how to get the lowest prices on yarn

[phillmolly]

I have decided that I am going to make some hats to sell at a mom 2 mom sale in the fall, and possibly open a facebook shop to sell hats and other crochet items.

I need to make about 30 elsa and anna hats and am trying to figure out the best way to buy my yarn. I really like the Caron simply soft yarns for the elsa hats and made my Anna hats out of the Vanna White brand yarn.

Anyone know the best places to buy yarn on the internet? I can about three hats out of two skeins of yarn. So I will need at least 15 - 20 skeins of each main color.

I am also hoping to get some Olaf hats made and maybe even some baby blankets with matching hats and booties.

Oh, and does anyone know how I can set up a Facebook shop, is it even "allowed"? I see people who have bow shops on FB, but I have no idea how to do it myself.

 

[wishesuponastar]

The only places I have bought yarn are Michaels and Walmart. Michaels you can use 40% off one item coupon which you can get by signing up online for their emails or you can find sometimes in the newspaper. They take competitors coupons. In the emails sometimes they have 25% off entire purchase. Maybe someone will come along with a website that has a better sale than Michaels. Have fun making your projects.

 

[GS for life]

I have ordered from Herschners online. They have reasonable prices and have frequent sales, AC Moore has more yarn than Michaels.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[phorsenuf]

I buy all my yarn at Hobby Lobby. I love their brand. I used to use Caron and Bernat all the time but have since switched over. I usually pay $3.66 for 355 yards, which is a bigger skein than the above brands. I haven't bought any yarn online as of yet.

 

[firecracker725]

I like Knit Picks. They have great quality stuff, and it's very affordable, though it's their own brand.

 

[phillmolly]

I buy all my yarn at Hobby Lobby. I love their brand. I used to use Caron and Bernat all the time but have since switched over. I usually pay $3.66 for 355 yards, which is a bigger skein than the above brands. I haven't bought any yarn online as of yet.

I love the Hobby Lobby brand yarns also! I made some hats using their bamboo yarn and they are super soft and such pretty colors.

 

[phillmolly]

I like Knit Picks. They have great quality stuff, and it's very affordable, though it's their own brand.

Lots of cute stuff! Thank you!

 

[phillmolly]

The hard part is trying to find the perfect balance between finding good quality yarn and keeping the price of the hats reasonable. I am thinking of charging $30 for the Anna and Elsa hats only because of how huge Frozen is right and the fact that both hats use a ton of yarn! I can make one hat in about two or three hours and the total yarn used is about one to 1 1/2 skeins.

I am hoping to be able sell 30 of them this fall to help pay for our cruise next spring

I would also like to start doing some custom orders. I really enjoy crocheting, I can do it while watching TV and it gives me something to do with my hands instead of snacking. Plus you can take it anywhere.

 

[SC Minnie]

I've bought yard from the knitting warehouse online. Their prices were good but shipping was .

Keep an eye out for sales. Michaels and Joanns both had Caron Simply Soft on sale last week for ~$2.69/skein. With Joanns they almost always have a free shipping code on orders over $50. Sign up for Joanns emails too. Every once in a while they will have a web only yarn sale and send out an email.

 

[kwelch10377]

As far as I know you can't really sell directly on FB. You can set up a FB page for your business that direct people how to contact you or link pictures from another site where your items are for sale. Basically you can use FB as a advertising tool, but not a selling tool.

I would say to look at Etsy as your selling tool. The biggest downside with Etsy is that there are certain types of items that are over saturated and yours would be one of them. You also are not supposed to sell any themed items that is copyrighted with written permission, i.e. Olaf hats. People do it, but you risk the items being removed and your shopped being closed down.

 

[aprilchem]

Caron Simply Soft is sold at my WalMart in lots of colors. I think I pay $3.99 a large skein for it there. They also sell it at Michaels and AC Moore but not at my Hobby Lobby (they mostly sell their own brand, which I don't like).

Michaels had it on sale for $2.99 a skein a couple of weeks ago (I think the week before last)? I noticed it because I like to knit with that yarn as well and just made a really nice hat/scarf set with it.

I wouldn't think you'd be able to get it much cheaper than the Wal Mart price or the price you'd get it at Michael's with a coupon, but I don't buy a whole lot of yard online.

You might want to be careful about selling them on Etsy and calling them Frozen hats, since that's technically trademark infringement, I'd think.

 

[FergieTCat]

Smiley's Yarn has good prices, but it's a minimum of $50 for shipping:

http://www.smileysyarns.com/

When I need yarn, I usually go to Michaels and ACMoore with their coupons. The only downside to this would be that you can only buy one skein at a time, unless you bring someone else with you.

 

[Nayan]

Etsy is the way to go for selling. You can set up a FB page for your business though and point folks to your Etsy shop.

 

[dyna]

I would be afraid I'd spend the money on the yarn my time making the hats then not sell but a few an be stuck with them an in the hole.

I think I'd make 2 or 3 put them on display and take orders but not more orders than I could fill in 2 weeks or a month whatever. I'd also get a deposit on orders.

 

[firecracker725]

I would be afraid I'd spend the money on the yarn my time making the hats then not sell but a few an be stuck with them an in the hole. I think I'd make 2 or 3 put them on display and take orders but not more orders than I could fill in 2 weeks or a month whatever. I'd also get a deposit on orders.

I would be far more likely to buy something I can put my hands on and take home, anD I certainly wouldn't pay a deposit to someone at a random sale.

 

[phorsenuf]

I would be afraid I'd spend the money on the yarn my time making the hats then not sell but a few an be stuck with them an in the hole.

I think I'd make 2 or 3 put them on display and take orders but not more orders than I could fill in 2 weeks or a month whatever. I'd also get a deposit on orders.

Um, yeah... I'd ignore this piece of advice.

 

[SMD]

I won't buy from Knit Picks since they had a data breach and didn't disclose it to customers in a timely manner. (Years of customer CC info stored in a insecure way and they never notified the customers, someone found a notice on the CA attorney general site and posted it on Ravelry, not cool.) Their prices have also increased to the point where their yarn isn't worth what they're charging for it anymore. I've ordered from many of the sites mentioned, but I've found that the best deal on acrylic yarn is to shop locally at big box craft stores. For large quantities, l'd look for Lion Brand Pound of Love or Caron One Pound at a good price, then use a 40% coupon. I'll do separate transactions if I need 2, or even leave the store and come back because my local Michaels doesn't allow two coupons. If it's on sale, Michael's usually has coupons for 15% (sometimes more) off sale items. Joann's takes competitor coupons, sometimes I go there. Sometimes Joann has good online sales, but the shipping usually negates it and it's easy for me to just go there. Michaels has also recently started selling online and has been having a lot of deals lately, though not really on yarn. I wish they would have a yarn sale, I have to start now for the holidays or I'll never finish.

 

[kwelch10377]

I would be afraid I'd spend the money on the yarn my time making the hats then not sell but a few an be stuck with them an in the hole.

I think I'd make 2 or 3 put them on display and take orders but not more orders than I could fill in 2 weeks or a month whatever. I'd also get a deposit on orders.

If you want to start a business you need to invest money and take a risk. If you don't have the product, to display, people can't buy it.

 

[Burnedout]

I buy a lot of handmade. No way if spend $30 for a hat made of either of those yarns. Ick.

 

[lizabu]

I would be afraid I'd spend the money on the yarn my time making the hats then not sell but a few an be stuck with them an in the hole. I think I'd make 2 or 3 put them on display and take orders but not more orders than I could fill in 2 weeks or a month whatever. I'd also get a deposit on orders.

Um, yeah... I'd ignore this piece of advice.

If you want to start a business you need to invest money and take a risk. If you don't have the product, to display, people can't buy it.

My opinion is somewhere in the middle. The Mom 2 Mom sale you absolutely must have product made and ready for the buyer to take home. Etsy and such places you can have a photographed example and let the buyer know they are ordering a product that will be made upon order. You have to give a pretty clear expectation of how much time you need to create the product. There are positives and negatives. You can change colors or sizes to suit but at the same time you have to be careful not to bite off more than you can chew.

When it comes to yarn I find the huge rolls of red heart at Walmart are cheapest. Of course cotton etc is much nicer but if you used that, no one would want to pay what you had to charge to not lose money.