Bringing your Fiber to one of the upcoming shows is a great way to save on Shipping Costs and clear out space in your barns. We are committed to making the process as painless as possible. First things first, if you do not already have a Fiber Bank with us, please sign up for one now - Click Here. An account will be created and you will receive your login and password shortly. Once you are logged in to your Fiber Bank, Create a Deposit Slip for the fiber you plan on bringing just as if you were going to ship it. Please package clean fiber (not washed, just vegetable matter removed) into a plastic bag with your deposit slip placed inside each bag. If you have multiple grades and colors bagged separately, put all of the bags in one large bag all together to make it easier to identify each farms fiber submission. If you plan on bringing in more than 50 pounds of Fiber, please let us know ahead of time so we can guarantee we have the trailer room for all fiber submissions. All fiber submitted at the show will be processed and added to your accounts the following week, ready to order products against.

In the general vicinity of the shows but not able to attend? Consider asking a neighboring Alpaca Farmer who is attending to bring your fiber for you. Chances are they have the extra space in their car or animal trailer and would be happy to help for a favor to be redeemed later. After all, we all could use an extra set of hands to help from time to time throughout the year.

Fiber Pickup at Upcoming Mapaca, PA Buckeye, OH and now at the NEAOBA Meeting, NH

We will be attending the upcoming NEAOBA Meeting at the New England Alpaca Fest this upcoming May 10th in Contoocook, NH. After the meeting, we will be running a Fiber Pickup for all our New England based farms. If you have fiber saved up from last year that you would like to submit, or you have already begun shearing this Spring, this is a great way to save on shipping and clean out your barns. We also look forward to meeting many of the new farms that have begun using our services over the last year. Hope to see you all there!

Vacuum Pack Your Fiber

There are more ways to save on shipping costs if you are unable to submit your fiber at one of the upcoming shows. One of the major issues with shipping Alpaca Fiber is it's loftiness. Many farms end up sending in just as much air as they do fiber packed inside their boxes. Postage costs are not only calculated by pure weight, but also dimensions of the box and the number of parcels. To pack the same amount of fiber in smaller boxes, or more fiber in the same large box, many vacuum pack their fiber. Food Saver's work well, but if you don't have one your regular vacuum cleaner can do the trick. Attach a piece of cloth or fine mesh (dryer sheet etc.) over the vacuum's hose nozzle, and use it to suck out all the extra air in the plastic packaging. A second pair of hands is great, as one person can help corral the fiber in one area of the bag and compress it down, as the other works the vacuum hose. Just make sure you aren't sucking valuable fiber into the vacuum. Once you have sucked all the air possible out of the bag, seal the end of the bag firmly. Using this method will greatly increase the amount of fiber you can fit in one box, and most certainly save you on overall shipping costs.