Did you/she know there's a new yarn store in town? I wonder if you could post some fliers there with some "open house" type hours at some point. Shipping is expensive even for yarn and adds up. There's a fiber/yarn event in Seattle in August, if you could sell some via posts online (Instagram maybe even?) and arrange to meet up with people for collection perhaps yud save shipping and just be out your time.
Lemme know how I can get some please. My wife just started crocheting a couple months ago and she's really passionate about it. If I could help ya out and buy a bundle let me know please
I would hire a trading assistant and sell it on eBay in skeins or lots. Pull out the premium stuff and set a price for that. Set a price for everything else per skein , and let themhave at it. https://pages.ebay.in/tradingassistants/hire-trading-assistant.html#:~:text=Trading%20Assistants%20are%20experienced%20eBay,shipping%20it%20to%20the%20buyer.
Sell the bags in bulks for $50-100
Depending on what the yarn is, going through them would still be tough though.
I’d just sell it by the bag though, especially if you don’t know much about yarn and don’t have the time to truly sort through it all.
For fastest, most effective way to sell it without shipping and hassle: I’d do a 2-3 day “yarn sale” locally and publicize it well in advance to your local knitting guild, yarn store staff, local retirement homes, on craigslist and Facebook as an “Event” - then enlist a fiber friend to help you price it by table — put out some tables and sell away.
My mom used to crochet beanies and blankets for the homeless through her church and make tiny hats for babies at hospitals. Maybe contact churches and see if theres a similar setup and see if they’d be interested in some of it
See if any of it is sold by chain stores: Walmart, Michael’s Joann, Hobby Lobby, etc. if so, you can return it for store credit. You will only get sale price for it, so probably about 1/2 price for it. When they ask when you bought it, do you have the card, etc, just say,
“I bought about a month ago before I moved. I don’t have that card anymore because I switched banks when I moved. Store credit is fine.” The apps for those places (not hobby lobby though, they don’t scan) will have a barcode scanner to make checking easy. Your mom can use the gift cards to purchase current needed items, or even give them away as Christmas presents.
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Check to see when there will be a local fiber arts festival. Load up the car, go to the parking lot, and have a trunk sale. A Square card reader is only about $10. Sign on to other banking apps, like Zelle, Venmo, etc so you can take payment that way too.
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Summer is yard sale season, do one. If there will be any multi family yard sales, ask if you can set up a table.
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For FB marketplace, look specifically for yarn lovers groups to sell to.
I’ve been a returns clerk plenty of times.
When customers return things without receipts, stores only accept currently carried items. I’ve refused to do refunds on stuff the store no longer carries plenty of times. “Sorry, we don’t carry this brand of yarn anymore. Sorry, while we do carry this brand of yarn, we no longer carry this color. We can only do returns for items that we currently carry. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.”
When customers return stuff without receipts, they get the lowest sale price in the last 6 months. “I’m sorry, but without a receipt, we can’t give you full price even though that’s what you paid. We can only give you the lowest price in the last 6 months. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.”
When customers return stuff without receipts, they get store credit, so the must spend it at the store. “I’m sorry, but without the receipt, we can only give you store credit. We can’t give you cash or put it back on your card. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.”
The item also needs to be in good condition so it can be sold to another customer at full price. “I’m sorry, but this item is damaged, so we can’t accept a return on it. All returned items must be in good condition. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.”
I’ve been called lots of interesting names for saying those things above. Some would throw a fit and insist on talking to the manager. “Ok, I’ll page the manager for you. Would you mind stepping aside so I can help the next customer?” When the manager gets there, I explain “I couldn’t process the return because of ________ policy.” At that point it’s up to the manager. If manager says go ahead, then I do the refund and they are the approving manager on that refund, so if corporate gets mad, it’s their butts in a sling, not mine.
Also, that store credit can only be used at your store/chain, so it’s a way to get customers to shop at your store.
Province-so you’re Canadian?
I’m American. Chain stores here all do returns without a receipt. There are a few exceptions, mostly due to individual products vs store policy. Grocery stores won’t do unreceipted returns except on non-food items, so you could return scissors but not canned soup and definitely not produce or other food.
As for small businesses, they don’t do unreceipted returns. If you are a regular customer in excellent standing, you MIGHT be able to do an exchange, like swapping a red yarn for a blue yarn of the same brand, but don’t count on it.
It sounds like a cultural difference. American chain stores are much more flexible on unreceipted returns, but do have the restrictions I spoke of, like chain vs small businesses, grocery stores, must be current items, lowest sale price, in new condition so it can be resold, store credit only. Stores don’t consider it theft so much as a minor annoyance, and giving the return as store credit ensures the customer comes back to shop more.
How committed to selling it are you vs donation? Donating may be tax deductible at the point that it makes you the same amount or more of money that selling would…
If you are selling, I would recommend inventorying everything and locating it so you can pick it later once sold:
- ravelry allows destash & selling, but this may take forever (but better than Facebook!)
- Etsy
- eBay
Donations:
- churches
- old people homes
- twelve step programs (newly sober need hobbies and things to keep their hands busy)
Ravelry may also allow you to find a way to spread the stash to people who would use it and just pay for postage/shipping- if your main goal is to get it out to people who want it and will use it.
A link from Seattle knitters guild on places they recommend for donations:
https://www.seattleknittersguild.org/faq--contact.html#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20few%20options,stores%20for%20their%20knitting%20materials.
I appreciate the resources! Thank you.
I’m primarily selling for my mom, so that comes first and then, of course donations. Like I said, I don’t want to be haggling and grasping for money, but at the same time my mom is a nurse and has sacrificed a lot. I get that her stash is extreme, but I’m trying to do my best for her before I’m giving it to a good cause. Pretty sure she bought a bunch of yarn during a tough period of time and seemed just as stunned she let it get this massive.
Either way, it will be to a good cause. I’ve sold some bundles way under priced and I’m sure those knitters will be very happy and make something beautiful out of those skeins.
If selling, I would likely do the quick sort then into several piles:
1. Nicest, Most expensive, smallest quantities - this will need inventorying, then place into bins or baker racks with a location system that is tracked on a spreadsheet (at the very least). Try selling online with one of the marketplaces noted here.
2. Sweater size lots. Can be inventoried in more bulk locations or totes. May still be sold online, but for sweater size lots I am more picky and would expect more of a discount based on the risk. (60-70% off retail)
3. Garbage bag lots for $40 or so. Pick a weekend and sell these in person in seattle or Bellevue.
4. Donation.
This is going to take a while to process through, so track your time and sales and if you find you aren’t making money as planned it helps with pivoting. I tried selling books a while back and lost so much money between going to UPS, packaging, the time spent listing, etc. it was definitely enlightening and while I was happy what I sold went to people who wanted it and I was more confident would read it- I actually lost money.
Don’t forget that churches have circles where they make prayer shawls or lap blankets for sick people. My dad loved his and used it often to fight the chills that came with chemo. So maybe donate too, not just sell for money.
Putting a notice in Facebook marketplace. Be sure to use the term destash in there. Nerds like me hunt for destash sales. I will admit this is the grand dame of destash sales but you should be able to get rid of most of it
Public library may have a yarn craft/fiber arts group that can advise. The one at our library will teach anyone who shows up, and they maintain a stash of practice yarn and surplus hooks and needles.
I second the suggestion to group by fiber.
This!
Old yarn can get crunchy and break easily. It is possible to recondition it, but often times it's not worth saving yarn if it's a common color/fiber
Reach out to a local knitting guild and ask them to mention your sale. Then just have a garage sale. I found out about these via word of mouth or social media.
You can package multiples together, sort by fiber or weight but don’t have to.
I wish we had a yard or garage to sell from! Unfortunately she lives in an apartment, hence the storage unit needs.
But I do think reaching out to a local knitting guild would help quite a bit. Thank you.
Look for a resale store in your area. If you’re interested I can help look. I know of a few that have helped with cleanouts for commission or for a flat buyout fee. Emilie Rigby with The Makery and The Swandon’s Fabric Stash House come to mind.
I worked for a yarn store that had recently changed owners and they were slowly changing out the yarn that the store had held onto for years that hadn't sold. She just listed it on Amazon, covered all the barcodes, packed it how amazon told her, and then shipped it all out to them. I know Amazon is evil, but with this sheer volume, it may be the easiest thing to do. You'd have to look into how to do it of course, and she had to generate the barcode stickers and you'd need a printer for that and all, but most of the yarns were on Amazon and she added hers in to the lot of them, and if they weren't, she made a new listing.
Personally I would organize by fiber type! I am allergic to wool so I can’t use any cashmere, pure wool, alpaca/mohair/etc, or wool blends, so I have to stick to pure cotton or acrylics (or a blend of the two). Lots of people shop by fiber rather than a color! Once you’ve sorted by fiber, then I’d say bundle like you did with the cashmere yarn, and go from there! You can post yarn in bundles on poshmark or ravelry too.
If you have a bunch of single skeins, or specialty/hand dyed skeins, maybe sort out a few bundles of complementary colors or a variegated and a solid color and offer those as well. Just make sure to do similar fiber types when doing bundles as well!
I would donate a lot of that unless you need the money. You would probably make a lot of people happy and your mom knowing it's going somewhere it will be appreciated and used
This is a lot of work, but it’ll also be a lot of money. It’s very sweet of you to help your mom with this. It’s definitely worth approaching local stores- likely not big brand. While you are figuring it out you can deal with a few bags at a time on marketplace. A yard sale could help clean a lot out but you may be looking at less money, I find no one wants to spend much at them.
Also to add, I have family that are severe hoarders ( I’m not saying that’s what your mother has). But it’s given perspective with understanding one step at a time, it’ll take time to deal with. Once you’ve accepted that it’s better experience.
I am sure someone in your area would help you sort and organize and price in lieu of their choice of yarn. I was given 68 (reams of paper size) boxes and 3 leaf/lawn bags of yarn when I purchased a knitting machine. Most in cones and most acrylic or blend. My grandsons helped me sort into color and fiber. Then I posted on fb marketplace ‘free if you pick up’. This was during covid lockdown. One woman sobbed, telling me it was very high quality machine yarn. I set aside some for myself. I felt like Yarn Santa and We were all happy. .
That needs a lot of your time, to organize, sort, inventory and list..might be easier to do a yard sale for yarns only ir donate them to your arts and crafts in your city or local groups.
Can you do a quick catalog of the yarn types? They may seem worthless to you but lots of knitters actively seek out these bundles. As I see in the second picture with cashmere yarn
Do your research and make a spreadsheet. Brand, #of Skeins, weight per skein, material, Market Price. Look at Webs and Wool&CO and sell at a competitive price. Be patient, don’t go too low, your mom collected them and loves them. Do her justice!!! Get vacation tickets for you and mom from the profit! Good luck to you!!!
PS. Don’t listen to the cockroaches trying to get you to sell in bulk cheaply or donate. Do your mom justice! Take your time and really sell them appropriately!
See if there is a local crochet/knitting club you could donate. You could also check out nursing homes. If you want to keep them get Rubbermaid containers and organize by color
Agree but I’m a weird person and I mix types of fabrics. The only thing I truly care about is the size of the hook I’m using. I’m making a pixel blanket and the gray has a different feel.
https://preview.redd.it/zarrni397t5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f060fb051bbf0f04c682039d5c4c42a5f43aa1ad
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here before I take too long to reply to all the advice, guidance, kind words - or making me laugh! Thank you all so much. I appreciate the time you guys took to help me with this yarn mountain and giving me options on how to best help my mom out.
Yw.
I would post an "Estate Sale - Crafting Items" on FBM.
Set a specific Day/Time.
And make it ridiculously low priced. Like $10 per bag, or $20 per tub.
I don’t want to sound rude but it looks a little like an over packed mess in there. Being as the bags are slightly open you should check each bag for moister,mold, and mouse droppings. Dig to the bottom of each one looking for black dot discoloration especially on the paper wrapped around the yarn. If you sell them by the bag as suggested you still wouldn’t need to sort them but definitely check for damage.
They’re in sealed ziplocks within the bags, and when my mom organized them last year she went through everything. Definitely can understand the concern though.
Not even in this sub but this was in my feed.. but I used to work at a consignment shop and occasionally got large amounts of yarn like this. We would put it all in bins and let people buy individual skeins, usually for the same price to make it easy. It was very popular and the good ones sold quickly. You won’t get rich but you’ll get rid of all your yarn!
I’d check if there are any local crafting groups or historical, especially if you have any natural fiber. I had to get rid of my mom’s yarn hoard and I was able to offload all the wool yarn and other natural fiber to a local group that does historical costuming for colonial Williamsburg.
Yeah I would see if a local community centre or retirement home (or something similar in your community) runs crafting groups and would be very grateful for a yarn donation.
You have a big job ahead of you. Bless you for helping your mother!
I'd like you to think about three things--
Your ultimate goal--emptying that storage area quickly without too much labor OR maximizing income
Marketing
Pricing and sales channels, i.e. Facebook, eBay, Etsy, Amazon, etc
You can look up the price of each ball/skein online, then seriously discount, pricing at 50 to 60%. I see people on Facebook selling yarn at 90%, and I won't look twice. People will pay more for high quality yarn on Amazon, but the fees are higher. With Amazon, you have the option for them to ship for you. You can price at higher than current market price in some cases, as people can get free two day delivery. Etsy has weird fees. One seller I talked to said that she was charged 28% extra if her product appeared in a search I made up to 30 days previous.
Sell in sweater-sized lots for DK or worsted yarn. You may have to sell in smaller lots for sock- or sport-weight yarn. Depending on your ultimate goal, break down quantities for more, but slower, income, or group items at lower prices for faster sale.
It may be worth it to promote your sale on Facebook. Cross list on the weaving, knitting, and machine knitting groups on Facebook as much as possible. Start your own Facebook page listing all of your items.
For sales on Facebook, create some excitement and personality around your sale. Brand it--name it. Julia's Yarn De-stash! Or something. Tell people something about your mother and what she's created.
Google detailed instructions on how to buy on Facebook, then paste the link when you make a sale or get an inquiry to forestall multiple questions.
I'm happy to help further. I am a knitter with a 30 years of sales and marketing experience.
Thank you for sharing your experience and advice! I never thought of Amazon. That’s also interesting about Etsy and the hidden fees… always something new to learn. But thank you for the sound plan. I think I’ll have to experiment and see what ends up working out. My mom said to me today that she hopes it gets sold in 6 months and I gave her saucer-eyes. I think my pessimistic vision of it taking 5 years is more likely, hah!
If the Debbie Bliss is in good shape, you might want to try to sell that on Ralvary. Debbie Bliss had a fire back before the pandemic and went out of business, and so if someone is looking for it, your mother’s yarn will be of interest to them. All knitters congregate online on Ralvary. You can sell good quality yarn there. Don’t try to sell anything bought at Michael’s there tho. Most people there use yarn shop yarn.
Oh, wow. I had no idea. I’ll have to tell my mom about the fire. I know she has an account on Ralvary, and I believe she posted some of the yarn up for sale but didn’t get the response like she had with FB.
Yes/no. The automatic deduction is substantial now. To make it finally beneficial the average household needs to have more than approx $50k worth of donations.
I mean this is borderline horder disorder to be honest. Your mum likes/maybe it's addicted to buying stuffa nd it happend she is focused on yarn(this is good case since yarn is resellable). Yes, I understand Im not responding exactly to what you wanted but.....
TL Yarncrafts did a video recently where she explained her destashing process, and calculations on how to price the yarn. Definitely a lot of work, but might be useful some tips, how to keep track of things and such. Good luck!!!
I’m not sure about your area, but somewhere might hold Destash or craft markets. That is the place to get rid of it, because other crafters are coming ready to purchase. I have got rid of heaps at those sorts of markets, if you want to recoup money.
Otherwise donating to community programs, schools, colleges with textiles or costume courses.
I’d avoid facebook, especially for a lot of this size - it brings out a lot of people who want to buy but don’t seem to understand how buying from Facebook works, and it quickly becomes exhausting to explain over and over how things work, only to have them ghost you or change their mind.
If you’re selling by lots, I’d go for eBay. If you want to get through it quick, do job lots of same/similar yarns and price it $1/skein. If you want to price more in line with worth, you need to consider how older yarns may degrade over time. Checking for pest damage will be important in getting the most value possible.
If clearing space is your main goal, donating to whatever local charities or groups you can find will help to blow through the stash. I’ve found it quite difficult to sell cheaper acrylics unless they’re in huge volume or colour range, so donation was a real winner when I had to downsize.
Good luck! It’s going to be an exhausting journey, remember to give yourself breaks and pace yourself.
What an absolute treasure trove, and also a nightmare to try to get rid of.
Around here, the resale shops sell them for 1 dollar each. They get a lot of yarn when they buy out storage units.
If anyone is interested, there is one that often has big bins of yarn out front, in El Cajon, East San Diego County. It's called Empire Thrift Store on Main and First street.
Wow. Just wow. That is a lot! As people have suggested, trying selling the whole batch in one fell swoop. Second best is sort the yarn and sell in smaller batches. Acrylic yarn is cheap. Cotton and cotton blends. Wool and wool blends. Then the specialty yarns such as silk, alpaca, cashmere, angora which, if you have any of that, would usually command the highest prices. As others have suggested, donate some. Good luck.
I agree sorting them by material type is a good idea. Some people are also picky about weight. Honestly I would love to pay for a mystery bag of acrylics lol.
Diodes it have to be sold? My mom is an ace knitter and owned a few knitting stores when I was growing up. She closed them down at some point and had A TON OF YARN. So. Much. Yarn. She ended up giving much of it to local groups (especially knitting groups that give finished products to people in need.) May I please suggest that?
You might talk to a local yarn shop and see if they’d be willing to help you consign/sell some of it. Maybe bundle it and sell in bulk/by the bag. And/or see if your local shop will let you hang a sign for an “estate” style sale to destash.
You might also check your local maker spaces, craft fairs, etc and see if you can join in.
Good luck!
Generally, local yarn shops are not interested in consigning for destashers. Too many variables, like accidentally bringing moths or pet smells into a yarn shop. Plus, we8d be overwhelmed with customers wanting to do that and it would hurt our own yarn sales.
While you’re probably right, the crafting community tends to be who you know. So while the shops might not want to consign, they may know who would, or local groups to help destash, etc.
I don’t know about eBay because of the fees and people don’t want to pay what it actually costs to ship whatever they are buying plus you have to pack it all up and go to the post office multiple times. I like the idea of using an estate sale company. You would have to pay them, but I think you would get more money doing that instead of eBay. They would arrange it neatly on tables by type, and I think it would sell fast.
I know it’s overwhelming, but depending on her level of interest in yarn, there could be yarn you could resell for some decent money. Anything hand dyed from an in indie dyer can be more valuable than Redheart. There are some big indie brands people go nuts over too.
It’s like my fabric stash. I have some out of print fabrics that are worth 3x+ what I paid for them now. I want to use them and I’m not keeping them for reselling, but if some happened to me, I would want them to dive into my stash and sell it and get that bag.
Indie dyer Plank & Stella offers a consignment destash service on her website.
I haven’t used it but I buy a lot of yarn from her and can attest that she’s great to do business with.
You could do an auction- highest bidder takes all kind of thing if this is all too much for you or you can just post to your local Facebook marketplace, set up open house times for people to come by and maybe price them by how many rolls rather than individual quality. Or price a bag- like a shopping bag full would be 20-30 bucks or whatever you feel is fair. There is no wrong way to do it but if it’s too much go for the easiest route.
I once went to a yarn sale in someone's home. She just laid out all her yarn on tables in the dining area. It was pretty cool and I got some nice yarn for a reasonable price. I also went to something similar in the common area of a condo. You might want to try a sale like that.
Ok I thought I have a lot and seeing people's collection in storage bins/ shelves which has more than me is nothing compared to a storage unit of nothing but yarn.
You know, I was so overwhelmed, I only pulled out 6 bags or so to bring back and see if I could help my mom to sell. I don’t remember seeing a Lion, but hard to say.
Fortunately she did sort them by brand and type in the different bags. I just wasn’t paying too much attention to the names as I was literally tossing them up on boxes and shelves in our bigger storage unit.
I helped my grandma thin her yarn collection recently so my grandpa would let her buy new skeins (lol). We ended up making some color grouped mystery bundles and posting them on ebay and easy and they sold pretty well! Just an idea :)
Oh, really? That is encouraging. I haven’t used eBay to sell, so was a little hesitant. But that does sound like it worked well for you. Hope your grandma got some good skeins in exchange ☺️
I sell things on ebay periodically including destash yarn - you won't make tons of money but generally you can sell yarn. I agree with grouping multiple skeins together - with shipping it makes it more attractive for people to buy several items at once
Grouped bundles seems like a really good idea here - people will buy for specific things they can use, but effectively the bundle makes them take a bit more of the stash away than they maybe would have done otherwise... It's a bit of a compromise on the overall value, but a reduction in work in return.
Yes exactly! But in my grandma's case she also wasn't super worried about the financial return. Also one of the people who bought a bundle of green yarns sent my gran pictures of some of the things she made with it and that made grandma's whole month.
My mom did actually sort them by brand and type in each of those bags. It’s just… getting to them. I only pulled out 6 bags so far and even that seemed like a lot !
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Former yarnstore owner here. Please figure out what the yarn costs per ball/skein and go just below that. You have a small fortune there, have fun , and donate the acrylics to safe your time
Thank you for this advice! I see a lot of them still have their price stickers on them, which is useful. I’ll try to have fun! I did enjoy selling one bundle of yarn yesterday by handing the ziplock bag into the passenger window of a lady that had already Venmo-d me. She drove right off on her merry way. Felt like a yarn-dealer!
Facebook Marketplace is filled with scammers. Cash and in person is usually safest. If you want to mail/post you should go on an app and don’t take it off app.
If anyone wants to send you more than your asking, claims you need to upgrade to a “business account” wants to send a courier, etc. it’s a scam.
There is so much there you could take a stall at a craft fair. Or contact local craft groups and go to their meetings and sell from the back of your car
I was just at a garage sale this weekend, they bagged up yarn in gallon size bags and filled a kiddie pool with the bags. Needles and books too. Someone’s stash for sure. I was there late in the afternoon and they said it was a popular item and they sold about 75% of what they originally had.
Look at [YarnSaver](https://www.yarnsaver.com/sell-your-yarn) It’s a reputable website, I’ve bought from them and I’m putting some yarn together to sell through them.
I bought some yarn from a similar stash recently. They let me make an appointment to come and dig through it myself, and IIRC it was priced at half off retail for things that were labeled, $2/skein if they weren’t.
Yes. Either by the bag full ie sorta easy and cheap. Or search them looking for the higher end yarns make sure no odors and in good condition then list them. And do the rest by the bag or donate to different places. Nursing homes, shelters type places
Yes, I’m leaning towards selling the really expensive Shetland wool-type of skeins in small bundles and then the more affordable ones by the bag. Hopefully it will work out! I’ll just have to experiment.
Not going to lie but if I was down the road from you I would volunteer to help you sort it. In terms of selling it eBay is probably going to be your best bet or a local car boot if you want to do it in person.
man. if u were in my area i would help come scoop. i know places
Did you/she know there's a new yarn store in town? I wonder if you could post some fliers there with some "open house" type hours at some point. Shipping is expensive even for yarn and adds up. There's a fiber/yarn event in Seattle in August, if you could sell some via posts online (Instagram maybe even?) and arrange to meet up with people for collection perhaps yud save shipping and just be out your time.
Sell it on what not
I interested if you want to sell a large bundle ! Let me know.
Advertise a fiber/yarn estate sale.
Lemme know how I can get some please. My wife just started crocheting a couple months ago and she's really passionate about it. If I could help ya out and buy a bundle let me know please
I would hire a trading assistant and sell it on eBay in skeins or lots. Pull out the premium stuff and set a price for that. Set a price for everything else per skein , and let themhave at it. https://pages.ebay.in/tradingassistants/hire-trading-assistant.html#:~:text=Trading%20Assistants%20are%20experienced%20eBay,shipping%20it%20to%20the%20buyer.
Sell the bags in bulks for $50-100 Depending on what the yarn is, going through them would still be tough though. I’d just sell it by the bag though, especially if you don’t know much about yarn and don’t have the time to truly sort through it all.
I know how you feel
Reached out to you via private message. I am local to you, about 15 miles north actually.
I would love some! Please lmk how I can buy
Rug tufting is a super popular craft right now, you might have some luck selling bulk bags on Facebook marketplace!
I wonder if a nursing home may even take them!
And art teachers to use for classes in multimedia art. (Is that the right wording? )
Oh that’s a brilliant idea!
Maybe reach out to YouTubers?
For fastest, most effective way to sell it without shipping and hassle: I’d do a 2-3 day “yarn sale” locally and publicize it well in advance to your local knitting guild, yarn store staff, local retirement homes, on craigslist and Facebook as an “Event” - then enlist a fiber friend to help you price it by table — put out some tables and sell away.
How old is most of the yarn? over time yarn gets brittle depending on what its made of.
My mom used to crochet beanies and blankets for the homeless through her church and make tiny hats for babies at hospitals. Maybe contact churches and see if theres a similar setup and see if they’d be interested in some of it
Local pet shelters would be a good one too. There are volunteers who make blankets for the cat condos.
Please let us know where you list it! I’m very interested as well!
See if any of it is sold by chain stores: Walmart, Michael’s Joann, Hobby Lobby, etc. if so, you can return it for store credit. You will only get sale price for it, so probably about 1/2 price for it. When they ask when you bought it, do you have the card, etc, just say, “I bought about a month ago before I moved. I don’t have that card anymore because I switched banks when I moved. Store credit is fine.” The apps for those places (not hobby lobby though, they don’t scan) will have a barcode scanner to make checking easy. Your mom can use the gift cards to purchase current needed items, or even give them away as Christmas presents. //////////// Check to see when there will be a local fiber arts festival. Load up the car, go to the parking lot, and have a trunk sale. A Square card reader is only about $10. Sign on to other banking apps, like Zelle, Venmo, etc so you can take payment that way too. /////////////////// Summer is yard sale season, do one. If there will be any multi family yard sales, ask if you can set up a table. //////////////// For FB marketplace, look specifically for yarn lovers groups to sell to.
So you’re recommending somebody cheat a store? Thankfully any store I know won’t take returns without a receipt.
I’ve been a returns clerk plenty of times. When customers return things without receipts, stores only accept currently carried items. I’ve refused to do refunds on stuff the store no longer carries plenty of times. “Sorry, we don’t carry this brand of yarn anymore. Sorry, while we do carry this brand of yarn, we no longer carry this color. We can only do returns for items that we currently carry. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.” When customers return stuff without receipts, they get the lowest sale price in the last 6 months. “I’m sorry, but without a receipt, we can’t give you full price even though that’s what you paid. We can only give you the lowest price in the last 6 months. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.” When customers return stuff without receipts, they get store credit, so the must spend it at the store. “I’m sorry, but without the receipt, we can only give you store credit. We can’t give you cash or put it back on your card. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.” The item also needs to be in good condition so it can be sold to another customer at full price. “I’m sorry, but this item is damaged, so we can’t accept a return on it. All returned items must be in good condition. Our return policy is on these signs at every register, printed on the back of every receipt, and on our website/app.” I’ve been called lots of interesting names for saying those things above. Some would throw a fit and insist on talking to the manager. “Ok, I’ll page the manager for you. Would you mind stepping aside so I can help the next customer?” When the manager gets there, I explain “I couldn’t process the return because of ________ policy.” At that point it’s up to the manager. If manager says go ahead, then I do the refund and they are the approving manager on that refund, so if corporate gets mad, it’s their butts in a sling, not mine. Also, that store credit can only be used at your store/chain, so it’s a way to get customers to shop at your store.
Costco is about the only store in my province that would accept a return without a receipt.
Province-so you’re Canadian? I’m American. Chain stores here all do returns without a receipt. There are a few exceptions, mostly due to individual products vs store policy. Grocery stores won’t do unreceipted returns except on non-food items, so you could return scissors but not canned soup and definitely not produce or other food. As for small businesses, they don’t do unreceipted returns. If you are a regular customer in excellent standing, you MIGHT be able to do an exchange, like swapping a red yarn for a blue yarn of the same brand, but don’t count on it. It sounds like a cultural difference. American chain stores are much more flexible on unreceipted returns, but do have the restrictions I spoke of, like chain vs small businesses, grocery stores, must be current items, lowest sale price, in new condition so it can be resold, store credit only. Stores don’t consider it theft so much as a minor annoyance, and giving the return as store credit ensures the customer comes back to shop more.
You could do eBay destash mystery box of yarn. Weigh it and sell it by the pound? Just throw random ones in a box.
Craft Yarn Council might be a resource for info/help [Craft Yarn](https://craftyarncouncil.com/)
Thank you for this additional resource!
I’d sort some and have a yard/garage sale and mark reasonably and then in a few months do the same thing. Good luck to you
How committed to selling it are you vs donation? Donating may be tax deductible at the point that it makes you the same amount or more of money that selling would… If you are selling, I would recommend inventorying everything and locating it so you can pick it later once sold: - ravelry allows destash & selling, but this may take forever (but better than Facebook!) - Etsy - eBay Donations: - churches - old people homes - twelve step programs (newly sober need hobbies and things to keep their hands busy) Ravelry may also allow you to find a way to spread the stash to people who would use it and just pay for postage/shipping- if your main goal is to get it out to people who want it and will use it. A link from Seattle knitters guild on places they recommend for donations: https://www.seattleknittersguild.org/faq--contact.html#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20few%20options,stores%20for%20their%20knitting%20materials.
I appreciate the resources! Thank you. I’m primarily selling for my mom, so that comes first and then, of course donations. Like I said, I don’t want to be haggling and grasping for money, but at the same time my mom is a nurse and has sacrificed a lot. I get that her stash is extreme, but I’m trying to do my best for her before I’m giving it to a good cause. Pretty sure she bought a bunch of yarn during a tough period of time and seemed just as stunned she let it get this massive. Either way, it will be to a good cause. I’ve sold some bundles way under priced and I’m sure those knitters will be very happy and make something beautiful out of those skeins.
If selling, I would likely do the quick sort then into several piles: 1. Nicest, Most expensive, smallest quantities - this will need inventorying, then place into bins or baker racks with a location system that is tracked on a spreadsheet (at the very least). Try selling online with one of the marketplaces noted here. 2. Sweater size lots. Can be inventoried in more bulk locations or totes. May still be sold online, but for sweater size lots I am more picky and would expect more of a discount based on the risk. (60-70% off retail) 3. Garbage bag lots for $40 or so. Pick a weekend and sell these in person in seattle or Bellevue. 4. Donation. This is going to take a while to process through, so track your time and sales and if you find you aren’t making money as planned it helps with pivoting. I tried selling books a while back and lost so much money between going to UPS, packaging, the time spent listing, etc. it was definitely enlightening and while I was happy what I sold went to people who wanted it and I was more confident would read it- I actually lost money.
try online marketplaces such as facebook marketplace :)
Don’t forget that churches have circles where they make prayer shawls or lap blankets for sick people. My dad loved his and used it often to fight the chills that came with chemo. So maybe donate too, not just sell for money.
Putting a notice in Facebook marketplace. Be sure to use the term destash in there. Nerds like me hunt for destash sales. I will admit this is the grand dame of destash sales but you should be able to get rid of most of it
Oh! Good to know. Thank you! Wouldn’t have thought of that as an optimal search term.
Public library may have a yarn craft/fiber arts group that can advise. The one at our library will teach anyone who shows up, and they maintain a stash of practice yarn and surplus hooks and needles. I second the suggestion to group by fiber.
My small town library has a crochet class once a week! I’m sure a local library would enjoy some yarn
Yarn can disintegrate over time, some of it might not be usable. Also make sure there aren't any moths.
This! Old yarn can get crunchy and break easily. It is possible to recondition it, but often times it's not worth saving yarn if it's a common color/fiber
I will buy some
Rug tufting is going crazy right now. Them and the knitting/crochet communities might love these as donations if anything
I would take some bags to old folks homes and let them pick through. It’ll save you a lot of time 😂
Reach out to a local knitting guild and ask them to mention your sale. Then just have a garage sale. I found out about these via word of mouth or social media. You can package multiples together, sort by fiber or weight but don’t have to.
I wish we had a yard or garage to sell from! Unfortunately she lives in an apartment, hence the storage unit needs. But I do think reaching out to a local knitting guild would help quite a bit. Thank you.
Where are you located?
Selling from Bellevue, Wa
If you want I’ve got a good friend in that area that would probably be interested if you’d want me to push this along
Look for a resale store in your area. If you’re interested I can help look. I know of a few that have helped with cleanouts for commission or for a flat buyout fee. Emilie Rigby with The Makery and The Swandon’s Fabric Stash House come to mind.
Look into craft salvage places or second hand craft stores. They may be able to help you!
If you're in Richmond ish Virginia, I would be happy to purchase a random bag or two blind :D also help with organizing
I worked for a yarn store that had recently changed owners and they were slowly changing out the yarn that the store had held onto for years that hadn't sold. She just listed it on Amazon, covered all the barcodes, packed it how amazon told her, and then shipped it all out to them. I know Amazon is evil, but with this sheer volume, it may be the easiest thing to do. You'd have to look into how to do it of course, and she had to generate the barcode stickers and you'd need a printer for that and all, but most of the yarns were on Amazon and she added hers in to the lot of them, and if they weren't, she made a new listing.
Where are you located. I am looking to purchase some
What area are you in? I would be interested in purchasing some
Personally I would organize by fiber type! I am allergic to wool so I can’t use any cashmere, pure wool, alpaca/mohair/etc, or wool blends, so I have to stick to pure cotton or acrylics (or a blend of the two). Lots of people shop by fiber rather than a color! Once you’ve sorted by fiber, then I’d say bundle like you did with the cashmere yarn, and go from there! You can post yarn in bundles on poshmark or ravelry too. If you have a bunch of single skeins, or specialty/hand dyed skeins, maybe sort out a few bundles of complementary colors or a variegated and a solid color and offer those as well. Just make sure to do similar fiber types when doing bundles as well!
As an elementary art teacher I would love a fraction of this yarn as a donation.
I make knit caps for the homeless, so if you lived close enough, I would offer you a good deal to buy all of it...
At first, I thought it was a cabinet door ...
I would donate a lot of that unless you need the money. You would probably make a lot of people happy and your mom knowing it's going somewhere it will be appreciated and used
This is a lot of work, but it’ll also be a lot of money. It’s very sweet of you to help your mom with this. It’s definitely worth approaching local stores- likely not big brand. While you are figuring it out you can deal with a few bags at a time on marketplace. A yard sale could help clean a lot out but you may be looking at less money, I find no one wants to spend much at them. Also to add, I have family that are severe hoarders ( I’m not saying that’s what your mother has). But it’s given perspective with understanding one step at a time, it’ll take time to deal with. Once you’ve accepted that it’s better experience.
I am sure someone in your area would help you sort and organize and price in lieu of their choice of yarn. I was given 68 (reams of paper size) boxes and 3 leaf/lawn bags of yarn when I purchased a knitting machine. Most in cones and most acrylic or blend. My grandsons helped me sort into color and fiber. Then I posted on fb marketplace ‘free if you pick up’. This was during covid lockdown. One woman sobbed, telling me it was very high quality machine yarn. I set aside some for myself. I felt like Yarn Santa and We were all happy. .
That needs a lot of your time, to organize, sort, inventory and list..might be easier to do a yard sale for yarns only ir donate them to your arts and crafts in your city or local groups.
Can you do a quick catalog of the yarn types? They may seem worthless to you but lots of knitters actively seek out these bundles. As I see in the second picture with cashmere yarn
There is a sub group called yarnswap
Over at /yarnswap you’ll find ace destashers, suggestions & info.
r/yarnswap
Do your research and make a spreadsheet. Brand, #of Skeins, weight per skein, material, Market Price. Look at Webs and Wool&CO and sell at a competitive price. Be patient, don’t go too low, your mom collected them and loves them. Do her justice!!! Get vacation tickets for you and mom from the profit! Good luck to you!!! PS. Don’t listen to the cockroaches trying to get you to sell in bulk cheaply or donate. Do your mom justice! Take your time and really sell them appropriately!
See if there is a local crochet/knitting club you could donate. You could also check out nursing homes. If you want to keep them get Rubbermaid containers and organize by color
I feel like organizing by weight/gauge would be more useful but prob depends on how varied the collection is.
Agree but I’m a weird person and I mix types of fabrics. The only thing I truly care about is the size of the hook I’m using. I’m making a pixel blanket and the gray has a different feel. https://preview.redd.it/zarrni397t5d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f060fb051bbf0f04c682039d5c4c42a5f43aa1ad
Can you let me know where you are selling the yarn? I would be curious if you are selling it online to buy some.
I thought there was also a craft supply “swap” website where people could sell their excess/unused supplies. I can’t remember the name though.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here before I take too long to reply to all the advice, guidance, kind words - or making me laugh! Thank you all so much. I appreciate the time you guys took to help me with this yarn mountain and giving me options on how to best help my mom out.
Yw. I would post an "Estate Sale - Crafting Items" on FBM. Set a specific Day/Time. And make it ridiculously low priced. Like $10 per bag, or $20 per tub.
WOW!!😳
20-25$ a bag?
I don’t want to sound rude but it looks a little like an over packed mess in there. Being as the bags are slightly open you should check each bag for moister,mold, and mouse droppings. Dig to the bottom of each one looking for black dot discoloration especially on the paper wrapped around the yarn. If you sell them by the bag as suggested you still wouldn’t need to sort them but definitely check for damage.
They’re in sealed ziplocks within the bags, and when my mom organized them last year she went through everything. Definitely can understand the concern though.
$25 a bag would get you between $3750 and $5000. Buyer pays shipping and you pick them a "mystery bag".
How about an easy $25 a bag, and no sorting necessary.
Not even in this sub but this was in my feed.. but I used to work at a consignment shop and occasionally got large amounts of yarn like this. We would put it all in bins and let people buy individual skeins, usually for the same price to make it easy. It was very popular and the good ones sold quickly. You won’t get rich but you’ll get rid of all your yarn!
I’d check if there are any local crafting groups or historical, especially if you have any natural fiber. I had to get rid of my mom’s yarn hoard and I was able to offload all the wool yarn and other natural fiber to a local group that does historical costuming for colonial Williamsburg.
Yeah I would see if a local community centre or retirement home (or something similar in your community) runs crafting groups and would be very grateful for a yarn donation.
You have a big job ahead of you. Bless you for helping your mother! I'd like you to think about three things-- Your ultimate goal--emptying that storage area quickly without too much labor OR maximizing income Marketing Pricing and sales channels, i.e. Facebook, eBay, Etsy, Amazon, etc You can look up the price of each ball/skein online, then seriously discount, pricing at 50 to 60%. I see people on Facebook selling yarn at 90%, and I won't look twice. People will pay more for high quality yarn on Amazon, but the fees are higher. With Amazon, you have the option for them to ship for you. You can price at higher than current market price in some cases, as people can get free two day delivery. Etsy has weird fees. One seller I talked to said that she was charged 28% extra if her product appeared in a search I made up to 30 days previous. Sell in sweater-sized lots for DK or worsted yarn. You may have to sell in smaller lots for sock- or sport-weight yarn. Depending on your ultimate goal, break down quantities for more, but slower, income, or group items at lower prices for faster sale. It may be worth it to promote your sale on Facebook. Cross list on the weaving, knitting, and machine knitting groups on Facebook as much as possible. Start your own Facebook page listing all of your items. For sales on Facebook, create some excitement and personality around your sale. Brand it--name it. Julia's Yarn De-stash! Or something. Tell people something about your mother and what she's created. Google detailed instructions on how to buy on Facebook, then paste the link when you make a sale or get an inquiry to forestall multiple questions. I'm happy to help further. I am a knitter with a 30 years of sales and marketing experience.
Thank you for sharing your experience and advice! I never thought of Amazon. That’s also interesting about Etsy and the hidden fees… always something new to learn. But thank you for the sound plan. I think I’ll have to experiment and see what ends up working out. My mom said to me today that she hopes it gets sold in 6 months and I gave her saucer-eyes. I think my pessimistic vision of it taking 5 years is more likely, hah!
If the Debbie Bliss is in good shape, you might want to try to sell that on Ralvary. Debbie Bliss had a fire back before the pandemic and went out of business, and so if someone is looking for it, your mother’s yarn will be of interest to them. All knitters congregate online on Ralvary. You can sell good quality yarn there. Don’t try to sell anything bought at Michael’s there tho. Most people there use yarn shop yarn.
Oh, wow. I had no idea. I’ll have to tell my mom about the fire. I know she has an account on Ralvary, and I believe she posted some of the yarn up for sale but didn’t get the response like she had with FB.
It’s Ravelry, fyi :) a lot depends on the groups and how active they are. Some groups are even specific to certain types or brands of yarn.
Are tax deductions still allowed for donations?
Yes/no. The automatic deduction is substantial now. To make it finally beneficial the average household needs to have more than approx $50k worth of donations.
It’s more work, but you would get the most money to take photos and post yourself. I would use something like mercari though.
I mean this is borderline horder disorder to be honest. Your mum likes/maybe it's addicted to buying stuffa nd it happend she is focused on yarn(this is good case since yarn is resellable). Yes, I understand Im not responding exactly to what you wanted but.....
TL Yarncrafts did a video recently where she explained her destashing process, and calculations on how to price the yarn. Definitely a lot of work, but might be useful some tips, how to keep track of things and such. Good luck!!!
Oh, that should be useful! I started making an account but got distracted with work. I’ll have to finish that and watch the video. Thank you!
I’m not sure about your area, but somewhere might hold Destash or craft markets. That is the place to get rid of it, because other crafters are coming ready to purchase. I have got rid of heaps at those sorts of markets, if you want to recoup money. Otherwise donating to community programs, schools, colleges with textiles or costume courses.
I’d avoid facebook, especially for a lot of this size - it brings out a lot of people who want to buy but don’t seem to understand how buying from Facebook works, and it quickly becomes exhausting to explain over and over how things work, only to have them ghost you or change their mind. If you’re selling by lots, I’d go for eBay. If you want to get through it quick, do job lots of same/similar yarns and price it $1/skein. If you want to price more in line with worth, you need to consider how older yarns may degrade over time. Checking for pest damage will be important in getting the most value possible. If clearing space is your main goal, donating to whatever local charities or groups you can find will help to blow through the stash. I’ve found it quite difficult to sell cheaper acrylics unless they’re in huge volume or colour range, so donation was a real winner when I had to downsize. Good luck! It’s going to be an exhausting journey, remember to give yourself breaks and pace yourself.
I’d buy some for sure if you go the route of selling yourself.
Specifically I love Rowan and Debbie Bliss yarns and would be interested in any Icelandic ones. 🥰
mine looks the same...i love it! i am trying to work mine down right now!
Where are you. Just curious.
Not op, but they're in the Seattle area. (Saw this ad on FB marketplace).
I know that some women's jails are trying to start crochet programs, maybe donate some of the cheaper yarn to them.
What an absolute treasure trove, and also a nightmare to try to get rid of. Around here, the resale shops sell them for 1 dollar each. They get a lot of yarn when they buy out storage units. If anyone is interested, there is one that often has big bins of yarn out front, in El Cajon, East San Diego County. It's called Empire Thrift Store on Main and First street.
OP has stated selling individual skeins is not her question.
I’ll take it all for $41.50
I’ll take it for $42
All I can think of is the number of discontinued yarns for my half finished projects that I would love to dig through that looking for 😭
Aw, oh no! That has to be frustrating. I hope you can find the missing yarn types eventually.
You could let art universities know, specifically any fashion and textile design degrees by emailing a course leader
Wow. Just wow. That is a lot! As people have suggested, trying selling the whole batch in one fell swoop. Second best is sort the yarn and sell in smaller batches. Acrylic yarn is cheap. Cotton and cotton blends. Wool and wool blends. Then the specialty yarns such as silk, alpaca, cashmere, angora which, if you have any of that, would usually command the highest prices. As others have suggested, donate some. Good luck.
I agree sorting them by material type is a good idea. Some people are also picky about weight. Honestly I would love to pay for a mystery bag of acrylics lol.
I would have a locker sale. If you can get to it, $5 per item. Or just donate to art teachers on fb groups
Diodes it have to be sold? My mom is an ace knitter and owned a few knitting stores when I was growing up. She closed them down at some point and had A TON OF YARN. So. Much. Yarn. She ended up giving much of it to local groups (especially knitting groups that give finished products to people in need.) May I please suggest that?
My guess is there is a real reason they are selling rather than donating.
Donate to schools, daycare, senior citizens craft centre's and thrift stores.
Did anyone else struggle to comprehend the scale of this image at first?
Strangely, it comforted me. I am so anxious about the size of my stash and now find I’m in the minor leagues😊
I thought it was maybe a small closet and when I clicked on it my eyes got big like a cartoon.
This made me laugh out loud!
Yes. It took me a second look to realise that wasn’t a cupboard.
You might talk to a local yarn shop and see if they’d be willing to help you consign/sell some of it. Maybe bundle it and sell in bulk/by the bag. And/or see if your local shop will let you hang a sign for an “estate” style sale to destash. You might also check your local maker spaces, craft fairs, etc and see if you can join in. Good luck!
Generally, local yarn shops are not interested in consigning for destashers. Too many variables, like accidentally bringing moths or pet smells into a yarn shop. Plus, we8d be overwhelmed with customers wanting to do that and it would hurt our own yarn sales.
While you’re probably right, the crafting community tends to be who you know. So while the shops might not want to consign, they may know who would, or local groups to help destash, etc.
I don’t know about eBay because of the fees and people don’t want to pay what it actually costs to ship whatever they are buying plus you have to pack it all up and go to the post office multiple times. I like the idea of using an estate sale company. You would have to pay them, but I think you would get more money doing that instead of eBay. They would arrange it neatly on tables by type, and I think it would sell fast.
You can sell on poshmark, vinted and depop
Ill buy some if you ship to QLD Australia
Oh I am interested in buying some! Do you guys ship to Tampa Florida?? I’d love to buy!
I know it’s overwhelming, but depending on her level of interest in yarn, there could be yarn you could resell for some decent money. Anything hand dyed from an in indie dyer can be more valuable than Redheart. There are some big indie brands people go nuts over too. It’s like my fabric stash. I have some out of print fabrics that are worth 3x+ what I paid for them now. I want to use them and I’m not keeping them for reselling, but if some happened to me, I would want them to dive into my stash and sell it and get that bag.
Send me the address! Lol list in batches on Facebook.
Indie dyer Plank & Stella offers a consignment destash service on her website. I haven’t used it but I buy a lot of yarn from her and can attest that she’s great to do business with.
[удалено]
Agreed, yeah.
You can sell yarn on Poshmark!
r/yarnswap
You could do an auction- highest bidder takes all kind of thing if this is all too much for you or you can just post to your local Facebook marketplace, set up open house times for people to come by and maybe price them by how many rolls rather than individual quality. Or price a bag- like a shopping bag full would be 20-30 bucks or whatever you feel is fair. There is no wrong way to do it but if it’s too much go for the easiest route.
Done. I’ll bid $40 and take it all. Thanks for playing. Better luck next time ladies and gents. OP, message me for my address where it can be shipped.
I once went to a yarn sale in someone's home. She just laid out all her yarn on tables in the dining area. It was pretty cool and I got some nice yarn for a reasonable price. I also went to something similar in the common area of a condo. You might want to try a sale like that.
If there is any chance you're in Ottawa Ontario I will sort that for free. Sorting yarn gives me so much joy.
I once read that there are two hobbies, making things with yard and collecting yarn. This is a prime example.
Ok I thought I have a lot and seeing people's collection in storage bins/ shelves which has more than me is nothing compared to a storage unit of nothing but yarn.
Try to arrange it on a table perhaps in a colorful, eye catching way
You got any lion brand yarn there?
You know, I was so overwhelmed, I only pulled out 6 bags or so to bring back and see if I could help my mom to sell. I don’t remember seeing a Lion, but hard to say. Fortunately she did sort them by brand and type in the different bags. I just wasn’t paying too much attention to the names as I was literally tossing them up on boxes and shelves in our bigger storage unit.
Ok when you can I’ll buy some from you take. I’m looking 100% cotton yarns.
I'll take all of them
Make big mystery bags and sell them for like 30-40 bucks (more if you’re trying to turn a bigger profit, less if you’re goal is just to be rid of it)
r/yarnswap
I helped my grandma thin her yarn collection recently so my grandpa would let her buy new skeins (lol). We ended up making some color grouped mystery bundles and posting them on ebay and easy and they sold pretty well! Just an idea :)
Oh, really? That is encouraging. I haven’t used eBay to sell, so was a little hesitant. But that does sound like it worked well for you. Hope your grandma got some good skeins in exchange ☺️
I sell things on ebay periodically including destash yarn - you won't make tons of money but generally you can sell yarn. I agree with grouping multiple skeins together - with shipping it makes it more attractive for people to buy several items at once
Grouped bundles seems like a really good idea here - people will buy for specific things they can use, but effectively the bundle makes them take a bit more of the stash away than they maybe would have done otherwise... It's a bit of a compromise on the overall value, but a reduction in work in return.
Yes exactly! But in my grandma's case she also wasn't super worried about the financial return. Also one of the people who bought a bundle of green yarns sent my gran pictures of some of the things she made with it and that made grandma's whole month.
That’s adorable. Your grandma sounds like a nice lady.
You can also sell it via Ravelry
Maybe hire estate sale services - they will do just one type of item for you
I’ve bought yarn on Mercari. I’ve seen yarn sell for good prices on there. Have fun sorting and selling!
Let me know when you’re ready to sell!
I'm interested once you've got it sorted. You may have skeins I've been looking for in your teasure trove.
My mom did actually sort them by brand and type in each of those bags. It’s just… getting to them. I only pulled out 6 bags so far and even that seemed like a lot ! https://preview.redd.it/hoqgbaon4n5d1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04723bf106d2f0abb5b4419f6b8144bb4e32d6b4
I don't envy you on that task.
I think half off retail would be reasonable for quick turnaround, and maybe donate any acrylic yarns unless they are popular brands/types.
Former yarnstore owner here. Please figure out what the yarn costs per ball/skein and go just below that. You have a small fortune there, have fun , and donate the acrylics to safe your time
Thank you for this advice! I see a lot of them still have their price stickers on them, which is useful. I’ll try to have fun! I did enjoy selling one bundle of yarn yesterday by handing the ziplock bag into the passenger window of a lady that had already Venmo-d me. She drove right off on her merry way. Felt like a yarn-dealer!
Facebook Marketplace is filled with scammers. Cash and in person is usually safest. If you want to mail/post you should go on an app and don’t take it off app. If anyone wants to send you more than your asking, claims you need to upgrade to a “business account” wants to send a courier, etc. it’s a scam.
My best advice: GIMME (joking)
Have you considered flea markets or yard sales?
Flea markets are a maybe, but sadly I don’t have a yard to sell on. I’ll look into the markets, though!
There is so much there you could take a stall at a craft fair. Or contact local craft groups and go to their meetings and sell from the back of your car
I was just at a garage sale this weekend, they bagged up yarn in gallon size bags and filled a kiddie pool with the bags. Needles and books too. Someone’s stash for sure. I was there late in the afternoon and they said it was a popular item and they sold about 75% of what they originally had.
Look at [YarnSaver](https://www.yarnsaver.com/sell-your-yarn) It’s a reputable website, I’ve bought from them and I’m putting some yarn together to sell through them.
They do not appear to stock wool
Wool yarn? Yes, they do. I’ve bought Noro Kureyon and Kureopatora through them. Just enter “wool” in the search box and you’ll see what they have.
Thank you!
This is something I didn't need to know existed. My wallet does not thank you. :p
My wallet is shaking in fear 😅
Haha! I’m trying to avoid buying the Noro yarn I left behind last time.
Damn it’s only in the states ☹️
Probably just as well.... (For me if not you).
I never knew that was a thing.😮
I bought some yarn from a similar stash recently. They let me make an appointment to come and dig through it myself, and IIRC it was priced at half off retail for things that were labeled, $2/skein if they weren’t.
That sounds so fun!
Can you link a shop if you sell it by the bag?
Yes. Either by the bag full ie sorta easy and cheap. Or search them looking for the higher end yarns make sure no odors and in good condition then list them. And do the rest by the bag or donate to different places. Nursing homes, shelters type places
Yes, I’m leaning towards selling the really expensive Shetland wool-type of skeins in small bundles and then the more affordable ones by the bag. Hopefully it will work out! I’ll just have to experiment.
Give it up 😿
All you can cary for 10 bucks.
Have you divided and categorized it? 😲 what’s in there!?
My mom has actually. There all separated by brand and type and then in the bag there are ziplocks of the yarn organized by color.
Amazing! I’m sure people in this sub will buy it. I have no idea how you do a storefront. Etsy? “Vintage Yarns”?
Lock me in there and I’ll never leave! Definitely try ebay.
You can sell it on Destashify. It’s for selling craft supplies like this.
I have never sold on FB but would think eBay would work well / 4-5 skeins per lot.
r/yarnswap perhaps?
Not going to lie but if I was down the road from you I would volunteer to help you sort it. In terms of selling it eBay is probably going to be your best bet or a local car boot if you want to do it in person.
If you figure out where you are selling I will purchase. That cotton / cashmere has me 🤤