posted on August 30, 2000 01:20:58 PM new
I have 6 yards of vintage (1964) Mary Poppins print fabric, I'm wondering if I should sell it all in one piece, or cut it up into one or two yard sections. One yard of this same fabric in blue tones (mine is rose tones) recently sold for $36.00 on Ebay.
I hate cutting up something so nice, but I also of course want to get the best price I can.
posted on August 30, 2000 02:02:25 PM new
In any case, definitely don't cut it beforehand! (But you probably knew that.)
I'd probably list it as one 6-yard piece.
Edited because I'd suggested that a Dutch auction might also be a possibility, but I decided that was too complicated and probably a bad idea. I'd definitely go with listing all six yards as one auction, but I'm sure some of the more fabric-savvy people on here will have good advice for you.
[ edited by RainyBear on Aug 30, 2000 02:05 PM ]
posted on August 30, 2000 02:13:10 PM new
Oh My ---six yards, please do not cut it up!! List as a reserve auction if you want to--but sounds like a great find and to chop it up to make more money ---even a spoonful of sugar won't make this idea go down
posted on August 30, 2000 02:20:34 PM new
Definitely "Dutch" it. As a general rule I avoid selling anything Dutch, but yardage (other than decorator fabric) is an exception. There are quilters who will want only a yard, quilters who'll want the whole piece as a quilt back, and others who want to make curtains or some such. By selling it "Dutch," you'll get them to fight among themselves for yardage, all to your benefit
posted on August 30, 2000 02:25:56 PM new
HCQ--I respectfully disagree with you on this one. This is a peice of material that is of more interest than to just quilters. It has more interest because it is from 1964, movie related, and a quite hefty yardage. As I said, place a generous reserve on this material and let the bidders decide. JMHO.
posted on August 30, 2000 02:31:51 PM new
HCQ - I was going to say that Dutch might be the way to go, but then I rethought that because I imagined someone wanting all six yard but being outbid by, say, two others wanting only one yard apiece... then getting stuck with four yards.
posted on August 30, 2000 02:42:28 PM new
Six yards would be great for someone who wanted to make curtains for a bedroom or something like that. But cutting it into smaller, more manageable chunks will appeal to the crafting types.
posted on August 30, 2000 02:47:15 PM new
Not to be a pain---but---this type of fabric goes beyond crafting. It is a wonderful example--all six yards of it as vintage movie memorabilia. Good luck sweetpeafarmer--but don't get the scissors out quite yet. There are memoriabilia buffs that look for something like you have to offer.
edited to add Chisholm---you bad!
[ edited by jeanyu on Aug 30, 2000 02:48 PM ]
posted on August 30, 2000 02:47:30 PM new
I just wanted to note that if you do sell it Dutch, don't cut it up beforehand. Six one-yard segments will very likely be useless to someone who wants a larger chunk.
posted on August 30, 2000 02:53:46 PM new
Thanks everyone for your input!
The dutch auction idea is interesting, however I think it could be a problem if (as Rainybear said) someone wanted all six but ended up with only four or whatever.
Scrunchies are too much work....
After looking at it again and thinking it over I decided I just can't put a scissors to such a gorgeous piece, it really is crispy mint. I'll sell it the way it is, winner take all.
I actually almost cut it up myself to make curtains for my daughters bunk bed, I'm glad I checked Ebay first though, gingham will look just as cute in her room!
posted on August 30, 2000 02:56:26 PM new
I made kitchen curtains the other day. My husband actually took a picture of me at the sewing machine because he'd never seen me doing something so like that!
posted on August 30, 2000 02:59:56 PM new
LOL Rainybear! I used to do alot of sewing - pre-Ebay, now my sewing desk is heaped with so much junk (uh, merchandise) that it would take me at least an hour to clear it off!
posted on August 30, 2000 10:50:47 PM new
Um, helloooo, jeanyu? Where did I say it should be cut up? My whole point in selling the thing Dutch was to AVOID cutting it up unless that turned out to be what the high bidders want. The point IS to sell it, isn't it? So why, um, cut oneself off from the get-go from either pool of bidders - the ones who want a yard, or the ones who want all six? The more folks who are interested, the more bids. We're not breaking up a pair of shoes here.
Unless your implication is that this should absolutely not under any circumstances be cut up and actually used, even by the high bidder, if 2 bidders want 5 and 1 yard, respectively, I don't see the problem.
Rainybear, since at the time of bidding in a dutch auction the bidder both states his/her high bid per item AND puts "dibs" on however many items (or yards) s/he wants at that bid, no, I've never run into the problem you describe on any of my yardage auctions. I don't see how it could occur. Anybody who hasn't been staring at little bitty pieces of fabric all day who can describe the Dutch scenario?
Edited to add: Oh, BTW on the (facetious, I'm assuming) scrunchies thing. There was some brouhaha awhile back on another message board (or this one? Can't remember) about a woman who wanted to make scrunchies from Disney fabric and got into a bit of hot water over the issue with the company. Apparently it's a pretty dicey move to use copyrighted-motif fabric (as opposed to, say, dumb old flowers) to make items for resale, I guess because conceivably the maker could be in competition with Disney for the scrunchie market. I think the issue originally revolved around digital embroidery cartridges, which in the case of the Disney stuff at least are supposed to be for personal use only. We were all kind of weirded out by it because jeez, ALL fabric designs are copyrighted...but you're not, obviously, going to find Moda Fabrics marketing its own quilts, for example. It's only when you get into the "character" fabric (pokemon, John Deere) that you may raise a few eyebrows.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Aug 30, 2000 10:56 PM ]
[ edited by sweetpeafarmer on Aug 31, 2000 09:19 ]
Edited because I can't get the link to work.
[ edited by sweetpeafarmer on Aug 31, 2000 09:22 AM ]
[ edited by sweetpeafarmer on Aug 31, 2000 09:28 AM ]
