Jean in Ohio13452

yep most fabric I have seen at Yard sales and Thrift Stores is just a price for the whole piece... not by the yard...
so 50 cents to $1.00 a piece for older fabrics.. Maybe $5.00 a drawer ? and $10 a bag ? Newer fabrics 1/4 to 1/2 retail price...if you really like the Fabric and its good quality... or like they have said above...make an offer if you want the whole shebang ! ! !

Sandygirl

You never get the price you think you should get at rummage sales and auctions. Get rid of it any way you can. Maybe display the fabric by colorways? Might sell more quickly if organized in a pleasing way.
sandy

solstice3

I bought fabric at yard sales for $1 a yard. Not top of the line ... Probably mid grade around $6 to $8 a yard if bought new.

didi

I went to an estate sale and paid $5 for the big plastic bin of fabric (got 5) have also bought big bags of material for $3. In my area fabric does not sell well, at estate sales. Also, as said, some of the fabric might be old and not any good or not cotton. I would mention this to them and give them an offer, leave your name and number, if you really want the material. Hope this helps.

Lori S

In my neck of the woods , estate sales will get about $3.00 per yard for premium goods....and you get to pick. If its bundles of preselected it goes for about a $1.00 per yard. A few years ago I went to an estate sale and bought quite a bit... but there is quite a bit I have regrets about purchasing. When You buy ask your self if it was on a shelf in a retail shop would you buy it?! Its easy to feel compeled to purchase at a higher price when its a "friend" situation and not negotiate on the price. Remember older fabrics may be tough to find complimentary fabrics as colors and print patterns change.

Wintersewer

If you value your friendship, I would pass on it altogether. What that fabric is worth is FAR from what they think it's worth. And most people want to "Shoot the messenger" when the news is bad.

Suggest that they sell it (TRY to sell it) themselves. If pressed, suggest an ad in the local paper or Craigslist, or contact a local quilt guild and put an ad in their newsletter. Eventually, they will come to their senses and realize that it has little worth. I doubt anyone will pay $4 a yard without being able to pick what they want, and that would be VERY time consuming, and may not even result in a sale. I HOPE they have the sense to realize that 10-15 year old fabric is not equal to today's fabric. Don't forget one can buy first rate fabric at Thousandsofbolts.com for under $5 a yard. NEW fabric!

I had a similar experience a few years ago. I was offered a big stash for $1 a yard. I procrastinated getting over there to look at it, and eventually she gave it ALL to me. It was heavy on pinks and large flowers, and it would not have bought any of it....just not my taste. i gave over half of it away. So, most of my $$ would have been wasted, if I had paid for it. She just wanted to get rid of it.

ManiacQuilter2

You don't get good prices with garage sales or at least out here in California and Arizona. I think your offer is fair. Just be sure you can move it all and have a place to safely store the fabric as you sort thru it. Be sure to remember your local quilt guilds and churches who do charity quilt. Donate the fabrics that you will never use. Good Luck !!

willferg

I have been to a couple of stash sales where the fabric was sold by the pound, like $5 or $6 a pound. You can try that yourself to see how many yards add up to a pound for a price per yard.

I would say that your friends need to throw the current fabric prices out the window. No one is going to pay current full price for something at an estate sale. Further, and I know this from personal experience, when you get older fabric, sometimes over the years it accumulates a smell, so you are not dealing with prime merchandise. Even if you know for a fact that the sewist bought only LQS quality fabric, it's still dated and aged, which brings the price down considerably, especially if you can't pick and choose.

I had a woman donate her mother's stash to us, and after talking to her on the phone, I was really excited. Her mom had been sewing for 30 years, had batting (which said to me she was a quilter), and lived in a really expensive area. Well, when she brought me the fabric, it was 30 years OLD, not LQS (actually Joanns), smelled really bad, wasn't all cotton, and the batting had disintegrated. She was hoping to write it off at the full current retail value. I tossed half of it away and gave the rest of a thrift shop after warning them about it.

So I guess if you are going to take the risk, you need to negotiate a good price. Hope that helps!

mighty

Here in CA you would not get much for it. Sad for the seller and really good for the buyer.

Cecelia363

good question! I bought "bulk" fabric at an estate sale once, 5 big boxes for $5 each, did not inspect it first. I got big, small and to small to use pieces, no bugs or mold but it all needed to be washed just to soften the wrinkles. Turned out to be mostly poly and blends which I don't make quilts out of. some of the cottons were newer but I still could not get the fold marks out. No one would buy it from me so I donated it to our local Hospice Shop, they make stuff to sell to support their services. Still, I would do it again. Offer to take it off their hands (all or a big portion of it) for ___$ that you can afford, but qualify your "bid" with 1) undetermined fabric content, 2) possible bugs, mold, un-removable wrinkles, 3) your having to clean, store , share or sell, negotiable of course.