters purchase bundles in ziploc bags.

ladyinpurple135

I pretty much agree with just about everything that has been said before with one really big exception for me - I will never, ever purchase prewashed fabrics. I do not prewash and have never had a problem - use color catchers if needed. At one of my smaller guilds I belong to had a scraps sale. We ask members for any reasonable sized scraps but they must not have been washed (gives the purchaser the option if wash or no wash). We used zip bags to be stuffed with as much as possible as long as it could be closed, for a very reasonable price - think we used quart and gallon sized bags - different for the smaller one than the larger one. I have also purchased yardage from a home sale as long as the measure was noted and had not been washed,

Sandy in Mooresville, NC (still visiting in CO)