# Handspun yarn, how much to ask for it?



## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

I might have found a market for handspun yarn. How much should I ask for it? I was thinking $3-4 per oz, as generally roving sells for at least that much. The potential customers are the sort who like nice yarn and do not generally use acrylic, Red Heart, etc. Is $3 or $4 an ounce too high?


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

Also, do you charge more based on the thickness of the yarn? Should laceweight be priced higher than fingering or average diameter yarn?


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I don't have any answers for you, but would love to see them!


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

There are a lot of fiber artists selling handspun yarn on etsy.
You should go over there and check it out.
Prepare to be stunned.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

I sell mine at local shops- tell them what I want, then they add their cut. I do not go just by oz- because an oz of singles is so much less time to make than an oz of 2 ply, etc. That may be a place to start, though. 
I sell more by the yards- and what will make a project. Example 70 yards, super chunky singles art yarn- $25, 225 yards singles dk 30. What someone with a shop told me is that someone needs to be able to visualize your yarn as a finished project- scarf, small shawl, socks- and the amount has to fit that project. 
I include on my package the oz, and the yardage- seems to work.
Look on Etsy, too- but it varies much there. Also check the stores around you for what others are selling theirs for. 
Also, if the yarn doesn't sell after a bit, I remove it, then make something, and sell the finished product (just sold a shawl like that today)- or gift it, keep it- but we can only keep so much!!!!! And if we have sheep, they are constantly making more...
Hope that helps....


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

OK, thanks! Mine is always 2 ply, and usually fine, like fingering, or finer.


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## lathermaker (May 7, 2010)

I sell mine starting at $5.00 an oz. and people don't bat an eyelash. Don't undersell yourself. There is a lot of time and energy invested in spinning nice yarn. IME knitters & crocheter's that are looking for QUALITY handspun aren't overly concerned with paying a good price for it. The Red Heart knitters aren't your target customer base anyway.


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## sheepish (Dec 9, 2006)

Do you just want more money to buy fibre or are you actually wanting to make something from what you produce?

How long did it take you to spin that ounce of yarn?

What did your spinning equipment cost. How much will it cost to replace parts as they wear out?

If you sell it for $3-4 per ounce, what will that earn you per hour, after you deduct materials? If you sell it for $30-40 per ounce, what will that earn you per hour?

How much do you value your time? Is it just hobby time or earning time?

How much can you sell and still have fun making it?

I don't know the answer to your question, but unless you are just selling to replace the fibre you use up while spinning, a fair wage for you should come into the answer.


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

I don't expect to make minimum wage from it. Some of the fiber I have was gotten for free, either from a work trade (OK, not entirely free but I had so much fun helping shear that it might as well have been free!) or from Freecycle, etc. I need to finish paying off my wheel. I can't live off of it but if I could generate a little bit of extra income to help pay off the wheel, that would be good. I do not want to undercut other handspinners by selling too cheaply, also.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

I think you are being reasonable- we have to start somewhere, and if we start off competitive, and sell our product, people will come back for more. Sometimes I will do a fun yarn and sell it a little bit less, kind of like a loss leader. (not really loss, but not gaining much) I want people to look for my label- pick it up, feel it- kind of like fishing. (go ahead! bite!) I want a quality product, reasonable price, something they will keep coming back for- and make a profit as well. 
Let us know how it goes!


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

There was a thread on Ravelry about pricing and the spinners said they did cost of materials, plus 15 cents per yard spun, for simple yarns. Tedious, exotic, art, or more than 2 ply, and the per-yard charge increases.

If you sell your yarn too cheap, people will expect it to all be cheap and never pay more, and you ruin it for other spinners to make money off their work, it makes their higher prices seem too extreme, when actually they are reasonable considering the work and materials that goes into the yarns.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

I would pay more for locally made stuff, or something from a "nice" place like Idaho. Play on your cachet! It really is worth more.


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## Falls-Acre (May 13, 2009)

I'm still a beginner spinner and am not anywhere even close to being ready to offer anything for sale to anyone! However, as a long-time knitter/crocheter I can tell you what I have seen from others and what I look for in a handspun yarn:

If you are able to vary your yarn thicknesses, do it. I knew an older lady that was a very experienced yarn artisan. She made things for her family, especially socks for her 'menfolk'. She told me that as she's gotten older, she has a harder time with the finer yarns. She wound up having to return several skeins of yarns because while they appeared okay on the shelf, when she got them home, they simply weren't thick enough for her to handle easily.

I personally tend to steer clear of boucle and most loose 'art' yarns as I really don't care for the difficulty in working with them and don't particularly like the effect on the finished piece. I value a yarn personally based on how I picture the finished piece. If the yarn is well-made I would pay attention to how much of it is there. There is no greater disappointment than finding the PERFECT yarn only to realize there isn't enough of it to make what you've envisioned! Now I will say that I probably would never pay more than $50 for a single skein of yarn (unless there was a lot of it, such as a full pound), but $5 per oz, definitely.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

chamoisee said:


> I was thinking $3-4 per oz, as generally roving sells for at least that much.


What is your labor worth? When you price your yarn, price it as though you paid for the fiber. If the fiber is worth $3 per ounce, then this is your starting point, then add for labor. I would expect to pay at least $5 per ounce for handspun yarn ($20 for a 4 oz skein). If someone else is selling it for you and they will take a cut, don't sell yourself short. You need a certain amount of money to make it worth your while. Handspun yarn, if from nice fiber, is expensive.

Since your yarn is laceweight or fingering weight, sell a lace pattern with the yarn, something that will take almost one ball of your yarn. You can use an old pattern, just add a border on each side and call it a scarf. Make a pattern for a shawl that will take two or more skeins. Some people will want to make the pattern, others will want the yarn and use their own pattern.


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