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Pattern Sellers Do Used Patterns Sell

 
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TyreeTrading



Posts: 1608

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:21 pm    Post subject: Pattern Sellers Do Used Patterns Sell Reply with quote

This is mostly a curiosity question...

If a pattern has been used and all the pieces are there, is it sellable? Or do buyers want only the unused ones?

I was at a yard sale today and a woman had some patterns for sale. They were Renaissance outfits. The price seemed exceedingly reasonable (three for a quarter). All were previously used.

I am not thinking about being your competition LOL since the last time I sewed anything was 40 years ago (okay, I do sew on buttons that fall off). But every once in a while, I see patterns at estate or yard sales. So I thought I would ask.
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MoonwishesStore
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It depends on the seller. Except for a very rare pattern that only came in one size to start with such as a vintge Vogue desginer pattern, I don't sell them. Other pattern sellers do, but I don't have the time to go through all pattern tissues to see if they were all cut neatly and that all are present and accounted for, etc. Some are willing to do that and then sell the patterns for peanuts. I find plenty that are uncut and can sell them for much more money. I'm a seamstress and know what I as a sewer want and it sure isn't someone else's mess.

I have had trouble buying 'uncut' patterns from some sellers as they don't really check. They maybe peek inside the envelope and figure everything looks well and says it is uncut. And then they fight me on it and I have to leave bad feedback, so stopped buying them on line at this point unless someone is closing down their business. I'm at the point I or my husband can pick up a pattern and tell about 99% of the time if it is cut or not. A cut pattern feels different. I have had feedback left where the customer seemed to be shocked that the pattern truly was uncut and the is the biggest question I ever get is if the pattern is uncut.

But like I said, it depends. I would never buy stock from a seller that admits outright that they now nothing abut sewing or patterns, and then you have to watch for the ones that sell those 'uncut but cut' patterns, or the moldy ones, etc. I want my customers to know that even though at times the envelope is a mess, the pattern will always be uncut and they can depend on it.
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maggiethehousecat



Posts: 2457

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tyree, I've heard that many buyers of vintage patterns buy the cut ones for the envelopes and that if they are in good condition, the pattern is sellable. At 3 for 25 cents, you can't really go wrong unless they are ripped to shreds or dirty.

Crafters use pattern pieces in decoupage and would certainly find uses for the envelopes. The patterns makes good wrap for breakables and is less expensive than buying packs of tissue paper.

As long as you don't charge uncut prices for them, I would think they are sellable. When I sold patterns, I would add a cut pattern to a related uncut pattern as a bonus. My problem with patterns was that I didn't have enough of them to get noticed in the market place.
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MoonwishesStore
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Crafters use pattern pieces in decoupage and would certainly find uses for the envelopes. The patterns makes good wrap for breakables and is less expensive than buying packs of tissue paper.


Maggie, I can certainly see that and someday I may do some crafts with the unsaleable stuff I have around. It is the charging uncut prices for them that is weird. I guess when I stop in to a pattern store (I never go actively looking), I'm amazed at the prices where uncut patterns can have higher price tacked on to them than a good classic style uncut patterns.

I think all of us pattern sellers are different and have different ideas for what we want to sell. I bought htousands of patterns from a pattern seller still in business. I think she didn't want to sell anything over 5 years old. I have subsequently sold enough of them so far to pay back what I spent, plus much more. So it wasn't that they were unsaleable, but in the ebay marketplace where she sells, you can't afford to park items for years waiting for the sell which is why I finally had to leave ebay. Here I don't care if a pattern takes years to sell.


Quote:
If a pattern has been used and all the pieces are there, is it sellable? Or do buyers want only the unused ones?


I think for you it would come down to what you want to do with them, sell them for sewers or sell them for crafters or what. Believe me on this one--patterns can take over your whole house and life if you let them Very Happy


Last edited by MoonwishesStore on Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:30 am; edited 1 time in total
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lastade-designs
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Posts: 2903

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sometimes sell cut patterns, depending on what they are. Costume patterns like your Renaissance pattern usually sell, cut or uncut. I went to a church sale today and bought 8 costume patterns. It is time consuming to sell them, because you have to count the pieces to make sure they are all there. Since I am on vacation, I may have time to go through them....maybe. Smile
I like the idea of using cut patterns to wrap things in, what a good idea!
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SheilaDeesPostcards
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MoonwishesStore wrote:
Believe me on this one--patterns can take over your whole house and life if you let them Very Happy
I think they breed ..... Shocked

At the price you quoted I would have brought them home. They make great tissue paper for sewing collectibles at the worst. Selling used patterns is a pain. I make a list of every piece from the delta, then check for every piece AND confirm that every piece actually goes to that pattern in the correct size. I've found the skirt in one size and the top in a different size. I've found pattern pieces that are from a totally different pattern, only to find those same pieces "missing" when I find the pattern. The newer patterns are in multiple sizes and I try to stay away from those. If it's a collectible pattern, I don't care if it's cut. It's a matter of a balance between the value of the pattern vs. the time it takes to check.

Earlier this year I grabbed a sleeper at a BIN price. It was cut, but the seller stated the pieces had been counted. It was one of those patterns that had close to 40 pieces and it was short one piece. I was so sad, but it's worth storing to wait for the day that I find another one with different missing pieces.


Last edited by SheilaDeesPostcards on Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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TyreeTrading



Posts: 1608

PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks all!

If it were cut, I would be checking to see if all the pieces were there. I never thought about checking for the size being different. Now I know I should also check the 'uncut' ones too.

Growing up, the neighbor next door made all her kids clothes. She would go to the mall, check out the latest styles and then she'd mix and match her patterns. I imagine selling her used ones would be a nightmare!

You info is exactly why one should learn a niche before venturing in.

Patterns breed? I thought only postcards did that!
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thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat



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PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I was a child we had our clothes made by a dressmaker, not because we were affluent but because my mother would buy lengths of fabric, take it to the seamstress along with her two daughters to be measured and a few days later we had the cutest dresses in town. The seamstress trimmed and finished them from her hoard of materials and as I recall my mother paid her $1 per dress. The woman never worked from a pattern and if she had a dressmaker dummy I never saw it. Maybe she was a bargain priced Moonwishes who primarily just loved to sew.

I learned about the using patterns for wrap at a charity shop I frequented. I never bought patterns from them as the ones I had out were all cut up and not worth the 10cents they charged. Then one day I was buying some breakables and noticed they were using uncut pattern tissue to do it. I asked why. They said because the cut ones are all in bits and pieces so I pointed out the prices uncut patterns were selling for online. Next time I went in the shop they had prices on the uncut patterns. By that time I had stopped selling patterns.
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MoonwishesStore
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
You info is exactly why one should learn a niche before venturing in.


Absolutely! Every niche! And yes. oh my. do patterns breed and breed and breed. One of the reason that I don't buy cut patterns as I get enough of those accidently when buying large lots of patterns. I have more than enough for craft purposes.

But I think we all agree that 'special' patterns are worth the time to check for completeness. Part of knowing your niche is knowing what is special. I think the highest price pattern I ever sold was $50 and not a quibble from the buyer. I've seen ebay auctions end at over several $100 for truly vintage patterns.
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lastade-designs
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No matter whether it is cut or not, I always sell vintage apron patterns. And cut doll clothes patterns seem to sell also.

I am a pattern junkie. I buy them because they are nostalgic to me. I like to sew, knit and crochet with them, and sell them of course, but patterns remind me of being with grandma when I was young. One of my earliest childhood memories was going through my grandma's stash. She saved patterns from when she was young. Fashions from the 30's, 40's and 50's. I was looking at them in the 60's and 70's and thought they were cool! Plus grandma and my mom taught me these crafts. They trained me for my "niche" from an early age.

People buy patterns for all sorts of reasons. It just depends on what they are looking for. They will buy them cut if they want them badly enough. Smile

I think I have mentioned this before, so some may have heard it, but the highest price I got for a pattern was over $100. I can't remember the exact amount. It was an apron pattern that the pattern maker had Lucy and Desi Arnez model and endorse from when they had the I love Lucy Show. It was on Ebay, back in the good old days when auctions were going crazy.
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MoonwishesStore
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love rooting through old patterns as well. My first, best boyfriend from when I was young sold me a big lot of patterns last year that had many of the copies of patterns that I had made up for myself during the 70'-80's including maternity patterns. That was some trip down memory lane for many reasons. I also love getting to a sale that is mostly sewing and needlework stuff. At one sale I was able to fill out my Threads magazine collection, pick up lots of books for resale including Alice Stramore books when some of her books were around $200, sewing patterns etc. We always called it Clara's stuff. By the time you go through those things you may not have known them in the real sense, but you know them by what they collected, read and made notes about.

Lastade, Clare was big into knitting and crocheting. I think you might have lost your head at the sale. They were also selling off her leftover yarn and she had just about enough to stock a shop! Certainly a fun hobby, both the making, the doing, the reading, and the selling. Very Happy Wish I had the energy to go off to sales.....but I guess I don't have to. In the midst of writing this my son just called to say he had snagged 100 uncut vintage patterns for me at a great price! Very Happy
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lastade-designs
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
In the midst of writing this my son just called to say he had snagged 100 uncut vintage patterns for me at a great price!



That is wonderful Moon! If you are like me, you can't wait to look at them.
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MoonwishesStore
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

He has gotten so good. I pay him a flat rate depending on the pattern, so for him to get them at an exceptional price means he will be making a nice chunk of change. He is self employed and sells on line as well so in the midst of his scouting for things for him to sell he picks up stuff for me. I know if something happens to me and hubby this business will be in good hands!
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