Why are alpacas way more expensive than llamas?

Question

because ive seen alpacas for sale for like 20,000 and llamas for 1,000

Answer 1

Alpacas wool is valued more. It's more because of it's versitility.

Answer 2

because people use alpaca's coats too make jumpers, coats that sort of thing.

Answer 3

you obviously dont live in Alberta, Canada

one auction I went to they were PAYING people to take male llamas and alpacas!!

seriously

here is a cool link you might like

http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Unusual-Pet...

typically Llamas sell around $30 at auction.. slightly more for females than males

and alpacas are about $50... so not much difference

why?? because LLamas are more common.. lots more of them.. and for people who want fibre.. alpaca hair is prefered..

I own a Llama.

see the link

Answer 4

Because they are newer, plain & simple.  When llamas first came to the US, even the poorest quality were extremely expensive.  The llama market now is more realistic, with high quality llamas selling for high prices and lower quality selling for lower prices.  The price of alpacas is dropping fast, with some already showing up in rescues.  I know a woman who last month gave away 2 alpacas because she didn't like them as much as her llamas.  Alpacas are skittish animals and used mainly for fiber production, while llamas can be used for fiber, pack animals, companion animals, livestock guardians, showing, performance, and even their droppings can be valuable to gardeners.  In the long run, llamas will be more valuable than alpacas, once the newness & novelty of the alpacas wears off.

Answer 5

There are actually some very expensive llamas as well!  I used to work on a llama ranch, the cheapest any of ours ever sold for was $5000 for llamas with no potential for being a breeding animal (had lower quality wool, or less than perfect conformation), many went for $20,000-$50,000 (our better-quality show prospects and studs)!  Alpacas, in general, are more highly valued because there are less of them around and on the market.  They are also smaller than the llama, and cuter, so more people want them.  The law of supply and demand.  Alpaca wool is also finer and softer than llama wool, though the wool is still not nearly expensive enough to justify a $20,000 purchase price!  The expensive alpacas you see advertised are likely great show animals or very high quality breeding animals with fiber testing done that are near-perfect specimens.  That's the only way someone could or would charge that sort of price.