What is the most common way to sell wool and animal fibers

Question

I will be doing a shearing in the Spring and never really sold my wool or other fibers because I usually keep them myself. Do you have them roved, cleaned and bagged, or what? Basically, when people want to buy wool and other fibers for clothing or crafts they want to make, how do they want to wool so they can work with the wool.

Answer 1

I switched to HAIR SHEEP because the wool market is so crappy...

http://www.scienceray.com/Biology/Zoolog...

if you want to know where to sell it.. you need to say what country you are in...

Answer 2

Started running into this problem myself this year.  This was the first year I needed to shear the whole flock, and the result is bags of raw wool, and I don't have the time or energy to do anything with it myself.

Do you plan on processing it yourself?  If you can do quality work yourself, it's just going to be a matter of how much work you want to put into it.  You will probably have an easier time finding buyers (and get a better price) if you process it.  Knitters and spinners aren't necessarily interested in cleaning it, too, and may want skeins or finished yarns.

There are a few sites online that offer a chance to buy or sell wool at any stage of process, from raw to finished yarns.  Depending on how much you have and how much you want to pay to have it processed (or process it yourself if you're feeling that ambitious), there is a market for it and the prices will vary by breed, quality of wool and stage of processing.  There is a market for every stage of processing, you just need to decide how much time, money and effort you want to put into it to get a return.  Raw wool might get you $10, but roving might get you $20...

I got lucky this year and have a friend who is hardcore into homesteading.  She cleans, cards, spins and knits, so I'm passing it off to her.  Our lofty plan is to have her process it and then I buy it back (both yarn and finished items) to sell at the farmers markets.  I get the benefit of making money off of my sheep's wool with finished products.

Look online for information on the Maryland Fiber Festival as well.  This site can give you some good information and references for networking with other buyers, sellers and resources.