10 Tips for a Successful Instagram Destash

I love to organize! In my previous life (before children), I was a Medical Record Administrator – and loved all the administrating I got to do!!

One of the things I’ve noticed lately is the stress I feel when I go into my craft room (a little annexe off the lounge room) and it’s messy. Sometimes having too much (and that amount is different for everyone) is overwhelming.

So over the New Year break, I went through my fabric stash, took out the fabric I no longer liked, or knew I’d never use, and put it up for sale on my destash page on Instagram. My craft room doesn’t look quite so messy now, and it has just the fabrics I love, and less stress!!

It was such a blessing – it all sold!! And that extra cash became spending money for my trip to Quiltcon in February with my sister!

10 Tips for a Successful Instagram Destash

Here are 10  11 12 tips you might be interested in if you want to sell some of your craft supplies on IG (and make a little spending money to boot!!)

1. Set up a destash page on IG if you have a lot of stuff to sell, or if this might be a regular thing. Otherwise you will spam your lovely followers with post after post of things they’re not interested in. It’s very easy to open another account on IG – I just use my IG name, followed by an “_” and the word, “destash”, so mine is called @coleandtaffy_destash. I’ve seen some without the underscore too! And don’t forget to post a photo on your main IG page to let everyone know you’re having a destash!
2. Good clear photos are always a good idea. Make sure the colours are right too – that’s an important factor when buying! If selling as a bundle, you might want to fan the fabrics out so that each one can be seen – unless it’s a fat quarter bundle that all tied up, or a precut!
3. Accurate descriptions help everyone – you want to be clear about what you’re selling, and the buyer wants to be very sure of what they’re buying. Describe the size of the piece of fabric, if it’s missing a 5″ square cut from the corner, if it has been fussy cut, etc. You could also give the weight of the fabric too! Give the condition of that craft book you never used – is it as new, or is has it seen better days? and DON”T FORGET to add #greataussiedestash to your post so everyone who browses that hashtag will see your posts – not just those who are following you.
4. Scrap packs (a mixture of pieces of fabric of different sizes, usually smaller than a fat quarter or fat eighth) are very popular, especially for English paper piecing and scrap quilts. If selling scrap packs, give the weight of the bundle. That gives the buyer some idea of how much fabric they’re purchasing. You could sell them in colour bundles, eg. all the red fabrics together, then all the blue, etc. Or you can sell as a mixed colour bundle.
5. Giving the weight of the item will help the buyer calculate postage costs, or you can add the postage costs to the description. It’s a great idea to offer to combine parcels for cheaper postage if someone buys more than one item. Unless it’s a book or pattern that can easily be posted as a letter in an envelope (less than 2cm thick and weighing less than 500g), the easiest way to post is in Australia Post satchels.
6. Unless it’s an out of print (OOP), or older, fabric line, I like to price my fabric around the $2-3 per fat quarter. So I’ll weigh the fabric and work out how many FQs that would be, and price accordingly! A FQ weighs around 45g. So if you have a scrap pack that weighs 225g, I’d price it around the $12-15 range if it was a popular line, or $10-12 if it was a pack of unnamed/unknown fabric.
7. I always ask that the buyer leaves a comment on the photo that says “Sold” and to leave their PayPal address. Yes, you will have to pay a small fee (around 3%), but it’s very quick and easy, and once they’ve paid, you automatically get their address. You can leave the funds in your PayPal account, or you can easily transfer the money to your bank account. And it can all be done on your phone!! I have asked for direct debits to my bank account, but these can take days to show up in my account!
8. If I don’t hear from the buyer within a few hours and there is someone else interested in buying that item, I will send the person a direct message (DM) and ask if they’re still interested. I find most people are very quick to pay, and if they haven’t paid, it’s usually because they’ve forgotten. A quick reminder and it’s paid.
9. Once paid, you should endeavour to send off the parcel within a couple of days.
10. You need to have some way of keeping track of all the information you’ll need to ensure the right person gets the right package, and that everyone pays. I just use an old notebook and keep a record of the following: item for sale, who bought it, price, postage particulars, invoice sent, invoice paid, postage address, date posted. I also attach those little pink stickers with the satchel tracking number to the page – just in case! Update it regularly so you always know where you’re at. You might think you’ll remember, but if you have a lot of stash for sale, it can get very messy very quickly!
11. When packing the parcels, it’s always good to wrap the book, pattern, or fabric in plastic just in case the envelope or satchel tears – nobody wants a parcel ruined by water!!
12. And if something doesn’t sell, don’t despair! Either mark the price down (perhaps you thought it was worth more than it is), leave it for the next destash you have (different people means someone might buy it that time), or donate it!

I’ve probably forgotten some, but I hope these help you next time you clear out your craft room! It doesn’t take long, and is well worth the effort!

And you’ll be amazed how great it feels to reorganize – keep the supplies you love, and give away/sell the supplies you no longer like, or know you’ll never use. It’s also good to know that others will be able to use what you’re not!

I’d love to hear any tips you might have – please leave a comment.

Till next time,

PS. For Sydneysiders, there is charity craft shop called the Fabric Cave in Ryde, that takes donations of all kinds of craft items. All proceeds from the sale of these items goes to Achieve Australia, which supports people with disability in home, life, career, and enterprise.