Is this a good deal?

Ninny

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My friend has five alpacas. We were talking about going in together in the fiber sales. He would do everything with the alpacas and then the fiber is mine to process and sell. We go 50/50 on sales. So that means I would have five fleeces now and come spring another five to send to a mill and have processed. Then it's my job to sell the product. He gets 50% of the profits to cover alpaca costs. Does this seem fair? I am trying to find a mill around me that is not super expensive. There's one but shes hard to get a hold of. I talked to her once and shes interested. My friend also has several other farms (totaling around 200 alpacas) looking for a mill to do there stuff with out having to use the big co-ops. She is not interested in that just in the few that I have. I can possibly get different types of wool fleeces for a good price but then have to send to mill as well. I don't have any tools to process at home with. I have drop spindles but need everything else. And I can't use them for lots because it kills my back. If we do this then I would save my profits to start buying tools to do it myself. Just the prices are ouch! and I can't really find them used. I may get some pygroa goats and some fiber bunnies. I don't have the space as of now to have the critters other then the bunnies and goats. So this seems like a good way to start my fiber farm. But I could really use the advice and thoughts of others on it. If I get the fiber I need to decide how to have it processed all yarn or half roving too blended choices choices choices.
 

ksalvagno

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You would be better off to buy the fiber. Small batch processing isn't cheap. There are only a few mills that do it. If you search on alpaca forums you could probably find the names and numbers to those mills. If your friend would be willing to sell you the fleeces right off the alpacas and you be there on shearing day to deal with it and get the fleeces for a cheaper price for helping would be better than splitting profits 50/50.
 

Ninny

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ksalvagno said:
You would be better off to buy the fiber. Small batch processing isn't cheap. There are only a few mills that do it. If you search on alpaca forums you could probably find the names and numbers to those mills. If your friend would be willing to sell you the fleeces right off the alpacas and you be there on shearing day to deal with it and get the fleeces for a cheaper price for helping would be better than splitting profits 50/50.
Thanks! I found a mill by me that only does small batches. How much should I offer my friend for five fleeces? If it goes well then I will be the main buyer of his fleeces so I don't want to cheat him.

Also do you have any idea how much from fleece to yarn cost? I know it's way different from place to place I just have no starting numbers to look at at all.
 

ksalvagno

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I haven't sent fiber to a mill in a long time. I was nice and sold my fleeces to my girlfriend for the cost of my shearing. So my shearing was paid for and she got some nice fleeces pretty cheap.
 

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