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Friday, September 04, 2009

Re: [AlpacaTalk] Re: I Wish...Alpacanation.....had listed...

 

Oh heck no, no one gets kicked off AlpacaTalk for trying to find the best price on supplies! In fact, no one has ever been removed, except obvious spammers who try to sell real estate timeshares or prescription drugs. :) And I always shop around to find the best deal I can get.


However, as a producer, it kills me to see alpaca fleece going for $2/oz or less. I don't know what quality this fleece at that price is. I do know that my mature, not fine, fleeces spin up to make really nice yarn with wonderful handle. As long as it's sent through a de-hairer. :) I want the most I can get for my fleeces and at each level of processing.

The thing is, since this is luxury fiber, the people who can easily afford luxury items think nothing of a $45 scarf. I don't intend to sell my handwoven scarves made from my handspun yarn for a penny less than $75, and depending on the complexity and uniqueness, they may well be priced much higher, 2-3x as much... 

But, that's just my opinion.

Heather



On Sep 4, 2009, at 5:25 PM, Tawny Bott wrote:


Hi Carla,
 
I don't think you'll get kicked off the site, you just hit a sore spot with Heather and many other alpaca owners that know their fleece. And each farm has a different idea of what their fiber is worth. It's not always easy to try and sell good fiber, when the farm next door is almost willing to give it away because they can't or don't want to figure out a use for it. (smile)
It's not unusual for fiber fanatics to make deals with farms where they will get a fleece free, return 1/2 of it as a finished product and keep the other half for themselves.
 
I also have handspinners that either come to my shearing day or right after and buy the whole fleece right off the animal so to speak. As they buy in mass and they are generally also spinning to make a living, I price lower for them, especially as they come back every year. If I have to pick and clean the fleece, the price goes up and of course if it is carded or in roving again it's more. When it costs a minimum of $25.00 to get your alpaca sheared, unless you do it yourself, then another $25.00 a lb to get your fleece processed to roving or bats at a mill, it's unfortunate, but that has to be passed on the the consumer.
 
As you explained what you are trying to do, I'm sure we allunderstand your comments.
Best of luck in your endeavors.
Sincerely,
Tawny Bott

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posted by Chaddo at 7:22 PM

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