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Alpaca Business Unsustainable?
The animals’ main product, fleece, is worth relatively little compared with their market value. Each alpaca produces an annual average of five pounds of fleece, used to make textiles, including sweaters, scarves and other apparel. Five pounds of raw fleece is worth only $80 to $240.But because there is still limited registered breeding stock in this country and people continue to clamor for them, an alpaca can fetch $17,500 to $22,500 on average. Some animals with certain pedigrees or prizes from the many alpaca shows held across the country sell for far more.
via Marginal Revolution.
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Helen Wilkie on November 30th, 2004 6:03 pm
This is good advice, but I would add one caution. Study the whole process of speaking and/or training before you try to do it yourself. As a professional speaker for fifteen years, I can tell you it’s not that easy to just put together a three hour workshop just because you know the subject. Read books on how to structure a workshop, watch tapes of professional trainers doing it, practice in front of those who love you and will be honest and kind. Only when you are sure you can hold people’s attention and give them value for their time should you go out and do it. The better your workshop, the better your chances of getting business from it.
Alpaca Guy on April 12th, 2008 10:05 am
I am, it appears, about 3 years late to this post!
While there is little room to argue with the basic premise laid out in Marginal Revolution, there are several basic facts missing that perhaps exagerate the final conclusions. (This is also true of a paper out of UC Davis called “Alpaca Lies”.)
In any breed of livestock, from cattle to sheep to horses to swine, there is an elite level of breeding stock that sells for many multiples of breeding stock.
Shucks, a kid in our small town of 600 sold a lamb for $4000 not too long ago – even given that a run of the mill lamb could be bought for $40 or less. Bulls can sell for $50,000 or more, even though a steer might only bring $500 or less.
No doubt that overall prices of alpacas will drop to a range that is sustained by actual market conditions – but there is a fallacy of logic to conclude that all alpacas, including high quality seed stock, will sell for the same low price.
Breeding stock will maintain some price premium, while production stock will drop to realistic levels.
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