Selling a Needlepoint Stash: Consignment, Trade-Ins, and Donating

Canvases you will never stitch can go to someone who will. Here is what consignors take and pay, how a shop's own resale site works, and what to check when you buy a canvas secondhand.

A needlepoint stash is the canvases and threads you have bought and not stitched, and the books and stitch guides that go with them. When a canvas no longer appeals, it can go back into circulation: to a consignor who sells it for a share of the price, through a shop's own resale site, to a buyer you find yourself, or to a charity. This page sets out each route in the consignors' and sites' own terms, as we read them in September 2026.

The consignors below list canvases for less than their retail prices, and our guide to why needlepoint is so expensive has what canvases cost new. Sort before you sell. Ellen Johnson of Serendipity Needleworks, a teacher, suggested in 2020 holding each canvas and sorting the stash into bins, from projects in progress to one labeled "What Was I Thinking?"

On this page: what sells, consignment by mail, a shop's own resale site, selling it yourself, packing a canvas, buying secondhand, donating, and FAQ.

What sells, and what does not

The three consignors we read, Needlepoint Destashing, Elegant Needlework, and Artful Stitches in Locust Grove, Virginia, want much the same things.

• Canvases like new. All three take canvases only unstitched. Needlepoint Destashing turns away a canvas distorted by stitching that was taken out, or damaged by being mounted on stretcher bars. Artful Stitches wants a canvas with no distortion and no threads removed.
• Canvases from about 2000 on. Elegant Needlework takes canvases painted from 2000 onward. Needlepoint Destashing turns away anything painted before the early 2000s, anything visibly aged or yellowed, and anything with an odor.
• Stitch guides, with their canvas. Needlepoint Destashing sells a stitch guide only with the unstitched canvas it belongs to, and Artful Stitches takes no stitch guides on their own. Neither Needlepoint Destashing nor Elegant Needlework takes handwritten guides.
• Some threads. None of the three takes wool, perle cotton, or floss. Needlepoint Destashing and Elegant Needlework also turn away thread that shows age or use, and Artful Stitches partial skeins and thread on spools or cards.
• Not finished pieces or boxed kits. None of the three takes finished items, and all three turn away prepackaged kits. Needlepoint Destashing and Elegant Needlework take no blank canvas either.
• Accessories, only at one. Needlepoint Destashing and Elegant Needlework take no accessories, stretcher bars among them. Artful Stitches takes accessories, though not used stretcher bars, needles, scissors, or used lights.

A consignor can still say no. Needlepoint Destashing keeps the right to reject items, including designs it already has too many of or thinks outdated, and you pay to have anything it rejects sent back. Artful Stitches asks you to call first if you are unsure what it takes.

Consignment by mail

A consignor sells your canvases on its own site and pays you a share of each sale. With all three, you mail the stash in, and the consignor lists, sells, and ships it. The terms differ in the commission, the markdowns, and what happens to what does not sell.

Needlepoint Destashing

Needlepoint Destashing, a consignor in Glendale, Arizona, sets each item's retail price itself, from market data, and you do not review it. It lists the item at thirty percent off that price and sends you an inventory sheet showing what you would receive if it sells at that price. Its commission is forty percent of a sale in the first year and fifty percent after that. It marks items down a further ten percent at thirty days and again at sixty, unless you say otherwise when the sheet arrives. After three years it donates what has not sold, unless you arrange to have it sent back first. It pays on the 7th of each month and takes stashes from the United States only.

So a canvas it prices at $100 retail is listed at $70, and if it sells at that price in its first year, you receive $42.

Elegant Needlework

Elegant Needlework, in Lake Villa, Illinois, also lists items at thirty percent off retail, and its commission is a flat thirty percent of the selling price. It sets no time limit for an item to sell. It keeps the right to discount your items, and asks you to tell it if you would rather they stay out of its site sales. You pay the shipping to it, and the shipping back of anything that does not sell. It pays by the 15th of the month after a sale. A canvas with a $100 retail price, sold at $70, would bring you $49.

Artful Stitches

Artful Stitches, a shop on Constitution Highway in Locust Grove, takes canvases, threads, stitch guides, books, and accessories by mail, on terms on its site. It sends you a priced list within ten days of your stash arriving, charges a forty-five percent commission, and pays monthly. On June 1 and December 1 it cuts prices by twenty-five percent, unless you ask for your items back before those dates, and after a year it gives unsold canvases to charity. Shipping both ways is yours to pay.

Whichever you choose, know the split first. Ellen Johnson's advice in 2020 was to be sure you understand and agree with a destashing company's commission before sending it anything.

A shop's own resale site

Rittenhouse Needlepoint in Philadelphia runs its own resale site, Rittenhouse Destash, on a platform called Treet, where stitchers buy and sell canvases, kits, and tools among themselves. You post photos and answer questions about the item, and the listing is reviewed within twenty-four hours before it goes live. When it sells, the site emails you a prepaid shipping label, which the buyer pays for. Then you choose how to be paid: in cash, less a twenty percent fee, or in Rittenhouse store credit worth ten percent more than the sale. On a $100 sale, by its own example, that is $80 in cash or $110 in credit. Selling there is open to sellers in the United States only.

Rittenhouse Destash also takes trade-ins of Rittenhouse Needlepoint items, for store credit. You pick items from your Rittenhouse order history, or search for one, and the site tells you at once what credit it would give for each in acceptable condition. You ship them with a prepaid label and receive the credit once they are approved, without waiting for a sale. An item it rejects is not returned to you.

Ask your own shop as well. Two's Company Needlepoint in Rock Hill, South Carolina, southwest of Charlotte, lists the return of its customer consignment sale for December 2026 in its list of 2026 trunk shows.

Selling it yourself

Selling on your own keeps the price, less a marketplace's fees, but you photograph, list, pack, and ship each piece. Ellen Johnson suggested eBay or Etsy in 2020. eBay's two main selling fees are a final value fee when an item sells and an insertion fee on listings beyond a monthly allowance of free ones. Among Etsy's fees are a listing fee for each item and a transaction fee on each sale. Etsy's rules allow craft supplies, which it describes as tools or materials meant for making something new by hand, and vintage items twenty or more years old.

Stitchers also buy and sell stash in Facebook groups. A stitcher's blog, The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure, keeps a list of places to sell that includes several of those groups, notes that many of the groups require PayPal, and says it endorses none of the places it lists.

Packing a canvas to ship

Rittenhouse Destash asks sellers not to fold or crease a canvas: a small one goes in a rigid envelope or mailer, and a large one rolled in a sturdy tube or box. Elegant Needlework suggests sealing items in a plastic bag against spills. Put your contact details in the box: all three consignors ask for them, and Artful Stitches treats a package that arrives without them as a donation. Track the package too, since Needlepoint Destashing does not send a confirmation when it arrives.

Buying secondhand

The same places sell, and a few others do too. Needlepoint Destashing, Elegant Needlework, and Rittenhouse Destash all list secondhand canvases, Artful Stitches sells consigned ones in its shop, Poppypointe in Charlottesville lists a few pre-owned canvases, and Needlepoint Angels, described below, runs a resale store. What the consignors screen out makes a checklist for a buyer:

• Distortion. Needlepoint Destashing turns away canvases distorted by stitching that was taken out, and Artful Stitches wants no distortion and no threads removed.
• Marks from stretcher bars. Needlepoint Destashing turns away canvases damaged by being mounted on bars.
• Age and smell. Elegant Needlework does not accept canvases that are visibly aged or stained, or items with odors, such as smoke, perfume, or pets.
• Missing parts. Check that a stitch guide, charms, or anything else sold with the canvas comes with it. Needlepoint Destashing turns away some canvases that are missing them.
• Threads. Ask whether threads are included. If they are not, ask a shop about kitting the canvas; our cost guide has what kitting adds.

Returns are limited. Needlepoint Destashing says all its sales are final. On Rittenhouse Destash, a buyer who receives something other than what was described has seventy-two hours to file a claim for a refund. A change of mind is not covered, though if you ask within the same seventy-two hours, you can list the item again there without paying seller fees. A buyer can also add Seel Return Assurance to an eligible order at checkout. It allows seven days to return an item for any reason and refunds the purchase price less a $10 return shipping fee; the original shipping is not refunded.

Donating

Needlepoint Angels, which describes itself as a registered 501(c)(3) organization, takes donated canvases, threads, books, notions, tools, and project bags. It sells them to help stitchers in need, including those who have lost projects in a natural disaster or a disaster at home, and the money buys canvases and supplies, pays for finishing, and keeps the group running. It prefers unstitched canvases but will take started ones, and it will email a donation receipt if you ask for one.

Some guilds swap stash at their meetings. The North Suburban NeedleArts Guild, which meets in Northbrook, Illinois, keeps a free table at its meetings from September to May. Anything nobody takes goes home with you again, or with someone taking the leftovers to Goodwill, if you arrange it. The guild's list of other places to give supplies includes stores near Chicago that take donated craft materials. It says to call one of them, The Waste Shed, first, since that store has specific rules on donations and sometimes refuses items it already has too much of. A guild near you may keep a free table too.

Two consignors donate what does not sell. Artful Stitches gives unsold canvases to charity after a year, and Needlepoint Destashing donates items still unsold after three years.

FAQ

Where can I sell my needlepoint canvases?

Consignors such as Needlepoint Destashing, Elegant Needlework, and Artful Stitches sell unstitched canvases for a share of the price, and Rittenhouse Destash lets you sell to other stitchers for cash or store credit. You can also sell on eBay or Etsy, or in stitchers' Facebook groups, and do the listing and shipping yourself.

How much can I get for a used needlepoint canvas?

At the two consignors that set out their pricing, a canvas is listed at thirty percent off its retail price, so a canvas with a $100 retail price is listed at $70. After commission, you would receive $42 from Needlepoint Destashing in the first year, or $49 from Elegant Needlework, and less if it is marked down before it sells.

Can I sell a canvas I have already started?

You cannot sell one through the three consignors we read, which all take canvases only unstitched. Needlepoint Destashing also refuses canvases distorted by stitching that was taken out, and Artful Stitches canvases with threads removed. Needlepoint Angels accepts started canvases as donations.

Can I sell leftover needlepoint thread?

Only some of it will sell. None of the three consignors takes wool, perle cotton, or floss, and Artful Stitches takes no partial skeins or thread on spools or cards. Needlepoint Destashing and Elegant Needlework also refuse thread that shows age or use. Needlepoint Angels accepts threads as donations.

Can I sell a stitch guide on its own?

Two of the three consignors we read will not take one. Needlepoint Destashing sells stitch guides only with the unstitched canvas they belong to, and Artful Stitches takes no stitch guides on their own. Some guides may not be resold at all: Needlepoint Destashing says guides sold only through their author are not eligible for resale, and Elegant Needlework says the same of Tony Minieri's.

What can I do with old needlepoint canvases?

Two of the consignors we read do not take them. Elegant Needlework takes canvases painted from 2000 onward, and Needlepoint Destashing nothing painted before the early 2000s or visibly aged. You can still sell an older canvas yourself, and Etsy's rules allow vintage items twenty or more years old. Or give it to Needlepoint Angels, which accepts any kind of needlepoint canvas.

What should I check when buying a used needlepoint canvas?

Look for distortion, marks from stretcher bars, yellowing, stains, and odors, and check that any stitch guide or other parts sold with the canvas come with it. Returns are limited, so ask before you buy: Needlepoint Destashing's sales are final, and Rittenhouse Destash gives a buyer seventy-two hours to report an item that is not as described.

Where can I donate needlepoint supplies?

Needlepoint Angels takes canvases, threads, books, notions, and tools, and sells them to help stitchers in need, such as those who have lost projects in a disaster; it sends a receipt on request. Some guilds swap supplies at their meetings: the North Suburban NeedleArts Guild in Northbrook, Illinois, keeps a free table.

The consignment terms of Needlepoint Destashing, Elegant Needlework, and Artful Stitches; Rittenhouse Destash's pages; the other shops' pages; eBay's and Etsy's seller policies; the pages of Needlepoint Angels and the North Suburban NeedleArts Guild; and The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure's list were read on September 28, 2026. Ellen Johnson's post for Serendipity Needleworks dates from June 2020. Terms and commissions change, so read a consignor's current terms before you send anything.