How small customers can add value to their fleece
We know that not everyone has 20 kilograms of fleece available to process. To open opportunities for those producing less, or with a wide variety of fleece types and colours, we have developed share schemes.
Customers who supply us with 5 kilograms or more of good quality fleece will be entitled, for a year, to a discount on the purchase of any Blacker Designs product that uses that breed of fleece. The discount starts at 15% for 5 kilograms, rises to 20% for 10 kilograms, 25% for 15 kilograms and 30% for 20 kilograms and above.
Note that the breeds named in a particular product will be those breeds whose fleece you supplied, but the product may not contain your fleece because we have to pool it to make minimum batches for different types and specifications of yarn.
We do not supply sacks or pay postage for amounts of fibre less than 20 kilograms and cannot take less than 5 kilograms. Those selling fibre to us qualify for the same discounts providing they put 5 kilograms or more of fleece into the share scheme.
If you want at least some of your own fleece returned in a product, you may need to join forces with others. This could be a group of friends or neighbours, even if they have different breeds. This can give you may more colour variety and you can still market the product as locally grown.
Some customers form groups within breed societies. Provided we can make it work, we will join in and take half the risk and supply half the fleece as it gives Blacker Designs a wider range of limited edition products.
We also collect small quantities of wool from specific breeds and of a comparable colour and quality and process these as one batch. Customers who contribute their fleece again get a credit voucher for its value.