I have been shopping for, selling and collecting old quilt tops for a while now, and I have noticed some things that may get in the way of your selling.

1.  Use a gallery picture!  They're free now.  By their very nature, quilt tops are intensely graphic items and need to be seen. 9 out of 10 times a listing without a gallery picture will get passed over.

2.  Photograph it laid out flat on a bed or the floor or hanging on a clothesline. Don't have it folded in a bunch or crumpled on a chair or footstool.  Buyers want to see the overall pattern.  Take closeups of any major flaws or particularly interesting features.  And, if you have photo editing software, which you probably do if you use a digital camera, fix the photo if it needs it.  The most common photo problems are one big murky shadow or a photo with heavy orange-y tones. Neither will help sell your top. Lighten it up or adjust the color until it is truer.                                             

The first picture is WAY too dark, the second is listed as blue & white!  and the third might be very pretty, but it's really hard to visualize the overall effect (plus it's too dark).                                         

3. Start your bidding at a reasonable price.  Very few old quilt tops are SO fabulous that they will get snapped up at $200 to start.  I have seen them bid up to that, and more, but never to start.  And if Grandma or Mama made it it is special to you -- not to a buyer.  Be realistic.

4. Be careful with the terms "rare" and "one of a kind."  They seldom are.  Quilt patterns tended to be shared and passed around and were repeated over and over.  Do your research and go through listings that are already on eBay.  Certain patterns, such as "Grandmother's Flower Garden," :Dresden Plate," "Double Wedding Ring" and "Sunbonnet Sue" were turned out in the 20s through the 50s like hotcakes, as were the huge and intricate "Lone Star."  Ain't NONE of them rare!  One seller on eBay calls anything that she personally has never seen before rare, and I suspect she either hasn't seen much or doesn't pay attention.  As a rule of thumb, leave "rare" and "one of a kind" to the experts and historians.

5. Try to get the pattern name right.  There are so many resources on the net to identify patterns that it is just lazy not to.  Resist the temptation to make up a name.

6. Spelling!  Especially in the title, which is what is used for searches.  Burgundy, not burgandy; Lavender, not lavendar; Dresden, not dresdan or dresen; Applique, not applicate.  If you have an appliqued top listed and I am looking for one, I may not see it if it is described as "applicate."

7. Use your title words wisely.  There is limited space, so don't waste it with things like LOOK, WOW or NICE.  I'm looking already -- tell me something I don't know.  NICE?.... not worth the space it takes.  I have also noticed listings where "quilt," and "sew" are added at the end -- no need!  You already said "quilt" when you called it a quilt top, and I can't think of any reason why someone would use the word "sew" to search for a quilt top.  So choose your title words to get the biggest bang.  Oh, and speaking of titles -- don't alternate caps and lower case letters in your title! It just looks silly and can be quite annoying to read. (I know I sound like a curmudgeon, but this stuff is true!)  Oh, and don't call it a "topper."  A quilt top is a quilt top -- i.e. the top of a quilt.  I haven't the vaguest idea what a "topper" is.  And, you're wasting 6 spaces!

8.  Tops made of all cotton are the most desirable.  Polyester has a lower value, and double knit is almost valueless.  Price accordingly. And, just because  a top was made in the 30s or 40s of vivid, cheerful prints it doesn't necessarily mean it was made from feedsacks. Sacks for grain, flour and sugar were made of cotton prints that were also readily available in stores.  So, before you state that a top is feedsack material, check for evidence of a removed label, faded brand printing (front or back) or the coarse holes left by the string used to seal the sack.  Without those clues, the fabric could just as well have been purchased.

9.  If you are not well-versed in dating fabrics don't hazard guesses as to the age of your top.  There are far too many variables.  Unless, of course, you know exactly how old it is because Aunt Mae made it.  But don't refer to a top as Civil War era unless it has been dated by someone knowledgeable. I saw a quilt listed on eBay that was described rather effusively as victorian and from a "fabulous" victorian estate, but one look at the fabrics in the close-ups and they were all from the 40s and 50s.  Not good.  Simply put, a quilt top is only as old as the most recent piece of fabric in it.  Suppose I had an extensive stash of Civil War era fabric and pieced a quilt top with them.  It would NOT be a Civil War era top; it would be new.  This can be a very touchy area and one best left to the experts.

Complicating things even more are the reproduction fabrics on the market now.  They are almost perfect and hard to detect.  So, don't go there; it's a minefield. 

10.  Always include the length and width measurements in inches.  Describe any damage fully and honestly, resisting the temptation to say that an age stain WILL wash out -- they seldom do.  And don't despair -- most minor damage and loose seams can be repaired, and most buyers are very willing to do so. 

11.  Don't call it an unfinished quilt top.  An unfinished quilt top means that it isn't all pieced together; that parts are missing.  If the top has been all pieced or appliqued, it is finished.  What it is not is a finished quilt. 

12.  I have seen too many listings where the seller has said, "hand quilted" or something like that.  A top has no quilting.  Quilting is the all-over stitching that holds the top, batting and backing together to form a finished quilt.  It may be machine stitched or hand stitched (very desirable!), but not quilted.  Also, if you are not a quilter or have no idea what the process is, don't describe it.  Don't say "it just needs a backing put on."  It needs far more than that.  A quilt top buyer will know all about that and you don't need to try and tell them.

13.  Oh, and last but not least.... DON'T LIST YOUR ITEM WITHOUT A PICTURE!  Many times I have seen a listing where the seller posts the picture(s) up to three days later.  Why bother??  You've just lost precious time, because a listing with no picture is ignored.  Period.  And the "ignorers" are not going back days later to look again.  Don't list your top until the pictures are ready.

Hopefully these hints will help you to be more successful in selling your top.  I hope so!  If you have found these pointers to be helpful, or even if you didn't, please vote below so I can tell if I'm on the right track. Thanks!