2023/2024 Alpaca Owners Guide

Coated wire panels with attachable shelves, baskets and hanging rods make for professional and visually appealing displays.

Furthermore, if you have the alpaca store at your alpaca ranch, the two entities together can achieve a synergy that is not possible in stand-alone circumstances. Your store will help sell alpacas at your ranch, and the ranch will help sell alpaca products in your store. That’s a dynamic that can’t be beaten, and when it’s saving you money as well, it’s pretty much a no-brainer.

experience with an alpaca ranch store, we recommend the following rules-of-thumb:  Start out small and conservatively. There are worse problems than running out of merchandise, for example, buying merchandise that won’t sell. Stick to the classics, at least at first.  Ask suppliers what sells best in their product line. Most suppliers are more than happy to share that information with new accounts.  Test the market with small quantities. After a while, you’ll get a pretty good feel for what will sell in your area and for what price. Many times, the supplier has a published recommended retail price, and you should plan on sticking to it, at least at first.  If you aren’t totally convinced that you can keystone (achieve the standard 100 percent retail mark-up over cost), don’t buy it. There’s a reason for the keystone, and it should be part of your business plan to buy with that in mind.

You will want to keep a reasonable variety of alpaca end products, whether they are fiber, yarn, clothing, or home décor, as well as a small variety of alpaca related products including books, videos, note cards, and knitting, spinning, and weaving supplies. Based on years of fairly extensive

50 | ALPACA OWNERS GUIDE 2023/2024