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We recently acquired so much Alpaca fiber that we nearly fainted. We don't really have a place to store it, and have no idea it's worth or how to go about selling it. Does anybody on MrsS know? Help?!!! We know the stock was show quality but the fibers have been in a storage shed, wrapped in brown paper for a long time. Nearly all of it is rough and dirty, some is cleaned etc., and a few pieces are ready for felting etc. We've done alot of online research and have a couple other friends doing some online work too, but thought I'd give Mrs.S a heads up too. We're told that in high grades it's worth quite a bit, but like I said...this is raw and hasn't been washed or carded etc. We just need to find a buyer to get it sold but not ripped off because of our lack of knowledge or pricing it like idiots because it's not worth that much?

Edited by Philbe
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My MIL and I visited an alpaca farm in NM. They had a workshop that taught how to clean, card, and spin the fleece. Very interesting. I sent Christy in Europe a skein of fleece, she loved it.

 

I did a quick search and found a couple of things, you've probably already seen:

 

http://www.intialpacas.com/farmstore.html

 

For more information on working with alpaca fiber and caring for it, please give us a call. We're always happy to talk to you.

 

 

The price depends on:

 

- how much fiber you want - an ounce? a pound? a whole fleece?

 

- the grade - 'Royal' or 'Baby' lr 'Fine', or a less soft grade for hard wearing items like rugs, or maybe needle felting?

 

- the color

 

- Rarity! 'Royal' and 'Baby' grade alpaca fiber is rare - and fabulous!

Raw fleeces

- by the ounce:

Royal $5./oz, Baby $3.50 to $4/oz, Grade 3 $2./oz, Grade 4 $1/oz.

- by the pound:

Grade 1 $45-$50./lb, Grade 2 $36./lb, Grade 3 $24./lb, Grade 4 $16./lb

- by the fleece: will average 3.5lbs when skirted

Royal $150. - $200.+, Baby $100.+, Grade 3 $50.+, Grade 4 $35.+.

 

Some rug wool also available, contact for info.

 

http://www.alpacanet.com/alpacafiber.cfm

 

Current prices paid for clean, high-quality alpaca fleece range from $3 to $5 an ounce.

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Thanks...one of the links I already saved, the other now joins it. We've gotten a response from an ad we put in locally, so guess we'll do the "wait and see" for an offer? Still would like more info though.

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Age can matter, felting is not good...and stored dirty..... If you sell it you would need to mention

the VM (vegetable matter).

My DD could give you a ton of info....she was long into shearing... 2013 maybe the first year in 10 she has

not sheared llamas and alpacas.

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Just got an email from them, and they're trying to figure out where they can store it so they can buy it all. Tickled me though, she said "can we see it before we buy it?"...no negotiation on the price, no questions of any form. If they do take it all, we'll come out with about 5 grand. We've managed to make room for it in our large 14x26 metal storage shed, so it's safe and sound and we can hang on to it as long as they need us to, since they themselves don't have the immediate storage room. The leader of the group has six spinning wheels! Really hard core :-) Has other spinning materials she bought from Venezuala stored in her basement or she'd take it all herself :-) We're going to set out tables, set out the wire rack so we can fluff it out and let them see it and feel it. Also about seven banana boxes full of older issue weaving/spinning books (patterns etc.) that we'll put own. It's shaping up to be a very fun thing for all of us! Sort of an "Alpaca Fair"? LOL

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got some snow going on here...figure. Shouldn't amount to nothing, it's been to warm and is still 48. Heading out for the homestead to "shake some pelts" again... :cele: What we don't sell Tuesday we'll weigh it & price it and then take it south to our favorite open air market. It was buzzing pretty good a couple of weeks ago :hapydancsmil:

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Tuesday = $125 :-) Appreciated the lady buying, she raises and also is a judge of pelts so really helped us sort. Funny...had about 30 bags of sheep wool :-( Shows you how much we know about furry animals :-) The 3rd buyer will be coming for another load of "prime" stuff, then off to open air market the rest shall go! Total income for this "job" so far = $1025.00 which is pretty good for a month's work :-) Son said "you're in the wrong business Mom." My response, "nope...don't plan on raising any livestock that I have to shear!"

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