Who Buys Alpaca Wool Now

You ship your skirted and graded fiber to a collection point. Instead of direct cash, many pools—such as the New England Alpaca Fiber Pool (NEAFP) —payout in store credits . These credits allow you to purchase finished goods (socks, hats, yarn) at wholesale prices to resell at your farm store.

The Alpaca Fiber Market: Who Is Buying Your Annual Clip? For alpaca ranchers, shearing day marks the end of a year’s work and the beginning of a logistical challenge: finding a buyer for the harvest. Unlike the standardized global market for sheep's wool, the alpaca fiber market is a specialized "luxury" niche characterized by scarcity—alpaca production is roughly 1/500th that of sheep's wool. who buys alpaca wool

Individual "fiber artists" are often willing to pay a premium for high-quality, raw fleeces. These buyers look for "saddle" (Grade 0–2) fiber with a low micron count and a soft "handle". You ship your skirted and graded fiber to a collection point

Raw fiber might sell for $2–$6 per ounce , whereas a finished garment can fetch $10 or more per ounce . Market Requirements for Buyers The Alpaca Fiber Market: Who Is Buying Your Annual Clip

Regardless of the buyer, certain quality standards must be met to secure a sale:

Fiber is typically graded 0 to 6 based on micron size. Grade 0–1 (under 20-22 microns) is "next-to-skin" quality and fetches the highest price.

In the UK, UK Alpaca buys roughly ten tons of British fleece annually, hand-grading it on the farm for fineness. 4. Direct-to-Consumer (The "Value-Added" Path)